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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Nearly one week ago, filmmaker Zach Snyder announced his director’s cut of the DC film Justice League would be released on the HBO Max streaming service. After some events, he took a leave of absence and another director resumed principal photography of the project, resulting in a final product with an unfortunate box office outcome and mixed reactions from critics and fans.
Revelations after BVS
Late last March, Snyder invited some devoted fans to the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California to view his director’s cuts of Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with the purpose of celebrating his birthday as well as his past works and spending time with the fans.
During the event’s Q&A session, Snyder stated that he and screenwriter Chris Terrio (Argo, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) had completed their screenplay for Justice League prior to the release of BVS, however, they had to rewrite the script at Warner Brothers’ behest. He also added that the original script would involve a darker story that would further explicate BVS‘s Knightmare sequence, where Barry Allen’s Flash (Ezra Miller) would visit Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) in his Batcave.
In this version of Justice League:
- Darkseid would have taken over planet Earth in the distant future, and Clark Kent/ Superman (Henry Cavill) would give in to the Anti-Life Equation.
- A few surviving members of the Justice League would continue to stop the war. Batman and a top half of Victor Stone/ Cyborg (Ray Fisher) — torn asunder by perhaps Steppenwolf — would work on getting the Flash to the past via time travel and warn Bruce Wayne of events to come.
- Bruce would reveal to Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) future Barry Allen’s visit and his warning that Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is the key to saving the world. Lane’s death would result in Kent’s succumbing to the Anti-Life.
- Time travel would work based on quantum entanglement. That is, the world may atomically need to be in the same position in two separate points in time. Batman and Cyborg would have two windows to jump through. The former would jump through the correct one to enter into the Batcave and save Lane’s life from being killed by Darkseid, who would soon arrive via Boom Tube portal.
All this — Snyder said — felt overwhelming to Warner Brothers, but there’s more!
Vero
Snyder has also revealed unreleased stills and behind-the-scenes photographs on his Vero account, which shows other scenes, characters, and a few new sub-story arcs that would have made the cut. From oldest to newest, here are what he posted:
- Cyborg and the Mother Box
Victor Stone would go into the Mother Box and see a vision of himself with his parents before his accident. This would probably be during his transformation into Cyborg and might also serve as a flashback to his deceased mother Elinore Stone (Karen Bryson).
- #UxasandtheAntilife
On Father’s Day last year, a picture of Darkseid captioned by his real name Prince Uxas, who killed his brother Drax.
- “Vic pounds the earth at the family plot”
Cyborg would have an emotional moment at a gravesite, perhaps his mother’s.
- The Seventh Member
General (and later, Secretary of Defense) Calvin Swanwick, played by Harry Lennix, would be revealed to be Martian Manhunter. The character played a role in 2013’s Man of Steel and made a cameo in 2016’s BVS.
He could also be the seventh member of the Justice League. In 2015 to 2017, fans speculated this final member that would “Unite the Seven” would be either Martian Manhunter, Billy Batson’s Shazam, or a Green Lantern. (At this point, we still don’t understand what this means. For all we know, this could be a reference to Arthur Curry/ Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) and the Seven Seas.)
- Iris West’s screentime
Barry Allen’s love interest, played by Kiersey Clemons (Dope, Neighbors 2), ultimately had her scenes cut from the theatrical version.
Whether she will make an appearance in the Snyder Cut will need to be confirmed.
- Steppenwolf and Silas Stone
Cyborg would protect his father from Darkseid’s relative.
- Nuidis Vulko
Like Kiersey Clemons, Willem Dafoe had scenes filmed as Arthur Curry’s mentor, although was cut from the theatrical cut of the film.
- Mera
Amber Heard would have more screentime as well. Curry’s scenes with Mera and Vulko would tie directly to his solo film Aquaman, although Momoa has said that they may not be necessary for the Snyder Cut.
- Superman’s black suit
One of the most anticipated elements of the story would be Clark Kent’s resurrection from the grave, wearing the iconic black suit from the comics after being killed by Doomsday. At the end of BVS, Superman was impaled and mortally wounded by the villain. The final scene of the film showed a shot of his coffin, with a quick glimpse of gravel shaking atop.
We should take this tease with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, this would be a good look on Superman!
- The Justice League at another gravesite
Cyborg would be accompanied by Barry Allen(?) at Clark Kent(?)’s gravesite, with Arthur Curry and Diana Prince waiting nearby.
The details of this scene may need to be confirmed.
- “Uxas clearing the defenders of [E]arth from the anti-life equation”
Darkseid would kill Earth’s defenders, which involves humans, Atlanteans, Green Lanterns, Amazons, and Olympian Gods, one of whom is Ares, the Greek God of War, played by David Thewlis (the Harry Potter franchise). Ares briefly appeared in the theatrical cut of Justice League, where he fought Steppenwolf and his Parademon army. In the Snyder Cut, a younger Darkseid would have led this army.
Thewlis and his character also had a larger role earlier in 2017’s other DC film Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins.
- Atom
Character Ryan Choi’s Atom would make his debut appearance in the DC Extended Universe, working alongside Silas Stone at STAR Labs. His screentime had been filmed although it was ultimately cut from the theatrical version. He was portrayed by Chinese actor Zheng Kai.
A few days ago, Zack Snyder posted another photo of Kai as Choi, under which is a caption that reads “This will be fun”.
Man of Steel Watch Party Q&A
At the end of his viewing party of his first Superman film last week, Snyder answered some fans’ questions.
Daniella Cares of Chile asked when the Snyder Cut would be released. At the 2:58:19 minute mark, he answered this question with a photograph of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” confirming that it would indeed be released on HBO Max sometime in 2021.
The official social media accounts for HBO Max and DC Comics corroborated this to be true.
#ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Only on HBO Max 2021. @ZackSnyder https://t.co/cfXCK1B6pA pic.twitter.com/hqeA9i7tTL
— HBO Max (@hbomax) May 20, 2020
According to the filmmaker himself:
[The film] will probably be in ’21 — the actual release — [be]cause we got a little work to do, but we’re doing it, so get ready.
Several actors of the Extended Universe also reached out on social media to express their gratitude and support.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAa5XtwBaTX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
2021. @ZackSnyder. @HBOMax. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/SxAhzazIRb
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) May 21, 2020
Ray Fisher reflects on the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut announcement… pic.twitter.com/pBwJkwKllL
— DR Movie News 📽 (@DRMovieNews1) May 21, 2020
2021. @ZackSnyder. @HBOMax. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/SxAhzazIRb
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) May 21, 2020
Re: Justice League and the Snyder cut… Things don't Just happen–things happen Just. pic.twitter.com/vcTD2D0Z5p
— Harry J. Lennix (@HarryJLennix) May 22, 2020
FUCK YEA JASON #ReleaseTheSnyderCut https://t.co/GMKDRMnST2
— 🪐 (@boomborks) May 20, 2020
One thing that’s important to note here is actor Joe Manganiello’s post about its original ends-credits scene, which may have included his character Slade Wilson/ Deathstroke in perhaps a larger capacity.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAa_DoxBdMo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Snyder is working on reassembling the cast and crew of Justice League to complete his intended version of the film.
At the same time of this cut’s announcement, Ray Porter (Almost Famous, Argo) took to Twitter to announce he portrayed Darkseid in the Snyder Cut, however, he said he would not answer any questions until we get closer to 2021. While fans wait, we can’t be too sure of his official return to the role; for all we know, he may or may not be replaced.
https://twitter.com/Ray__Porter/status/1263982099377188864?s=20
The director’s cut of the film was said to be three to four hours long, however the project was reduced and reshot at the studio’s request to fit an allotted two-hour runtime. Its release means so much to the die-hard fans, actors, and crew members who put in the effort to make this project come to fruition.
All this information is just the tip of the iceberg, and while the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be resolved, the Snyder Cut of Justice League will have to wait to be worked on in time for its hopeful release in 2021.
Until then, we must also anticipate Snyder’s upcoming Netflix project, Army of the Dead, which has already finished production. The film will involve actors Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Chris D’Elia, Theo Rossi, and others, and revolves around a group of mercenaries plotting a heist on a Las Vegas casino during a zombie outbreak. Now — during an actual pandemic — would be a neat time to release this film!
What do you think? Did we get any of this information correct? What did we miss? Would you watch this version of the movie? We would like to know! For more DC and HBO Max-related news and reviews follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
HBO Max is available for streaming soon!
Sources: Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition Q&A via YouTube, Man of Steel Live-Stream, and Zack Snyder’s Vero account
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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