The full course of the DC Extended Universe may not have been charted yet when Zack Snyder was first hired to direct Man of Steel (some people would say that plan still hasn't developed today) but that modern cinematic take on the Last Son of Krypton ultimately ended up serving as a springboard for the entirety of the DCEU. Snyder returned for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which he sowed the seeds of a full blown DC movie universe. He also served as a producer for Suicide Squad (and even shot the Flash cameo for director David Ayer) and also got story and producer credits on Wonder Woman and also served as director on Justice League - at least initially.
While every movie but Wonder Woman was met with severe backlash, Snyder's work in getting the DCEU off the ground is undeniable, and with the franchise's first four films bringing in over $3 billion of revenue for Warner Bros., it's hard to say his vision has been anything but successful. Divisive? Sure. Polarizing? Definitely. But, nonetheless, very successful. Tragically, Snyder's family was rocked by the terrible news of the death of his daughter during the production of Justice League, leaving the director to hand the movie off to Avengers director Joss Whedon (whom Snyder had already recruited to write some additional dialogue) so he could spend some much needed time with family.
Due to the nature of news surrounding the DCEU, the negativity that tends to be leveled at Snyder's contributions, and the fact that he's been replaced by Joss Whedon - very much Snyder's mirror image in many respects - has raised the question of whether or not Warner Bros. is using Snyder's exit to pivot the entire universe away from the vision he helped conceive to something more in-line with Marvel - a universe Whedon also helped build. Repeated rumors over the true extent of the reshoots only fan the flames, and Joss Whedon bringing in Danny Elfman to replace Junkie XL, the composer Snyder had selected for the project, seemed to be clear writing on the wall.
Now, a new report from Mashable purports that Zack Snyder's role in the DCEU won't be ramping back up after Justice League, and his future involvement with the franchise is going to be significantly diminished, seemingly confirming - at least for some - that Snyder's influence on Justice League has been totally usurped as Geoff Johns and Joss Whedon take the franchise in a fresh direction free of Snyder's polarizing aesthetic, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Snyder%27s%20Directors%20Guild%20Rights']
Warner Bros. Can't Limit Snyder's Involvement
While it's not a typical topic of conversation in the film community, the recent firing of Lord and Miller from the Han Solo Star Wars spin-off movie and Snyder's decision to step down from Justice League have both led to lots of recent discussion over the creative rights of directors per the Directors Guild of America. You can view the full rights of the director here, but we have included some relevant points below:
- If you have directed 100% of the scheduled principal photography, you have the right to direct any additional scenes and retakes, subject only to your availability. If unavailable, you must be allowed to consult with the person who directs this photography. (7-1001)
- The Producer must allow you to be present at all times and be consulted throughout the entire post-production period. You must have a reasonable opportunity to discuss the last version of the film before negative cutting or dubbing, whichever is first. (7-506)
- The Director shall be responsible for the presentation of his or her cut of the motion picture (herein referred to as the “Director’s Cut”) and it is understood that his or her assignment is not complete until he or she has presented the Director’s Cut to the Employer, subject to the terms and conditions of this BA, as soon as possible within the time period hereinafter provided for.Subject to Paragraph 7-505(g)(2), no one other than the Director may supervise the editing of the first cut of the film following completion of the editor’s assembly, but if the Director refuses to, or due to incapacity, cannot supervise the first cut, the Employer may assign another person to edit the film. Within one (1) day following such an assignment, the Employer shall send the Guild written notice thereof. 7-501
- The Producer may not use the company’s scheduling authority or the post-production locale to undermine your creative rights. (7-506, 7-512)
In the case of Lord and Miller, they were replaced with 3 weeks of shooting to go, meaning they didn't complete the requisite 100% of principal photography mentioned above, so the situation with Han Solo is completely different from Justice League, since Zack Snyder did complete 100% of principal photography. As such, there are several things he's entitled to per the above. To summarize in plain English, Zack Snyder has rights to: 1- consultation with Joss Whedon over reshoots, 2- post production creative rights, 3- a director's cut and supervision of editing, and 4- these rights cannot be impeded or impaired in any way.
So, despite Snyder opting to have Joss Whedon step in to complete additional photography, he has not compromised any of these guaranteed rights since he completed 100% of principal photography prior to taking time off. For all intents and purposes, at least on paper, Zack Snyder still has just as much control over Justice League as he's ever had and could exercise it when he wants. The question is whether or not that's a power he intends to wield.
Page 3: [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='How%20Involved%20Does%20he%20Want%20to%20Be%3F']
Does Zack Snyder Still Want to be Involved?
Initially, the question of Zack Snyder's desire to remain involved seemed to be answerable with a simple "no," seeing as he's the one that made the decision to step away in the first place; however, Mashable's report on his future with DC included a statement from Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros. president and chief content officer:
"The Snyders remain an important part of the Warner Bros. family and are actively involved in several upcoming DC pictures, including their continued creative input on Justice League. We are excited about our partnership and look forward to our continued collaboration."
This clearly flies in the face of many assumptions that Joss Whedon has been given full control of the picture, and sheds more light on producer Charles Roven's initial explanation that Whedon was stepping in "to help Zack finish his vision" (as opposed to "finish Zack's vision for him"). Now that we know Snyder's DGA rights and have confirmation from Toby Emmerich that the Snyders are still actively providing creative input on Justice League, it becomes clear that Whedon hasn't actually taken the project over - he's acting more as a surrogate than a replacement - and as anyone familiar Snyder's style should note: the Comic-Con trailer is very clearly a Zack Snyder vision through and through.
This is not to say Snyder is still completely directing the movie from afar, he's definitely lessened his involvement, but he also hasn't shut himself off from production entirely, either. Going back to his original statement regarding his departure, his words shed some light on his decision to step down:
“Here’s the thing, I never planned to make this public... I thought it would just be in the family, a private matter, our private sorrow that we would deal with. When it became obvious that I need to take a break, I knew there would be narratives created on the internet. They’ll do what they do. The truth is … I’m past caring about that kind of thing now.”
He says he's "past caring" about internet narratives, referring to the way many people - and even some members of the media - have a history of leveling incredibly harsh criticism against him, sometimes straying beyond the realm of his movies and actually attacking him as a person, something that must be hard enough to deal with on a daily basis, much less during a time of grieving.
In stepping away - yet maintaining creative involvement - the biggest responsibility he's handing off to other team members (aside from physically being present on-set) is his participation in weeks of promotional interviews and etc with the same press that have been historically hard on him. As such, he notably didn't attend Comic-Con for the first time since joining the DCEU, leaving it to Ben Affleck, who's an Executive Producer on Justice League, to serve as ringleader for the Hall H presentation. As far as the pre-release promotion goes, it's more than understandable why Snyder wouldn't want anything to do with that after this loss, so Affleck, Whedon, Geoff Johns, or other producers will likely fill his shoes for those functions.
So, while it's difficult to quantify the exact nature of Snyder's continued involvement Justice League (and beyond), his DGA rights entitle him to the exact same level of authority he held prior to stepping away, Joss Whedon is said to be helping him complete his vision, and Snyder still maintains some level of direct creative input through the reshoots, and presumably post production. Taking all this into account, it becomes a lot more clear why Joss Whedon isn't expected to get a director's credit on the movie. While he was involved in the film prior to Snyder's departure and wrote some extra scenes on behalf of the director, Justice League's director credit will ultimately go to Zack Snyder, as it's still his movie.
