Movies released in theaters are not always entirely how the director envisioned them. Unless the director has final cut, the studio can make changes to a movie without the filmmaker's consent. And it's happened to the best of them, like George Lucas with THX 1138, Richard Donner with Superman II, David Fincher with Alien 3, and Ridley Scott with Blade Runner.
Zack Snyder's Justice League had a particularly turbulent history. Zack Snyder tragically lost his daughter during the post-production of Justice League and relinquished his directorial duties. Controversially, Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Avengers) took over the post-production of Justice League, rewrote parts of the film, and did a number of reshoots.
Although I liked it, Whedon's version of Justice League left unanswered questions, like about the dream sequence in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Interestingly, with all Whedon's changes in Justice League, the director credit still went solely to Zack Snyder.
Not long after the release of Justice League in 2017, a campaign to release Zack Snyder's original version began online, and the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hastag quickly became popular on social media. On May 20, 2020, Warner Bros. announced the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League exclusively on HBO Max to the glee of hardcore fans.
I signed up with the streaming service mainly to see the "Snyder Cut" and was not disappointed. People complained about it being too long with its 4-hour running time, but I think the movie was made primarily for the fans. Zack Snyder's Justice League is separated into several parts, so if the length is an issue, I would view it more like a mini-series than a feature-length film.
However, to fully understand and appreciate Justice League, you must first see these preceding DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films, which I recommend watching in this order:
- Man of Steel
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)
- Wonder Woman
(Aquaman follows after Justice League and continues Aquaman's storyline.)
Zack Snyder's Justice League doesn't have as many superheroes in a huge finale as in Avengers: Endgame, and it slows down at times, but when there is action, it has some of the best action sequences in typical Zack Synder fashion. Moreover, Justice League focuses a lot on character, and it's just a great story, much to the credit of Chris Terrio, who also wrote Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and co-wrote Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with J.J. Abrams.
I've thoroughly enjoyed both Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe, and although this is probably blasphemous, I actually like Justice League more than Avengers: Endgame. Zack Snyder's Justice League is not just a spectacular superhero film. It's an exceptional director's cut that almost didn't see the light of day if it weren't for the fans.
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