CS Soapbox: Why Warner Bros. Won’t Restore the SnyderVerse
Because it’s the right thing …
As you know, Zack Snyder Justice League Recently posted on HBO Max and there’s no denying it’s a win for the internet, but more importantly, it’s a win for Snyder and creatives everywhere … or is it? After the start of the DC Extended Universe with man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of JusticeWarner Bros. panicked. The latter was targeted by critics, which those in their ivory towers attributed to a tone opposite the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the popular girl at school whose influence is a by-product of patience and understanding.
You can’t just join the cheerleading team and expect everyone to like you. Well, you could probably 20 years ago – when the best comic book movie was X-Men (still a blast) – but not now. Now invented storytelling does not go unnoticed. Mimic your competition by sabotaging the vision behind films such as Suicide squad and Justice League AKA “Josstice League”. Ironically, much of his character development and story fell victim to the studio’s desire for a lighter shade and therefore resembles a Gothic icon: Frankenstein’s monster.
RELATED: Connie Nielsen Talks About Zack Snyder’s Justice League & WW84!
In 2017 Snyder left the production of Justice League due to a family tragedy. In one of the most transparent moves ever made, WB hired Joss Whedon (The Avengers) to step in and do what they wanted: use a fraction of Snyder’s ideas and do an off-brand Avengers movie without actually establishing any of his heroes. Shortly after the Josstice League bombing, WB and DC Films abandoned their original plan to expand everyone Justice League Character including cyborg on a solo excursion.
Most of the scenes from Cyborg have been removed or re-recorded in the theatrical version, reducing Ray Fischer’s character to an afterthought that says “Booyah”. After the film was released, Snyder claimed that cyborg was his heart Justice League. This sparked (among other things) the pop culture phenomenon known as the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement.
RELATED: CS Video: Zack Snyder on Introducing the New Gods in the Justice League!
Now that Snyder has 4 hours Justice League has finally found his way to HBO Max, Cyborg has proven his breakout (and main) character and ends up being round and ready for his movie. It would be one thing if this was the only Dr. of the Snyder Cut would beastic improvement. It is not. Flash’s arc is almost entirely different. Instead of being an insecure coward who “pushes people and runs away”, he is confident in his abilities and saves the whole world by running faster than the speed of light and turning back time – a sequence (like many other seemingly essential scenes) that never exist should have been cut / changed. Apparently, WB thought that Flash, traveling back in time, could potentially confuse comic book fans (who are more than familiar with “Speed Force”).
RELATED: 10 Scenes in the 2017 Justice League We’re Shocked by Zack Snyder Shot
The list of improvements goes on: Steppenwolf’s mother problems are gone (replaced with Darkseid problems) and Batman, Aquaman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (even if their theme music is a bit much) all benefit from a cohesive, R-rated vision planting Intrigue for apocoliptic rates. In the Josstice League, Batfleck wouldn’t dare drop an F-bomb.
Snyder Cut’s Knightmare epilogue gives us a glimpse of what Snyder is up to for his sequels (a dead Lois Lane, an evil Superman, and a league desperate to rewrite history), Deathstroke, Martian Manhunter, and Jared Leto’s Joker Stock had – another figure that thrives thanks to a faithful aesthetic. That said, Leto’s cameo resurrected interest in David Ayer’s cut Suicide squad, Another film was gutted due to studio interference. #ReleaseTheAyerCut and #RestoreTheSnyderVerse are both trending, the latter has been tweeted over 1 million times. In the logic of “the customer is always right“It seems like a no-brainer for WB to do Snyder’s.” Justice League Canon, and continue its story …
RELATED: Zack & Deborah Snyder Talk about Zack Snyder’s Justice League
In an interview, Ann Sarnoff, CEO of Warner Media Studios, didn’t just say:We’re not going to develop David Ayer’s editing (of Suicide squad) ”, But when asked about restoring Snyder’s verse, I kept the line:
“I appreciate that you love Zack’s work and we are very grateful for all of his contributions to DC. We’re just so happy that he was able to bring his part of the Justice League to life, because that was only planned about a year ago. This completes the completion of his trilogy. We’re very glad we did, but we’re very excited about the plans we have for all of the multidimensional DC characters that are in development. “
WHY WOULD WB GREENLIGHT NOT SEQUELS WHEN MONEY HAS TO BE MADE?
This means admitting that they were wrong about the creative direction and drama behind the scenes. In particular, the internal investigation of the Justice League Additional payments and allegedly Abusive / Discriminatory Behavior by Whedon, Jon Berg, and Geoff Johns.
Despite Cyborg’s insignificant role in the Josstice League, the imminent one stands The Lightning The film should contain a cyborg cameo. However, Fisher resigned from the project after his allegations against the above executives were denied. In this venture, Fisher has expressed an interest in repeating his role, but has publicly stated that he will not be working under the current President of DC Entertainment, Walter Hamada. Even if everyone did nice, a future Cyborg The film (which takes place outside of the Snyder verse) would start after the Josstice League and undercut a beloved arc and arguably the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement (which Fisher was / is a huge proponent of).
It is not unreasonable to assume that Fisher (and Joe Morton’s stellar and again essential work as Silas Stone) was dropped from the Josstice League because of everything that was going on. Zheng Kai’s role as Ryan Choi AKA The Atom has also been cut – something that likely would have made a future film starring the cinema’s first Asian superhero. Or maybe they just didn’t want to invest in an almost complete CGI character and used the bare minimum for their precious movie time. Anyway, Snyder Justice League does what they wanted: it creates a rich, vast and deep cinematic universe with endless possibilities. Better still, it separates from the MCU.
RELATED: Zack Snyder’s Justice League Featurette Explores Snyder Cut Journey
Does admitting that it was wrong about Snyder also mean recognizing a toxic work environment?
One has to assume that the studio didn’t want Snyders Justice League be good. Her ideal scenario was one where the 4 hour cut is either just as bad as the theatrical version or just fine – silencing the fans and reiterating their decision to neglect Cyborg and be with another Batman, Superman, TV -Shows etc. to continue development, rumors were even spread that it was “unobservable”. Then there’s the incident where it “leaked” during a period on HBO Max Tom Jerry Glitch – a bug that supposedly was “fixed in minutes,” although many claim to have captured at least an hour of the film. Unfortunately for WB, the Snyder Cut lived up to the highest expectations and the theatrical version proved less than outstanding.
RELATED: Jared Leto Supports Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad
From this perspective, the release of the Snyder Cut backfired. Releasing the Ayer Cut could mean repeating the same mistake. Especially since his spiritual restart, James Gunns The suicide squad (another Marvel director, go figure) is out this year. You could continue the Snyder verse. Hell, in addition to a cyborg movie, they could even do the Batfleck movie Justice League set up. You can now do whatever you want after taking full advantage of the multiverse hype, reconnecting and claiming your business model everything The cinematic iterations we saw before are valid (except for Snyders, of course Justice League) – which, to be honest, is lazy.
Everything about Snyders Justice League feels right. Not because it’s a perfect film, but because of its development, originality and heart. From pervasive family and inheritance issues to its final and most important aspect: its commitment. For the fall. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut is social media done right, its power successfully harnessed forever – a shining example of how fans have the power to support those who deserve it.
#RestoreTheSnyderVerse pic.twitter.com/8hD0pTilpJ
– BossLogic (@Bosslogic) March 28, 2021
Never in the history of cinema were sequels not made when there was a demand for them. When #RestoreTheSnyderVerse (or #ReleaseTheAyerCut) gets as much traction as the previous move, who knows what can happen. Keep watching and tweeting again. Cue the petitions.
