Like her fellow protectors of Earth, Wonder Woman had a very different portrayal in the Justice League Snyder Cut. Zack Snyder stepped down from the director's chair following the tragic loss of his daughter while the film was in post-production. Ultimately, Joss Whedon was brought in to oversee Justice League's reshoots. The official stance of Warner Bros. at the time was that these were normal pickups that most major tentpole blockbusters undergo and were only intended to complete Snyder's vision for the film. However, upon the film's release, fans quickly discovered that this was hardly the case, with the version of Justice League released into theaters being a sharp detour from what Snyder intended.
In the nearly two years since Justice League's release, DC fans have continuously lobbied Warner Bros. to release the Snyder Cut. Snyder himself has given them plenty of ammunition for their efforts, with a steady stream of teases of his cut on social media. Additionally, a growing number of Justice League's cast and crew have joined fans in calling for the Snyder Cut's release, with Aquaman star Jason Momoa recently confirming to have seen it himself. But while it hasn't released yet (and possibly may never do so), there are quite a few things we know about it already.
Related: How The Flash Was Different in Zack Snyder's Cut of Justice League
With Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman being released in June 2017, it served as the final primer for Justice League, and set Diana up as a major player in the superhero ensemble after her supporting role in Batman v Superman. However, while we don't have as full a picture on Diana's original role in the film in comparison to other characters, the evidence available makes clear that her portrayal was also drastically altered by the reshoots. Here's what we know right now about Wonder Woman's original role in Justice League.
The History Lesson Was Different
While Diana herself is not physically present in Justice League's history lesson, the reshoots had a ripple effect on the entire film. As seen in the theatrical version, Earth had previously been invaded by the forces of Apokolips, with Amazons, Atlanteans, the Gods of Olympus, and even the Green Lantern Yalan Gur repelling Steppenwolf's invasion. All of this is shown through a flashback in the movie, with Diana providing a narration to Bruce Wayne and the audience.
Per Snyder's teases on the social media app Vero, we know that the history lesson played out differently in his cut. Principal among them was the inclusion of Darkseid. While the theatrical version would swap out Darkseid for Steppenwolf, the zig-zagging that Yalan Gur's power ring does after he is killed by Steppenwolf suggests that it may have been a repurposed Omega Beam from Darkseid.
Additionally, the Snyder Cut was set to pit Darkseid against Ares, played in the film by stunt man Nick McKinless. While this doesn't directly reveal anything about Diana's larger role in Justice League, the contrast of the two versions of the history lesson indicates that her narration was added in by the reshoots. For that matter, Nick McKinless would only receive a "stunts" credit on the film, despite being specifically contracted to play Ares, without seeing any expected residuals from it.
Diana Originally Saw A Mural Of Darkseid
With the ending of Batman v Superman, the presence of Darkseid in Justice League seemed like a foregone conclusion. In the aftermath of Superman's death in battle against Doomsday, Lex Luthor warns a furious Batman that "He's hungry, he's found us, and he's coming!". That could be seen as a reference to Steppenwolf, especially after his meeting with Lex in the Kryptonian scout ship (deleted from the theatrical version, but restored in the Ultimate Edition), but it's safe to say that DC fans took this as a tease for Darkseid's role in Justice League.
As revealed by Snyder on Vero, Darkseid's removal also affected Diana's role in the film. Snyder first teased a never-before-seen image of Diana, with her appearing unsettled by something she's seeing off camera. It wasn't until later that Snyder revealed that Diana was looking at a mural of Darkseid. Snyder ominously captioned the photo with, "A bell can't be unrung", a direct quote from Lex's prophecy to Batman, effectively confirming that Darkseid was indeed the force of evil Lex had been referring to. While this may or may not have tied in with the history lesson, it illustrates the ripple effect that the changes, like the removal of Darkseid (later revealed to have been played by Ray Porter in the Snyder Cut), ultimately had on the rest of the film.
Related: Justice League: How Batman Was Different In Zack Snyder's Original Cut
Wonder Woman Was Objectified By The Reshoots
Wonder Woman's role in Justice League was also considerably sexualized by the reshoots. This is partially seen in her relationship with Batman. While not rising to level of an outright romance, the reshoots would inject much more sexual tension between her and Bruce. Another major indication of the impact the reshoots had on Diana's role comes during the League's initial tunnel battle with Steppenwolf, with Barry falling into Diana's cleavage after pushing her out of the path of falling debris. This recalls a similar scene involving Bruce Banner falling into Black Widow's chest in Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Furthermore, as the League heads into the final battle with Steppenwolf, Aquaman sits on the Lasso of Truth and shares his suppressed feelings of camaraderie with his fellow heroes, which include hitting on Diana. Wonder Woman was certainly not the only female character whose role in Justice League saw these kinds of changes, as seen in Lois commenting "you smell good" to the newly resurrected Superman, or in Martha Kent's infamous "thirsty" line. Taken together, all these make clear just how much Wonder Woman and other female characters became objectified by the reshoots.
The Meeting In The Batcave Was Different
The exact nature of Superman's resurrection in the Justice League Snyder Cut remains among the film's biggest mysteries. However, we know it played out quite differently under Snyder's direction. One major piece of evidence in this regard comes from an image released by Snyder on social media, showing Diana, Arthur, Barry, and Victor retrieving Kal-El's body from the Smallville cemetery. The version of the scene in the theatrical cut only involves Barry and Victor, indicating another change to Diana's role in Justice League, and likely a crucial one, given the significance of Superman's resurrection in the film.
Additionally, the League's meeting in the Batcave where Bruce first proposes bringing Superman back to life is also a reshoot. We can infer as much just from looking at the trailer released at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, which shows snippets of a clearly different version of the League's Batcave meetup. Furthermore, the version shown in the theatrical cut doesn't technically take place in the Batcave at all, but rather a reframed version of the Wayne Aerospace set made to look like the two locations are the same. This effectively means that Diana's entire appearance in the Batcave meeting comes from the reshoots, to include her giving Bruce a violent shove after his dig referencing her past relationship with Steve Trevor. However, despite what we can currently pinpoint to the reshoots from these scenes, the exact nature of what Diana's role was in the Batcave meeting and the retrieval of Superman's body remains unknown.
Related: Superman's Original Role in Zack Snyder's Justice League Cut Explained
Wonder Woman Decapitated Steppenwolf In The Original Ending
One of the most dramatic of the changes made to Justice League can be seen in the contrast between the ending of the theatrical version and that of the Snyder Cut. The plot device of Parademons smelling fear is itself an insertion from the reshoots. It was first seen in the film's opening minutes, with Batman battling a lone Parademon in Gotham City and making the discovery, along with their vulnerability to sound. This leads him to attempt to distract the Parademons with sonic waves during Justice League's climactic battle. When the League begins to gain the upper hand with Superman's arrival, Diana shatters Steppenwolf's axe to pieces with her sword. With the villain now stricken with fear, his Parademon army turns on him before they teleport back to Apokolips through a Boom Tube.
Not only are the elements of Parademons smelling fear and their weakness to sound a product of the reshoots, but Steppenwolf also met a far more brutal end, originally. As revealed by Snyder on Vero, the final battle of Justice League concluded with Wonder Woman making the same flying leap with her sword, only to behead Steppenwolf in Snyder's cut of the film. Additionally, Wonder Woman wasn't the only member of the League to go much harder on the villain than seen in the theatrical cut, as Steppenwolf's demise would come after he'd gone toe-to-toe with an "unhinged" Superman (in the words of storyboard artist Jay Oliva).
As is the case with virtually every constituent member of the Justice League, the changes currently known to have been made to Wonder Woman's role in the film could well be infinitesimal compared to the full extent of the alterations. Indeed, Wonder Woman's full role in the Snyder Cut is less known compared to other characters. With Gal Gadot set to return as Diana in Wonder Woman 1984, the character is sure to remain a cornerstone for the DCEU. However, the rallying cry for the release of the Snyder Cut is clearly nowhere near dying down, especially with more and more of the cast and crew beginning to voice their support for its release. Ultimately, the greenlight for its release can only be given by Warner Bros. (as Snyder himself has pointed out). Until that day comes, the full picture of Wonder Woman's original role in the Justice League Snyder Cut will remain as much of a mystery as the rest of the film.
Next: Justice League: What HASN'T Been Revealed About The Snyder Cut Yet?
