Artist Jay Oliva provides Zack Snyder's production timeline for Justice League, establishing just how complete the Snyder Cut is. Warner Bros. and DC's first superhero ensemble film, the project brought together Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg and eventually Superman to foil Steppenwolf's attempt to take over Earth. But a film full of potential ended up a critical and financial disappointment following a string of controversies that included supposed script rewrites and extensive reshoots under a different filmmaker. While Snyder remains as Justice League's sole director, Joss Whedon was responsible for the project's theatrical cut that significantly changed the movie's original narrative. The result was a film that was truncated and incoherent with what's established in the DCEU.
This why it didn't take long for the launch of the Release the Snyder Cut campaign - a petition that demands Warner Bros. to release the original cut of the movie with Junkie XL's (the original composer before Danny Elfman stepped in) intended musical score. To this day, fans are still pushing for this to happen despite several push backs claiming that the so-called version of the film does not exist - or isn't ready for any public viewing. However, Oliva's latest social media post shines a light on the matter, establishing that the Snyder Cut is more complete than initially thought.
Answering a fan's query on Twitter, Oliva provided insider's information regarding the production timeline for Justice League during Snyder's helm. For context, Oliva closely worked with Snyder during the conception of Justice League's story, meaning he was there while the filmmaker was crafting his overall vision for the movie. According to him, principal photography wrapped up in December 2016 (he was on-set that day) and the director "spent the next few months editing." Contrary to popular belief, VFX work on a blockbuster can start as early as pre-production, and as Snyder continued to work on his final cut of the film, artists also continued progress on its VFX. In the end, he confirms that there are multiple cuts of Snyder's work before Whedon stepped in, adding "everything was shot and edited into something he screened execs." Oliva's claim lines up with Screen Rant's break down of the real state of Snyder Cut in January of 2018, just a few months after the movie's release. Check out Oliva's thread below:
Snyder himself confirmed that the Snyder Cut exists during his recent fundraising event where he spoke to selected fans. However, he leaves the decision to whether release it or not to Warner Bros. For his part, he continues to release images and talk openly about how his original narrative was supposed to pan out, giving fans a better idea on how much of it is different from the theatrical cut of Justice League. Recently, he shared an image of Silas Stone, Cyborg's dad's intended death and may have confirmed the film's original Ares actor who wasn't credited in the film after the villain's planned fight with Darkseid was cut.
All things considered, it's safe to say that the the debate over the existence of the Snyder Cut can finally rest. Not that it matters much to those backing the campaign what state the director's cut is since they only really want to know how Snyder's narrative was supposed to pan out, but it's obviously a welcome detail that it's not as incomplete as initially perceived by many. It's now up to Warner Bros. if they will heed to the requests of countless fans and roll out the much-clamored cut of Justice League.
Source: Jay Oliva
