The Troubled Production of Zack Snyder's Justice League

Hi, Everybody! So... last week Zack Snyder's original vision of Justice League finally came out on HBO Max. A 4-hour superhero epic that was nothing short of brilliant! It was long time coming and I never thought that this film would never see the light of day. Here is the story of Zack Snyder's Justice League.

Superhero movies based on DC Comics dates all the way back to 1966 with Batman, well before that, there was 1943's Batman, the first live-action Batman movie. At the time, the DC Comics brand wasn't owned by Warner Bros. until the 1970s-1980s. The first live-action Superman came out in 1978 with the a movie of the same name which made moviegoers believe that Christopher Reeve can fly, live-action Wonder Woman came out in 1975, live-action Flash(technically it's Jay Gerrick and not Barry Allen) in 1990 and Aquaman didn't make his first live-action until 2001 with an appearance in the Superman origins TV Show, Smallville and Barry Allen didn't make his live-action appearance until 2013 in the shared media universe, the Arrowverse on The CW. 

After the days of Adam West's Batman were over, it was announced that Tim Burton would direct the next live-action Batman movie and Michael Keaton was cast. As you can imagine, there was immediate speculation and concern as to how this would play out to everyone's surprise, 1989's Batman became the biggest Summer Blockbuster since Jaws, it was praised for Keaton's interpretation of the Caped Crusader, production design and tone, Danny Elfman's iconic musical score and Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker. Batman Returns then followed it, and then Burton left the franchise and Joel Schumacher came in and ruined everything. Both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin went against everything that Tim Burton's version stood for. In 2005, Christopher Nolan renewed the character with a new trilogy which put brand new life in Batman! Seriously, I love this trilogy so much and Christian Bale is the best Batman, you can't tell me otherwise. 

After 1978's Superman's success, a sequel soon followed it and was released in 1980, which also became a success but then, Superman III and Superman IV happened. Which also nearly ruined Superman's legacy. In 2006, Superman Returns, a reboot film directed by Bryan Singer starring Brandon Routh as the new superman attempted to revitalize the franchise just like how Nolan reintroduced Batman for a new generation, it wasn't really that great. In 2013, Henry Cavill was announced as the Superman for another reboot called Man of Steel and was directed by Zack Snyder, who was no stranger to comic book films. The film had a divisive response due to its dark and grim tone and the fact that Superman basically destroyed Metropolis to defeat General Zod. However, over the years, Man of Steel has grown to be more appreciated. The film officially kickstarted a cinematic universe known as the DC Extended Universe, due to the success of the juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

To back-track, 2011's Green Lantern was originally going to kickstart a cinematic universe. We all know how that turned out, right? What Warner Bros. lacked was taking their time to build this universe. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was teased to be a HUGE cinematic event. The hype train could not be thrilling. Do you know how badly I wanted to see Batman and Superman beat the crap out of each other?! It was all I thought about 4 years ago. On March 25th, it finally came out and I was DISAPPOINTED! Not only was the fight very underwhelming and they stopped fighting because they share the same name as their mother, the film had a very inconsistent tone, it was boring, there was Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor that I couldn't stand and it introduced way too many plot elements in one movie. One redeeming quality of BvS is Wonder Woman's first major live-action movie appearance, which made the solo movie even more anticipated and 2017's Wonder Woman became the first critically acclaimed DC comic book movie since The Dark Knight Rises. Not to mention that 2016's Suicide Squad was also a mess and Warner Bros. has now refused to release David Ayer's cut of the movie. 

With Man of Steel and BvS out of the way, a DC superhero team-up movie was inevitable. It was then announced that Justice League was going to be released in 2017, which meant that this was going to be and EPIC movie. The script was developed by Zack Snyder and Chris Terri which was described as "dark" and "scary". According to concept art, scenes involving Apokolips and the New Gods were influenced by the works of H.R. Giger. Steppenwolf and his Parademons were the original villains in Suicide Squad controlling Enchantress by using the Mother Boxes and Darkseid was going to be the primary antagonist of Justice League. Those villains have now appeared in Zack's vision. In Justice League, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Flash team up to stop Steppenwolf and his Parademons from destroying the world and resurrect Superman, who was killed by Doomsday in BvS. The official runtime was 214 minutes long which is also 3 and a half hours long. Warner executives disapproved the cut and claimed it unwatchable. On March 2017, it was reported that Zack Snyder had to step down due to a personal tragedy and Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film. You'd think that the film would be pushed back to save time for the movie to be properly released, right? WRONG. It was still slated to release on November 17th, 2017, meaning that the film was still being reshot and by the time it came out, it look unfinished. 

During reshoots, Henry Cavill was brought back on set with a mustachioed face. He had just finished wrapping Mission:Impossible- Fallout and wanted to shave it off before he arrived but was told for some reason not to shave his face. Hence why you all thought that Superman's face looked "weird".

Justice League: The Theatrical Version, mind you was poorly received due to its inconsistent tone, lack of characterization, very odd humor and terrible CGI effects including Steppenwolf's look and Superman's CGI'ed face. THANK GOD that he got an upgrade in the Snyder Cut. Mind you, this wasn't entirely the filmmaker's fault, actually... you know what? IT IS! In early 2020, actor Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg, spoke out about Joss's toxic and racist behavior on set, which got him removed from the upcoming Flash movie! 

Fans started a movement known as #ReleasetheSnyderCut, and actors Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Ray Fisher supported. Warner Media gave in and was announced that Zack Snyder's Justice League will come out on HBO Max in March 2021 with new additional footage and will be 4 hours long. It was praised for being superior than JOSStice League, great visuals and action sequences. Even Steppenwolf was given more depth as a character. 

While there are now plans for a Justice League sequel, I can only hope that the story is continued in other movies. 

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