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Back in 2017 the movie world was introduced to the Justice League, a film that brought together DC Comic’s most valued heroes, to fight the fight bigger than each could handle themselves. The build up to this film had a rocky start, seeing Zack Snyder direct the first two films which led to this collaboration of mighty heroes. The first picture being Man of Steel, which over time has become highly regarded, but on the release, suffered from mixed reviews and Batman v Superman, which sadly did not reach the heights many had wanted. However, one thing was for sure, Snyder was creating a vision for this universe which stood out. Made them different to that of their competitors, Marvel. This vision had fans sold, even if the films themselves weren’t what the mass wanted.
So, if Zack directed the first 2 films leading up to the Justice League, where was he for this movie landmark? During the filming of JL, a terrible tragedy hit the Snyder family, sadly seeing Zack’s daughter take her own life. Snyder tried to continue with the movie, showing his loyalty to the fans, but found it hard to carry on. With the decision made that he was unable to finish the film, Snyder left the picture, with it being at a near complete stage, and handed the reigns to Avengers’ director, Joss Whedon.
What seemed like a simple job for Whedon; all he had to do was take an almost complete film and see it across the finishing line, WB had other plans. Due to Marvel’s success and DC’s struggles, WB decided to use Whedon to make JL more light and something similar to that of their competition. In such a short space of time the film went through severe reshoots, and what seems like drastic story changes. Almost every scene with Superman had been clearly redone; as you could tell due to the fact they had to CGI he moustache off, which Cavill was legally obliged to keep due to filming Mission Impossible at the time.
There was only one outcome after this – failure. To try and completely change a film, in such a small amount of time, and shift its tone so drastically, in a knee-jerk way, was only going to cause upset. However, all does not seem to be lost, as over the past couple of years evidence has been leaked that Snyder’s vision of Justice League is out there. No one knows what state, but from the evidence we have seen, it is close to complete, which means it is up to Warner Bros. on whether or not they want the world to see what was originally intended.
Due to the recent surge of #RelaseTheSnyderCut hashtags, I felt it made sense to compile 6 reasons on why WB should release Synders vision of The Justice League. So in the words of Heath Ledger, here we go…
1. Closure
Zack had directed 2 of the 4 DC films which lead to Justice League, and overseen the creation of the 3rd and 4th. People were invested in his vision. Even the critics which weren’t fans of his DC films, were still on this journey the director had laid out for us. Justice League was going to close the chapter of Snyder’s vision. It was unfair for WB to take that away from the viewers. Whether or not Snyder’s version of Justice League will be good, everyone wants to see their investment come to a meaningful close. Not left wondering; what if…?
2. XL Junkie’s Score
The one thing which has been a big part of Snyder’s vision for DC has been the music. Hans Zimmer created some of the best music these heroes has ever had and the composers who took up the task of scoring the other movies Zimmer wasn’t on, respected that. XL Junkies score will have continued what him and Hans did for BvS and it was outrageous for Whedon and WB to sack this off and replace it with the classic scores from previous incarnations of the heroes. This was a cheap trick to win hardcore fans over, which didn’t work. Everyone loves the themes that have been created for these heroes, and we deserve to hear them again, in the film they were made for.
3. Respect for Superman
As mentioned above, most of Superman’s scenes were reshot. The reason why they were reshot was to give Superman a lighter feel, which fell more in line with a Christoper Reeve’s type Superman. This was not the Superman Snyder created. Snyder created a Man of Steel with real burden and meaning. He was on journey to become the Superman we all know and love and to completely fast forward was idoitic. It felt forced and inorganic. On top of this, due to Cavill filming Mission Impossible during his reshoots, he was not able to shave, leaving Whedon no choice but to CGI his moustache off. I think i speak for everyone when i say this was one of the worst parts of the movie, due to the CGI tache removal being some of the worst efforts you will ever see, making Cavill look ridiculous. The real Superman is yet to rise from the dead…
4. Darkseid Reveal
Like Thanos for Marvel, Darkseid is one of DC’s greatest villains. He was DC’s Endgame and the end to Zack’s Journey. For WB to try completely cutoff the villain we were leading to is outrageous. Zack had laid the foundations for this brilliant villain perfectly. It left us fans wanting to know more, but WB decided to leave us with that feeling. It’s unfair of them to take such a brilliant character away from us.
5. Respect For Batman
I don’t know about you, but I am unsure what Batman turned up in Justice League, as it wasn’t the brutal, fearless Batman i saw in BvS. The Dark Knight which Whedon served up was borderline embarrassing. With cheesy smiles and oddly placed jokes, there was no wonder Affleck was done with the character. He did not sign up to play such a shallow hero. Zack had done a great job at separating Batman from Nolan’s masterpiece, but it seems that Whedon just wanted to take him back to the Clooney days. I want to see the Batman who could take on a warehouse full of henchmen, not one who rolls around on the floor in pain, like he’s just come out of a Chaplin film.
6. Respect For Snyder
Last, but for me, the most important reason – Respect. Snyder went through one of the most tragic things a human can go through in life and for WB to capitalize on this is, not only disrespectful, but disgusting. Snyder put his blood, sweat and tears into the DC universe, and he deserved more than this. He has been nothing but great to the fans, to the actors, and most importantly the characters. WB should have worked with Snyder to build something that was successful, unique and meaningful, but instead they turned their back on him at the worst possible time. Releasing the original version of the Snyder cut would not only be an apology to the fans but to Zack himself and I believe that’s the least he deserves.
So there you have it, 6 reasons why Warner Bros. should release the Synder cut of Justice League. The hype around this version is picking up momentum by the day and it’s getting to the point where WB are cutting their nose off to spike their face. Do the right thing WB and give everyone what they wanted. Like Paramount did with Sonic, it’s fine to admit a mistake as long as you do everything you can to undo the wrong.
#ReleaseTheSnyderCut
#DC #JusticeLeague
