On the Importance of "The Snyder Cut"
- Sam Tarter
- Mar 15, 2021
- 8 min read
This is not a movie review.
In fact, this piece isn't even about a movie; it's about a filmmaker’s tarnished vision, a studio that took advantage of a man who was grief-stricken and battle weary, a franchise that didn’t know what it wanted, a replacement director who scrambled together an unfinished product, a group of fans who fought for what they wanted against all odds, and a father’s work of art dedicated to his late daughter, finished with her favorite Leonard Cohen song.
Truth be told, I would not consider myself a “Zack Snyder fan.” Personally, I don’t care for any of his non-DC superhero movies. Up until last summer, I had never seen the director’s cut of “Watchmen” because I had not yet read the source material and couldn’t find an HD copy worth watching. Over time, “Man of Steel” and “Batman vs Superman” slipped through my watchlist and ultimately fell out of my interest, so I never got around to watching them upon their release.
What I have seen, however, is a movie with disgustingly bad CGI, a truly terrible script, an absurdly short runtime, a horrendous production history and even more disheartening “reshoots” (the true story of which are still being brought to light).
This absolutely awful movie’s name (if you even want to consider it a movie) is “Justice League.”
I saw it in an empty theater on Tuesday, November 21st with a group of three friends. Initial thoughts coming out of the theater ranged from “Yeah, it was fine,” to, “Wait, it’s already over? That was… short,” to my gamer friend’s remark: “That felt like a shitty TV movie with the CGI of a Playstation 2 game.”
The worst comment to come out of that screening was my own: “Yeah, it had its flaws, but I actually kinda liked it. Seemed a lot more fun than those darker ones he made.”
If someone asked me after the movie if I had ever seen a movie from Zack Snyder’s filmography, I would’ve answered yes, and that would’ve been a lie.
Because 2017’s “Justice League”—a movie that I have seen in theaters and sat through on my TV at home—is not a Zack Snyder film.
I will not get into the full story behind “Justice League,” but ultimately, it was the movie industry at its most horrifying and most demoralizing. Zack Snyder had already dedicated years of his life to establishing the DC Cinematic Universe. In exchange for some creative freedom and letting him tell a bold, unique story with his own creative vision to differentiate from the juggernaut rival that was the Marvel films, Warner Bros. gave him strict guidelines and story requirements, forcing him to set up their core team of heroes and many of their rival villains before their own solo films and natural storys.
Characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were spared and fleshed out until their storylines were cut off, but Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg were crammed into Snyder’s movies to play catch up with the enemy studio’s team up films before audiences could care about them. The villains were crammed into a doomed spin-off movie to try and establish their roles in future movies (it ultimately crashed and burned with audiences and critics so badly it was rebooted 5 years later). Other intriguing and exotic heroes like Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Vixen, a female Robin, and many, many others were pushed for future sequels, spin-offs, and solo movies. All those future projects where the character development and better characters would “come along at some point”... they never happened.
It’s safe to say that Warner Bros. was only in it for the money, which ultimately never came in the droves they wanted it to.
They rushed their storylines, their character development, and tampered with the director's visions more than once. Warner Bros. was in the mindset that Superman, Batman, and many others, were such iconic characters that they were a surefire money maker, they couldn’t fail. But after both “Man of Steel” and “Batman vs Superman” underperformed at the box office and with audiences, “Suicide Squad” dissapointed fans expecting something darker, and the more lighthearted “Wonder Woman” dominated at the box office, Warner Bros. were confused and scared, and ultimately, they panicked.
“Justice League” was already filming when the studio wanted to change direction. They tried forcing Snyder to cut his planned 5-hour epic into a 2-hour runtime to make it more accessible and allow it to have more showtimes per day at the theater. Snyder refused. They asked him to cut out the slower, character driven moments that made the heroes relatable and allow audiences to invest in them. Snyder never conceded. They hired two new producers (who will remain unnamed) to overlook production and filming to force a lighter tone and more adherence to the studio's wishes.
After all the push-back from Warner Bros. and the hate from toxic fans, Snyder was slowly losing the will to fight for his vision of the movie, until his fight left him altogether.
On March 12, 2017, Zack’s daughter—Autumn—took her own life. She was 20.
Snyder eventually confessed in an interview that continually fighting with the studio for his “Justice League” didn’t seem worth it amidst all the grief he and his family were going through. With only a few weeks of filming and the rest of post production left, Snyder stepped down and let the rest of the cast and crew finish the movie. Warner Bros. soon posted about their support for Zack Snyder, saying how they would be “standing with him” during his time of grief and would continue to finish his movie.
But that is not what Warner Bros. did. Far from it.
Instead, they seized the opportunity to completely reshape the movie to their view and their liking. They hired Joss Whedon to rewrite and direct “reshoots,” which would ultimately lead to the creation of a completely new movie with only a few snippets and scenes of Zack’s original vision. They chopped down and completely remade what was supposed to be a 4 to 5 hour epic on the level of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy into a less than 2-hour mediocrity filled with stolen and cringe worthy jokes, lifeless characters, a terrible script, and some of the worst CGI to be put to film.
Despite “reshoots” being finished mere months before the film’s release date, Warner Bros. didn’t delay it. To try and beat out “Avengers: Infinity War” and keep the release date for “Aquaman,” the ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ of a movie—filled with cartoonish dialogue, a rushed story, underdeveloped characters, vintage video game-esque CGI, and a Superman with a fake upper lip (don’t get me started)—was released to horrible reviews from critics and dismissal from dedicated fans, forcing audiences to stay away from theaters like the plague.
All of this in an effort to make the movie more accessible and appealing to everyday audiences, and sadly, myself and many others drank their Kool Aid, and latched onto this brighter, more fun direction for the DC characters, without knowing the dark past and deception behind it all.
Without knowing that they stole a grieving man’s hard work and dedication, and morphed it into something worse. The movie may have been labeled as “A Zack Snyder film,” but not a single frame of it was his original intent, and only mere minutes were physically directed by him.
The movie bombed, naturally. All sequels were delayed, the DCEU got reshaped into solo anthology stories. No more team ups, no more Justice League. The brand was dead. Four hours of Snyder’s original footage was lost forever.
Or so we thought.
Fans fought. They wrote letters, called Warner Bros., put up billboards, flew a plane, got the cast, crew, media, all of Hollywood (and even Subway) behind their cause. Not only did Snyder’s fans create a hashtag, they created a movement.
For years, fans wanted Warner Bros. to “Release the Snyder Cut,” and now, because of the pandemic causing visual effects designers to work from home, AT&T leading the studio in a better, smarter direction, and Hbo Max in need of new original content, we are receiving “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”: A four hour movie filled with mythology, character development, a fleshed out story, and everything fans and audiences never saw in theaters, all framed in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio—the way Snyder originally envisioned for the film to be seen in IMAX screens.
Truly, what we are receiving on HBO Max this week is Snyder’s original, completely unaltered vision, complete with all the scenes he shot back in 2017, some new additional photography to finish the movie, perfected visual effects and redesigns and recreations of certain characters.
Yet, the film is something more than a director returning to finish his art and please the fans. It’s much, much bigger than that. It is a message to fans and audiences that they have influence on the film industry, and that they will no longer be simply seen as revenue for Warner Bros. It’s a culmination and capstone of what is now 8 years of storytelling by Snyder, and while many are claiming it will be the last in this version or direction of the series, it may also be a stepping off point and continuation. Snyder originally planned for a five-film arc (Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman, and Justice League Pts. 1-3). Since this is the first part in a now cancelled film series, there is a chance that if praise is given by fans, critics, and common audiences alike, and if it becomes a source of profit and advertisement for HBO Max and AT&T-Warner, the fan labelled “SnyderVerse” could continue on HBO Max, continuing the anthology storytelling and “Multiverse” method of DC films.
But most importantly, beyond fan service, studio revenue, and testament to artistic vision, the true message and importance of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is a father’s dedication and love for his daughter. Not only will the film end with the message “For Autumn,” the credits will play with a cover of her favorite song: Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” As someone who understands and values the love of a father after great loss, I find Snyder’s decision to dedicate this film to his daughter not only truly touching, but necessary to prove this film as his complete work of art.
So, Snyder supporters, movie lovers, superhero movie fans and artists everywhere, get your HBO Max subscription and watch “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” Don’t only watch it to support an artist’s vision, watch it to support a father’s love, and the fight against suicide.
The story about the production behind “Justice League” and the long rumoured “Snyder Cut” is a long, troubled, lengthy, and fascinating one. For the full, in-depth story behind the Snyder Cut movement, the reasons why we have two separate movies, and why and how we are just now receiving Zack Snyder’s true vision for the movie, I recommend reading Sean O'Connell’s book “Release the Snyder Cut”, which is now available for purchase on Amazon.
For a much shorter, but still fascinating and insightful read, Vanity Fair published an incredible feature on the behind-the-scenes story, which can be read here.
Lastly, like the fandom that I am apart of and the film that I am supporting, all profits made by this article will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Further donations can be made here.
“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is streaming on HBO Max for no additional cost on March 18th.
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