Shortly before Justice League was released in 2017, director Zack Snyder was unexpectedly called away due to a personal tragedy, and Joss Whedon was enlisted to help complete the film. When this happened, Snyder’s version for the final cut was altered by way of extensive scenes being deleted, script changes, and reshoots. The long awaited Snyder Cut, which began as a fan-led campaign to bring the director’s definitive vision to the public in 2017, will now be released on HBO Max sometime after 2021.
The theatrical version of Justice League clocked in at two hours, the shortest of any DC film so far to include so many superheroes, and with deleted scenes totally a whopping hour and a half of footage restored to it, The Snyder Cut will be three and a half hours of everything fans want to see. But amidst more scenes of Cyborg and Deathstroke, and fewer scenes of Henry Cavill’s horrifying upper lip, will it be able to live up to four years of hype?
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS: HAVE A MORE COMPREHENSIBLE PLOT
One of the biggest problems with the theatrical release of Justice League is that its plot was convoluted and difficult to follow. It seemed like two hours of random scenes crammed together that didn’t seem cohesive, much of that due to reshoots during production.
The Snyder Cut promises to remove some of these reshoots as well as re-order those that remain, ensuring a more linear plot that doesn’t seem incomprehensible to fans no matter how familiar they are with the material.
NEVER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE: SUPERHERO FATIGUE
When Justice League was released, Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, and other superhero films hadn’t yet been released. Now that superhero fatigue has set in, fans may not be as excited as they once were to see the Snyder Cut.
Too much time may have passed for fans to be properly engaged in another version of Justice League, especially when the first version wasn’t that commendable to begin with.
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS: IT WILL HAVE MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
The Justice League was woefully lacking in any sort of chemistry between its main characters, partially because it lacked any sort of character development. Part of the reason for this was because Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and Aquaman all had stand-alone films, but Cyborg and The Flash didn’t.
Justice League had to work overtime to try to shoehorn two origin stories into its running time, as well as force the remaining characters to bond when they seemed to heavily dislike one another. The Snyder Cut will be able to further develop Cyborg and The Flash with deleted scenes, as well as make the entire team seem more like a cohesive unit.
NEVER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE: TOXIC FANS
Every member of a fandom who wants their favorite franchise given a revisit owes credit to the fans responsible for The Snyder Cut campaign. Whether it’s the eighth season of Game of Thrones or Sonic the Hedgehog, since 2017 particularly vocal fans have been able to have their voices heard.
Unfortunately, this sends the message that when push comes to shove, fan pressure works. This also means fan petitions by more toxic fans will now carry the same merit (and there were those among the campaign that sent threats to film critics), and whether The Snyder Cut deserves its time in the spotlight or not, it’s getting it.
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS: IMPROVED VILLAINS
Original concept art for Steppenwolf, the Lord of Apokalopis, looked a lot more terrifying than the villain seen in the theatrical release of Justice League. As seen in Justice League: The Art of the Film, he was meant to resemble something akin to H.R. Giger’s xenomorph from Alien.
Changes in the production for Justice League meant lots of tweaking to Steppenwolf’s appearance, but The Snyder Cut will return him to his former glory. Snyder himself has also teased images of Darkseid, who could emerge as a Thanos-like villain for the DCEU and a truly formidable foe for the Justice League to defeat.
NEVER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE: SNYDER’S DIRECTING STYLE
For all of the fans of Zack Snyder’s directing style, there are just as many (if not more) detractors. The detractors have heard about his extended version of Justice League and they’re choosing to ignore it.
It remains to be seen how many fans and curious viewers will tune into the Snyder Cut, versus how many detractors will refuse to watch it and encourage others to do the same.
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS: BATMAN WILL BE BETTER THAN EVER
There were two immediate concerns that fans had with Batman’s depiction in Justice League; first, he seemed to do nothing but dispense sarcastic one-liners despite having had his faith in humanity restored in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and secondly Ben Affleck seemed woefully out of shape.
Copious reshoots meant that when Affleck was brought back to the set he was suffering from personal trauma, and looked a far cry from the imposing Dark Knight from BvS. The Snyder Cut will restore scenes of Affleck in fighting shape, which is appropriate given it’s his final time wearing the cape and cowl.
NEVER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE: LONGER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER
While Justice League can be viewed as a convoluted film with a scattered narrative, increasing its length to make it more comprehensible may not be the most effective way to accomplish the task.
Replacing the deleted scenes that were filmed for Snyder’s definitive version means adding ninety minutes of footage, for a total run time of three and a half hours, when fans have already complained that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was too long at three hours.
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS: IT WILL HAVE BETTER VISUALS
For a film that should be on par with the Avengers films, Justice League showcased surprisingly lackluster visual effects. One of the main offenses was Henry Cavill’s upper lip, after his real mustache had to be digitally removed for reshoots.
Other areas of ineffective CGI involved Steppenwolf, his minions, and many of the fight sequences in general. The Snyder Cut will clean up any subpar visuals and restore the film to its intended glory.
NEVER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE: THE DARK TONE
In an effort to match Marvel’s success in the superhero genre, the DCEU has pivoted away from the dark tone set by Snyder’s films such as Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League.
It’s more recent fare, such as Birds of Prey and Shazam! have steered clear of the grim and gritty tone that had become the hallmark of the director’s creative choices, and fans may not find a return to it very enticing.
