MANILA, PHILIPPINES — When a filmmaker takes on a motion picture, more often than not, it is their creative vision and language that is reflected on film. After all, a director usually has control over camera angles, storylines, dialogue, and even how actors approach scenes. There are times, however, when circumstances beyond the director’s control have other people taking his project from him, and what ends up being released is different from what they had in mind. That’s exactly what happened when the theatrical release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2017 was different from what he had in mind.
In the wake of his daughter Autumn’s tragic suicide and with Warner Bros, imposing a two-hour run time for Justice League, Snyder left the project featuring the biggest superheroes from DC Comics and Joss Whedon took over. Whedon is given credit for helming two movies for DC rival Marvel Comics: The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. To impose his own flavor on this film, Whedon removed several scenes that Snyder had already filmed while reshooting others months after production has already shut down. The end result was that Justice League was released to largely underwhelming box office numbers and any plans for sequels were shelved by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. was heavily criticized for that film’s failure as the planned DC Cinematic Universe never came to be. Yet the internet is a curious thing because rumors persisted that there was a version of this motion picture that Snyder had already completed and would redeem the director’s vision if it ever saw the light of day. The mythical “Snyder Cut” became a hashtag on social media but, in reality, nobody really expected that to ever be released. But again, the internet is a curious thing and, after almost four years since an inferior film was presented to the public and after a global pandemic, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on HBO streaming services worldwide.
In the wake of Superman’s (Henry Cavill) death, the world is a darker place. Although Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) have learned to cooperate, they become aware of a powerful alien force that is preparing to invade the Earth. Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), a general from the planet Apokolips, crosses dimensions to arrive with monstrous parademons to conquer the planet on behalf of his master, the evil known as Darkseid (Ray Porter).
When the Amazons fall to Steppenwolf’s forces, Wonder Woman reaches out to Batman to determine how to fight back. Other superpowered beings are recruited in the form of Arthur Curry or Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Barry Allen a.k.a. The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Victor Stone a.k.a. Cyborg (Ray Fisher). Each of these heroes has a motivation for using their abilities to help others but they need to come together for the first time and work as a team.
Despite this recruiting spree, Batman is convinced that they need one more, to revive the slain Superman. Batman believes that using one of the mother boxes that Steppenwolf is trying to secure to bring Darkseid to Earth can resurrect the Kryptonian, and only with all six heroes can the planet actually have a chance.
To say that Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a superior work compared to what has been previously released would be a massive understatement. With a running time of three hours and 52 minutes, that is almost two hours of footage that should have been seen previously and could have set up a planned trilogy of movies if Snyder had been allowed to have his vision come to fruition.
