Over $26,000 dollars has been raised by Snyder Cut fans to campaign for the release of Zack Snyder's director's cut of Justice League at San Diego Comic-Con. Some of the campaign efforts are already visible thanks to pictures on social media of some of the Snyder Cut ads that have gone up around town. Of the money raised, half is going to Comic-Con initiatives, and the other half is going to the Association for Suicide Prevention.
The Snyder Cut has been a polarizing issue since the release of Justice League in November of 2017, but over time more people have come around on the fact that it's more complete than initially thought and drastically different at that. Warner Bros. said they had no plans to release it a year ago, but supporters have continued to press on as news about the cut continues to trickle out at a regular pace.
Recently, the Snyder Cut has gotten recognition from a number of big publications including The Washinton Post and Newsweek, putting the campaign into the spotlight right before the debut of their big $26,000 Comic-Con campaign. Naturally, a lot of people don't understand the details about the campaign, such as what the intent is or where the money is being spent. Fortunately, the organizers have been very transparent in this regard, so we have a good idea of what to expect from the Snyder Cut's San-Diego Comic-Con marketing initiative.
The Snyder Cut Project Comic-Con Campaign Isn't Targeting Warner Bros.
The Snyder Cut Project Comic-Con isn't likely to be an event that convinces Warner Bros. to finally release the Snyder Cut, but fortunately, that's not the purpose. The campaign isn't targeted at WB, but at convention attendees. The movie has received vocal support from fans, members of the cast like Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher, comic creators like Death of Superman co-writer Jerry Ordway and Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, Snyder himself, and more.
It's clear (and has been for some time) thanks to behind the scenes images and comments from Zack Snyder, Jay Oliva, and others that not only has a significant amount of the movie been completed but also drastically different to the Joss Whedon version released in theaters. Even so, much of the online discourse still seems to focus on whether or not it "exists" or whether or not it is significantly different. The campaign is likely intended to take advantage of the large gathering of fans to address these confusions, hoping to sway public sentiment into their favor.
Because of this, Warner Bros. and DC's decision to skip the typical big presentation at Hall H doesn't impact their plans much. The campaign never included funds or a plan to do anything during Warners' Hall H presentation. There was some discussion of holding a banner at the entrance as attendees streamed in, but everything will play out as planned despite the change in WB's plans.
There's also been some criticism leveled against the organizers due to the fact that Comic-Con has rules against people handing out pamphlets or flyers in or in front of the convention center. While there will be supporters present at SDCC, there is no intention to hand out pamphlets or fliers, and several organizers have confirmed on Twitter that they are aware of and compliant with the rules.
All the Snyder Cut Marketing at San Dieg0 Comic-Con
While they aren't going to be handing out flyers and pamphlets at the convention, there's a number of big initiatives that will be happening during the week.
According to the GoFundMe page, the money is going to an airborne banner (similar to the one flown over Warner Bros. last November), a digital billboard on Interstate 5 for eastbound traffic near the highway 54 interchange, and a bus stop wraparound ad. The bus stop ad encourages attendees to seek out the project team at SDCC for "merch and materials" but details on what that includes are not yet clear.
In addition to the various billboards and banners, the campaign has also procured a half-age ad in The Hollywood Reporter's SDCC special alongside other convention coverage.
The remainder of the SDCC half of the money is going towards other more informal activities that will happen on the ground during the convention. As the bus stop ad specifies, there will be team members at the convention and there's merchandise and other materials available. How that will be distributed without a booth on the show floor isn't specified, but it will surely become clear during the course of the week.
Half of the Money is Going to the Association for Suicide Prevention
While they've raised over $26,000, only half of that is actually going toward the initiatives mentioned above. The other half will be donated to a charity close to the Snyders, the Association for Suicide Prevention.
Snyder's daughter, Autumn, died by suicide during Justice League's production, so Snyder Cut supporters have made suicide prevention a key initiative. At least $13,000 dollars from project Comic-Con will be donated to the AFSP, bringing the total raised for the organization by Synder Cut supporters to over $106,000, including a big boost from Zack Snyder and Jason Momoa supporting a t-shirt charity initiative that raised $82,000.
What's Next For the Snyder Cut Campaign?
With such a big splash at SCCC, what's next for the Snyder Cut campaign? At this point, we're 20 months past the release of Justice League, Snyder just started shooting Army of the Dead, and he has more projects in the pipeline. Yet the campaign persists, particularly on Twitter, where #ReleaseTheSnyderCut was recently trending worldwide with nearly 50 thousand tweets.
It's safe to say fans aren't about to slow down, and in fact, some have said plans for next year's San Diego Comic-Con are already coming together. With so much passion and dedication, it's hard to imagine Warner Bros. remains silent on the topic forever, and fans aren't going to take no for an answer anyway. Many other director's cuts have been released after the fact over the years, most notably Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, which completed and released despite being far less complete than the Snyder Cut when Richard Donner was replaced.
Given, the Donner Cut took a few decades to release, but its own fan push wasn't nearly as vocal or widespread a the demand for the Snyder Cut. So Comic-Con attendees can likely expect to see this campaign become a fixture for the foreseeable future, at least until the Snyder Cut has been released.