Many DC Extended Universe fans are campaigning for Warner Bros. to release a Zack Snyder director’s cut of Justice League, but after his other franchise entries were so derided, would it actually be an improvement?

The long road to the theatrical release of Justice League, the first live-action DC superhero team-up, was a long and arduous one for Warner Bros. Following the critical disappointments of its predecessors, as well as endless behind-the-scenes drama before shooting even began, what was intended to be DC’s version of The Avengers fell victim to an endless array of problems. The reshoots were extensive, the budget ever increasing, and original director Zack Snyder bowed out of production due to family issues, leaving Joss Whedon to pick up the slack. The final product disappointed critics and audiences alike, with its losses allegedly costing the studio somewhere between $75m – 100m.

Read More: Zack Snyder's Cut Of Justice League Was More Complete Than You Realize

As the DCEU works to stay on track and move forward with new plans – from a prestige origin story for The Joker to the upcoming Aquaman to a women-led ensemble piece with Birds of Prey and much more – some fans are fighting for something else. The campaign for the mythic Snyder Cut of Justice League has been ongoing since the movie premiered in cinemas. As of the writing of this post, a Change.org petition to Warner Bros. for a release of the original director’s cut – as well as the return of the original score by Tom Holkenborg, a.k.a. Junkie XL – has over 178,000 signatures. It’s certainly one that sends a message to Warner Bros., mainly that there is clear demand for something in a franchise that has often struggled to retain audience interests.

It’s questionable whether Warner Bros. would ever release a Snyder Cut of Justice League. For one thing, such an endeavor would cost a lot of money and probably may not be seen as a worthwhile investment given the film’s $300m budget and its worldwide gross of under $658m. There may also be issues of expanded universe continuity raised from an alternative cut to the film. Did Snyder’s take on the story – what was intended to be the only version – conflict with the franchise plans?

Regardless of the legalities surrounding this issue, the key question remains as to whether or not the Snyder cut would actually be better than the mish-mash final product we got. Would its quality be radically different from the film audiences got and were so let down by? Would the undisputed vision of one artist, whose style and tone remains distinctly their own, be a more satisfying product than a movie by committee?

What Was Wrong With The Released Justice League?

Ben Affleck as Batman and Ezra Miller as The Flash in Justice League.

The Justice League film that saw the light of day in theaters last year is a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie. That’s not to say it’s an unmitigated disaster – it’s a noted step up from Suicide Squad – but it’s clearly the product of too many cooks and not enough time. While the early narrative of the film's release insisted that Whedon came on board for reshoots and a quick script punch-up, the final product seems far more influenced by his style than Snyder's, suggesting the reshoots and post-production went off-path from the supposed Snyder blueprint.

There are major tonal shifts throughout, suggesting Warner Bros. were eager to move away from the more gritty and serious tone that Snyder had established in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Various attempts to inject humor into the film feel at odds with the foundational narrative. Some moments also feel hopelessly out of place in the current climate, such as a scene where Barry Allen falls in the breasts of Wonder Woman. It didn't help that audiences had already seen this distasteful moment unfold in an almost identical manner in Avengers: Age of Ultron, also written and directed by Whedon. The sexual tension between Diana and Bruce Wayne has also been amped up in the reshoots, which is very much in line with the kind of relationship dynamics Whedon likes in his work.

Related: How Superman Returned In Zack Snyder's Justice League

Massive stylistic changes were also made, such as an overhaul of the cinematography’s color grading. Once again, this was seemingly done to move away from the DCEU’s earlier visual style, which is muted and rooted more in realism than whimsy. Overall, the film is certainly brighter but also muddy in a way that suggests serious changes in post-production. It’s another move made to move the film away from Snyder's distinctive signature style.

Zack Snyder Justice League Directors Cut

Superman's return to the film seems to have been the meat of the reshoots, as evidenced by the mustache seen around the world. Thanks to Paramount holding the contractual right of mustache ownership for Mission: Impossible 6, Henry Cavill could not shave for the reshoots, meaning Warner Bros. had to CGI out the bottom half of his face. It's a glaringly obvious problem in the finished film, and the sheer amount of it betrays the producer's insistence that Whedon only did about 20% of the final product.

Crucially, a lot of scenes from the original Justice League trailer are nowhere to be seen in the end movie. Trailers often contain scenes that don't appear in the film but the degree to which things changed between the first two trailers and the 2017 San Diego Comic Con extended sneak peek is glaring. As noted in an earlier post, a lot suddenly disappeared from the narrative:

"So, a lot's gone: Bruce's extended journey to Amnesty Bay; all of Cyborg pre-transformation; Barry breaking the window with his finger; Bruce watching the Superman hologram; most of Bruce and Diana's recruitment discussion; the League rallying before fighting Steppenwolf in Gotham - Cyborg not believing in Batman and Wonder Woman preparing the team; Cyborg saving the policeman at Hero's Park; Aquaman fighting up towards Steppenwolf in the finale; Cyborg flying into the sky; the gang stood heroically against an orange sky. Additionally, although they were never in the trailers, Willem Dafoe's Vulko and Kiersey Clemons' Iris West are nowhere to be seen. Notice that these are all moments with actors, meaning we're not just dealing with altered effects shots but actual days of principal production undone."

Overall, the final cut of Justice League is clearly more Whedon-esque than Snyder-esque, despite studio claims that the fill-in director’s influence was minimal. This seems to be the big problem for fans who latched onto Snyder’s vision, and thus want to see his uncorrupted take on these characters.

Page 2 of 3: Was Snyder's Original Vision Better?

Zack Snyder and Joe Manganiello Justice League

What Was Snyder's Original Vision?

Justice League storyboard artist Jay Oliva recently confirmed that the theatrical cut was not the story Snyder intended the movie to tell. The specific details of what Snyder's cut originally entailed are tough to nail down for various reasons; however, it seems that big chunks of backstory for characters like Cyborg, the Flash and Aquaman were cut, with Cyborg suffering the most through these changes. A subplot building up major villain Darkseid was removed and various lines were either added via ADR or removed entirely.

Snyder's version was not free from criticism during its production. Chris Terrio's script was under fire by then DC Movies head honcho Geoff Johns, leading to a writers’ summit which included Joss Whedon. Some reports said his cut was "unwatchable", but it could be easy to write this off as Warner Bros. spin during a tough period of bad headlines.

Would The Snyder Cut Have Continued Batman v Superman's Criticisms?

Snyder has his fans, some of whom are highly devoted to him, as evidenced by the Change.org petition. For a while, he was also a critical favorite, garnering strong headlines for his reinvention of the zombie genre in Dawn of the Dead and for his lofty ambition in bringing Watchmen to the screen. While the critics have not been his best friends in recent years, it would be inaccurate to position him as a perpetual punching bag of the critical consensus, as some of his fans have. Even Man of Steel wasn't as divisive upon release as many consider it today.

Related: What Was Zack Snyder's FULL Plan For the Knightmare Scenes?

It would be easy to write off the Snyder cut of Justice League as more of the same things that left the DCEU in such bad shape to begin with: An overtly morose tone and dearth of vibrancy; a bleaker approach to iconic characters; an alpha aesthetic rooted in comic book predecessors like Frank Miller. Warner Bros. went to great lengths to change course from the critically divisive approach taken in Batman v Superman, as seen by the drastic reshoots Suicide Squad underwent to make the film more comedic. It seems as though Warner Bros. had little confidence in what Snyder was creating under their rule, regardless of fan enthusiasm. It makes sense that they’d want to nip such issues in the bud with Justice League, although it’s highly debatable if they even did that, given what happened.

DCEU films are costly productions. Justice League’s budget was officially reported at $300m, although others have claimed the reality is far higher. By design, these films have to appeal to the widest audience possible. While it would be popular with that core fanbase to lean harder into the Snyder-esque quality of the film, there’s no guarantee it would work with those general audiences who had begun to turn on the franchise, and hardcore fans aren't the ones that drive the box office.

However, as divisive as Snyder’s contributions to the DCEU have been, they all have one thing in common: Cohesion. They’re sturdy in terms of tone and basic storytelling structure. This is something a lot of the franchise has struggled to deal with. Wonder Woman avoided the pitfalls, but Suicide Squad’s narrative was a jumbled mess that bore the heavy marks of multiple edits and a studio unsure of what to make of its various parts. Justice League feels like a jigsaw puzzle that’s missing a few pieces because of the lengthy reshoots and post-production processes it went through with and without Snyder. By trying to please everyone, they made a product that mostly left audiences ambivalent. Whatever faults a Snyder cut of Justice League would have, at the very least, it would be a complete narrative with an overriding vision.

Page 3 of 3: The Snyder Cut In Its Current Form Would Be Incomplete

The Snyder Cut In Its Current Form Would Be Incomplete

Director’s cuts are near mythic parts of cinema history. They play a major part in strengthening ideas of auteur theory, placing the director front and center as the almighty dominant force in the creation of a piece of cinematic art. Some director’s cuts drastically change our perceptions of certain films and highlight the often-frantic battles between creators and studios. The original cut of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil had a tacked-on happy ending the director vehemently opposed and it wasn’t until his director’s cut that we got to see the story as intended. The myriad versions of Blade Runner released by Ridley Scott show how even the most iconic stories can change dramatically in the edit.

A 2006 recut of Superman II intended to show the film as originally intended by director Richard Donner before production tensions led to him being replaced by Richard Lester. The film is a significant change from the 1980 version, with certain scenes added by the project's creative consultant via the Lester cut and newly created visual effects. It's imperfect but given the material available it remains a fascinating piece of work. It's also the closest comparison we can make to the Snyder cut and what could happen with it, as the Donner edit only came about due to major fan demand over the decades. Fans are historically more supportive of a single artist’s vision than a studio mandate.

If a Snyder cut were to be released in its current state, it would likely be inherently incomplete, simply because Snyder never got to finish post-production. It could require use of Whedon footage and perhaps extensive CGI to fill in the gaps. Since Snyder didn't oversee any reshoots, actors could need to come back and record additional dialogue or shoot more scenes if the budget was available (but that’s highly unlikely). Rights issues would need to be cleared and compromises made. Getting the money together for something like this wouldn’t be easy either, even if Warner Bros. were willing to foot the bill to some degree. Is there any profit to be had in this scheme? It may very well be that the possibility of a true Snyder cut is simply out of the question, if only because of the practicalities involved.

It’s not impossible to imagine a Snyder cut of Justice League in some form seeing the light of day, but Warner Bros. is more focused on getting the DCEU back on track and could see this kind of distraction as a potential problem for their continuity. Fans probably won’t have to wait as long as Richard Donner did for the edit, but there remain a number of roadblocks preventing the project from becoming a reality. For now, fans can continue to theorize about what might have been. The Snyder cut may join the historic canon of cinematic mysteries.

Next: Everything We Know About Zack Snyder's Original Justice League 2 Plans

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