Don's Digest: The Snyder Cut Lives
“It’s Alive. It’s Alive! It’s ALIVE!!” Okay, that quote is actually from the 1931 James Whale-directed classic, Frankenstein, NOT Justice League. However, it perfectly sums up the never-ending Internet movement known as #ReleasetheSnyderCut.
When Justice League opened in cinemas worldwide in 2017 and was met by a barrage of mediocre reviews and disappointing box office numbers, fans from around the globe were pleading to see the original, intended version of the superhero epic released. For over three years their cries were ignored by studio executives. Some industry experts even went so far as to call the existence of the Snyder Cut nothing more than a pipe dream. Then, less than a week ago, the unthinkable happened: Warner Bros. officially announced that the now legendary Zack Snyder-helmed version of Justice League was scheduled to be released in 2021 on the brand new HBO Max streaming platform.
AND…here, we, GO! To say that this announcement was shocking would be one of the biggest understatements of 2020 (a year that has been full of surprises already). My inner geek could not help but rejoice when I learned that the Snyder Cut is actually being released. After all, I have been a supporter of the #ReleasetheSnyderCut movement ever since it started gaining traction on Twitter last year. I had paid hard earned money to watch and enjoy Justice League back in November 2017 and yet, like many other fans, I felt underwhelmed by the finished product. This is not to say that I didn’t have fun at the cineplex watching the Super Powers Team (yes I actually used THAT moniker) battling it out with an intergalactic warlord and his seemingly innumerable army of Parademons. I actually had a blast while watching Justice League and thought: “It’s about time a DC comics movie not titled Wonder Woman, showcased a glimmer of optimism and fun.” But, something was missing because I still felt as if the build-up to this ensemble piece failed to meet expectations, at least in retrospect.
Well, about 7 months later, a little sleeper hit called Avengers: Infinity War premiered in theaters that basically said: “Oh, that’s how you combine spectacular characters, state of the art visual effects and bombastic battle scenes into cinematic gold?! Hold my beer.” It goes without saying that Justice League became nothing more than a distant memory to those who experienced the magnificence of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes squaring off against the Mad Titan, Thanos. In terms of sheer extravaganza, Avengers: Infinity War (and its follow-up Avengers: Endgame) simply could not be topped. It was at this point that the future of the DC cinematic universe became extremely bleak. Stories began to spread that a lot of changes were in store for future installments: Ben Affleck was replaced with Robert Pattinson in the role of Batman; the Flash solo movie kept trying to find a new director; the Cyborg movie was cancelled; the list could practically have its own editorial. The point is that despite the box office success of films like Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam, DC comics characters were no longer considered to be guaranteed hits with critics or audiences.
Fast forward to May of 2020 and after thousands of online petitions, interviews with the filmmakers involved in the production, and the intense pressure to recoup its losses, Warner Bros has finally dared to give Zack Snyder a chance to complete his vision for Justice League.
According to the director, what we are about to witness next year will be a whole new experience compared to what was released in 2017. The principal cast members will be recording new lines of dialogue, the sub-par visual effects will be revamped, crucial plot points will be restored and best of all, Darkseid the immortal ruler of Apokolips will make his live action cinematic debut. Look out Thanos!
Will the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League meet, exceed, or fall embarrassingly short of expectations? Regardless of where you stand on the issue, you cannot deny that if it does turn out to be a success, DC Comics may finally be able to establish its own cinematic universe and give Marvel Studios the competition it deserves.