Zack Snyder thought that Warner Bros. was kidding in placing a two-hour limit on the runtime of Justice League. Snyder's ensemble of DC's famed team of superheroes has gone through a labored and tumultuous process to finally be released, with a highly altered version radically different from his intentions released into theaters in November of 2017. Following a long fan campaign for Snyder's original cut of the movie, it was officially announced to debut on HBO Max in 2021 this past May.

The changes made to Justice League along with the push by fans for the Snyder Cut's release has made the film a legend in geek culture. This past Saturday also saw the release of the first full trailer for the Snyder Cut during DC FanDome. While the new trailer unveils a wide collection of deleted characters and other major differences from the theatrical cut, the movie's running time was something that Snyder had also encountered resistance to in its initial phase prior to his departure.

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While appearing as a guest on The Reel in Motion podcast, with Screen Rant's Stephen Colbert also present, Snyder stated he at first did not believe that Warner Bros. was serious in setting a ceiling of two hours on Justice League's runtime, commenting "I really thought it was a joke." Snyder further illustrated his incredulity at this, stating "I mean, BvS is a full three hours, and that's two characters!" Considering Snyder's predilection for longer runtimes, it's far from surprising that he would be taken aback by a two-hour limit on a movie like Justice League.

Justice League Snyder Cut Trailer Darkseid

Snyder would ultimately screen a version of the film to Warner Bros. executives that had been edited down to two hours and twenty minutes. This version is alleged to have been deemed "unwatchable" by the higher-ups in the studio, which would lead to major changes being commissioned. After Snyder left the movie, extensive reshoots were overseen by Joss Whedon, with the theatrical version running for two hours.

The Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a three-hour movie as Snyder stated on the podcast, though the theatrical version removed a half hour's worth of footage. Meanwhile, 2013's Man of Steel also has a fairly lengthy 143-minute runtime. Between the two, its quite evident why Snyder felt constrained at a two-hour limit for such a major team-up movie. However, such limitations will not be a factor at all when it comes to the Snyder Cut, which is set to be released in four hour-long installments on HBO Max.

The motivation for a shorter runtime likely came from Warner Bros. wanting to maximize the number of times the film could be shown daily, but this proved to be in vain when Justice League became the lowest grossing DCEU film up to that point. Obviously, there's nothing inherently wrong with movies running for two hours or even less, but it's just as clear that Snyder had a much grander scale in mind for the film. Fortunately, Snyder will not be encountering any such runtime restrictions for the Justice League Snyder Cut's upcoming HBO Max debut.

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Source: The Reel in Motion Podcast

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