Justice League has always been one of those movies which you can’t help but be curious about. Ever since its 2017 release (I so clearly remember being utterly disappointed by it), I jumped on the bandwagon of Snyder Cut Release. Now this comes from a person who wasn’t necessarily a fan of Batman vs Superman.
The whole movie sort of caught me off guard in a weird way, and so much of it felt like wasted potential. But that is a topic for some other time. What I am trying to say is, it never made sense for me to go ahead and put my faith in Zack Snyder when his vision always seemed sort of hit or miss to me. So why did I do it? Why am I so crazy for Snyder Cut to release?
How Zack Snyder’s Justice League is shaping up into the ultimate redemption arc !#ZackSnydersJusticeLeague#ClarkKent#Batman#Steppenwolf#WonderWoman#Cyborg#Aquamanhttps://t.co/RneYaUhGHI
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A dive into how Batman vs Superman: Ultimate Edition changed opinions
Let’s go back a bit in 2017 and see how the stuff went down over at the WB offices. The decision makers at WB who were already super skeptical about having Snyder helm Justice League, were seemingly giving Snyder his last chance. What started with a good Superman Adaption, Man of Steel, hit a colossal speed bump at Batman vs Superman where fans and critics got so divided that WB had to make some hurried calls. From what I thought, there was over-exaggeration from both the sides. Fans who were all guns blazing, calling BvS the best superhero movie ever made were as filled with ignorance as critics who called it the worst were full of resentment.
Not to say that people can’t have opinions, that will be pretty ironic of me, but the situation escalated from a simple mess to a colossal freak show. A population so divided and each one so biased, that it caused an uproar. It somehow showed the executives at Warner Brothers that people can go to extremities. This also seemingly gave rise to the concept of a longer fully fledged cut, Batman vs Superman: Ultimate Edition.
Ultimate Edition of BvS was essentially a 30 minutes longer cut of the movie which, as it turned out, was actually a pretty important part of the movie. It didn’t automatically turn the movie into a masterpiece as some fans were hoping, but it drastically improved the quality of the movie and gave a lot more context in scenes which genuinely required them. It truly portrayed the transformation of Batman into this blood hungry villain who is more of a ghost than a vigilante.
Clark Kent goes places discovering all of this about him and it’s not just a random meeting at a Lex Luthor event which brings them closer. To summarize, if this is what those extra 30 minutes can do, then imagine the kind of change that could result from a movie which is basically everything different from the justice league we saw.
Joss Whedon and a botched up Justice League
Cut to one year later, and there’s a substantial level of hype surrounding Justice League. Mind you, it’s nowhere near to the kind of revolution we saw in Avengers Infinity War, but it was there. For the section of fans who saw the BvS Ultimate Edition, their faith in Snyder had been restored and that section of fans included me. And then came a tragedy which changed the course of the entire DCEU for good.
Zack Snyder faced such a major family loss that he had no other option but to leave this project. WB, filled with paranoia, decided to change the entire vision of the film. According to some reports, they even proposed that they would release the unfinished cut of the movie with raw shots. This was the level. The moment Joss Whedon entered the role of the director, he brought his own vision and his own ideals for the movie which Zack did not intend on.
A massive grant of $25 Million was actually spent for Joss Whedon to get his Justice League made. And like everyone pretty much expected, the end result was a mess. With BvS, the amount of characterization and nuance Batman received was almost stripped off in Justice League. The team up seemed forced and Steppenwolf was probably one of the most forgettable villains ever seen on screen.
Zack Snyder’s redemption and his most inspired project yet
It was a mess and there was no going back and changing the fact that all of this actually took place. But the hope for a different version still prevailed among all. The petition for Snyder Cut came into full effect and received around 200000 signatures. But this time, they didn’t want “Extra Footage”, they wanted an entirely different movie, visualized through the lens of Zack Snyder.
4 hours long and divided into 6 different chapters, this justice league is projected to be one of the most meaty and packed superhero movies ever. And this type of fan service wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for HBO Max. You cannot re-release a different movie with the same title in the theatres, but fortunately the launch of HBO Max gave Zack and Deborah Snyder a chance to finally show the world what they intended to do back in 2017, had the things been different.
There are a lot of expectations riding on this cut but I, for the first time, have fully placed my faith in what lies ahead. DC has always been a dicey contender to place my hopes and bets on, but looking at how the movie is turning out to be, it is bound to bring a change in how superhero films are going to be perceived in the future. It has given new found creative control in the hands of people and directors which is beyond extraordinary, even if the priority of WB is still based on making profits. This entire feat is something which would have never been possible back in say 2016, where streaming services were only limited to Netflix.
Now with every big production company opening their own media showcase, capitalizing on it becomes a far easier task with little to no theatrical expenses. As much as people would like to see this refined Justice League in theatres, I think that we are all more than content by the fact that we are receiving something substantial, at the comfort of our homes.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
Zack and WB have taken it upon themselves to ensure that this remains and will remain the only version of Justice League that people talk about in the future. Either way, it’s going to be one heck of a comeback for a director who seemingly lost a big chunk of his heart, both professionally and in personal life, back in 2017. This not only establishes him as one of the most inspired directors working in the industry, but it also sets a reputation for him which would have been possible if he had been more fortunate 4 years ago.
No One’s expecting the movie to be an artistic masterpiece, but as long as it sends chills down our spines and satisfies most of our realistic expectations, Zack Snyder‘s Justice League is going to be an all-out win.
