Batman V Superman's Larry Fong: Justice League Looks 'Incredible'

Screen Rant

Batman V Superman Cinematographer: Justice League Looks 'Incredible'

By Matt Dolloff

Published Jul 19, 2017

Batman V Superman cinematographer Larry Fong has high praise for the work of Fabian Wagner on Zack Snyder's next DCEU entry, Justice League.

Zack Snyder's longtime cinematographer says the new guy on Justice League is doing some "incredible" work. Snyder collaborated with Larry Fong on Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, among several other movies, but for Justice League enlisted the services of German cinematographer Fabian Wagner. This has apparently led to concerns from at least one fan of Fong's work.

However, Fong revealed that he has seen parts of Justice League ahead of its November release date. Although Fong's cinematography was far from the problem with Batman V Superman - in fact, it may have been the best part - his early reaction indicates that he believes Snyder's switch to Wagner for Justice League has paid off.

Fong tweeted about Wagner's cinematography in Justice League on Monday night after a fan lamented that Fong was not on board for the new movie. Wagner is making his big-budget feature debut as the cinematographer for Justice League, but Fong - who had previously done the cinematography for other Snyder movies such as 300, Watchmen, and Sucker Punch - assured the fan that Wagner's work is "incredible" from what he's seen.

Dry your eyes! Fabian Wagner is amazingly talented and what I’ve seen is incredible.— Larry Fong (@larryfong) July 18, 2017

Fong got his start in music videos, including a big break as the cinematographer for R.E.M.'s acclaimed music video for "Losing My Religion." He went on to work on several more music videos before foraying into TV with shows like Lost, then eventually collaborating with Snyder. He most recently did the cinematography for Kong: Skull Island and Shane Black's The Predator, which is due out in 2018. He has long been the eye behind Snyder's consistently striking visuals.

Wagner, meanwhile, started out working on short films before moving to TV, most recently doing the cinematography for Game of Thrones' Emmy-winning episode "The Battle of the Bastards." He also earned an Emmy nomination of his own for Game of Thrones' season 5 episode "Hardhome." It may be something of a risk to thrust Wagner into feature-length movies with a big-budget production, but it's clear that he has plenty of talent to pull off something special - and if anyone has an eye for that, it's Fong.

Unfortunately, even if Justice League boasts Snyder's typically strong visuals, it won't necessarily solve the narrative and tonal problems that plagued Batman V Superman. With Snyder back behind the cameras for Justice League, those concerns are fresh. But with a promising Justice League trailer out and a talented director of photography at work, Justice League still has a chance to continue the DCEU's critical success that Wonder Woman started this summer.