Photo courtesy of IndieWire
HBOMax saw the release of Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” on Thursday, March 18, after years of development hell. “Justice League” was a film originally released in 2017 and it received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. During the production of the original film, Snyder suffered a personal loss and was unable to complete the project, leaving directing duties up to Joss Whedon, known for his work on the first two of Marvel’s “Avengers” films and the TV series “Firefly.” Whedon’s uncredited version made drastic changes to the film, specifically giving it a more lighthearted tone and a shorter runtime to appease the executives at Warner Brothers. Following the initial release, rumors began to spread about a different cut of the film and fans started multiple online petitions, with the goal to see Snyder’s original intentions behind the movie being made. Fans became relentless and eventually garnered the attention of actors involved in the original film, such as Jason Momoa, who voiced his support of the project being fully realized.
Finally, on May 20, 2020 during an Instagram live event, Snyder confirmed that the film had been greenlit by Warner Brothers and fans could expect the project by next year. The final cost of this new cut came out to $70 million in order to finish the effects, editing and newly filmed scenes. It was announced that the film would be released exclusively on the HBOMax streaming service following the shutdown of many theaters as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) in the previous film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), an eccentric billionaire by day, masked vigilante Batman by night is wracked with guilt for the role he played in the death of the Man of Steel and wishes to fulfill a promise he made upon his grave. Joined by Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Wayne travels across the country to seek out other heroes, including The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), to ensure that Superman’s sacrifice was not in vain and prevent the threat of invasion by ancient aliens led by Darkseid (Ray Porter), Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and DeSaad (Peter Guinness). In order to do this and form a team, the heroes must overcome their differences and band together to stop this new foe that could take away all they know.
Overall, Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” is a major improvement from its theatrical cut, with more realized characterization particularly toward the antagonist Steppenwolf as well as an overall greater direction by Snyder. Despite being a four-hour movie, the plot, action and performances, especially those from Affleck, Gadot and Miller keep viewers invested throughout. There is no doubt that when it comes to movies, DC Comics has struggled to keep up and succeed with the popularity that has stemmed from their competitor, Marvel. Films released by DC in the past few years have left many unimpressed. Their needlessly dark tones have left little impact, with the exception of the first “Wonder Woman,” which was a box-office success in 2017.
They all just seemed to be back tracking on the formula that worked so well in the previously released works by DC Films like Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” a film series centered on Batman, which took a darker, more realistic approach to telling its narrative and worked because Batman is a complex character that needed these elements for his story to work. They tried to replicate this plan of telling stories for all their other heroes in addition to attempting to keep up with the string of Marvel movies released every year though ultimately, it fell flat.
Seeing Snyder’s “Justice League” get released, despite years of waiting, just goes to show that the fans care tremendously for these characters and don’t care about studios competing with one another. It’s refreshing to see a director, especially for a superhero movie, get to make the final say and see their vision fully complete. From the success the film has generated so far, audiences can only hope that more compelling stories are on the way and that Snyder will play a role in making more movies involving beloved superheroes such as Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman in the years to come.
