The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut social media campaign is one that I often felt was foolhardy– something that not only didn’t need to happen but could not happen due to the fact that Snyder left the film project a portion of the way through, so he couldn’t possibly have a complete cut of his own. Turns out, this might actually still be true, but we are getting the #SnyderCut anyway next year through HBO.
Earlier today, Snyder himself, along with the cast and crew of Justice League confirmed that the Snyder Cut will be coming in 2021 exclusively to HBO Max, an upgrade to HBO’s current streaming services in response to something that fans allegedly demanded (I don’t think the majority of fans ever really demanded it, but Snyder and the crew wanted a different release of the film since a large amount of these fans despised what ended up in theaters).
This is real. #releasethesnydercut@HBOMax pic.twitter.com/Cnvupwg48W
— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) May 20, 2020
#ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Only on HBO Max 2021. @ZackSnyder https://t.co/cfXCK1B6pA pic.twitter.com/hqeA9i7tTL
— HBO Max (@hbomax) May 20, 2020
“You probably saw one-fourth of what I did“
-Zack Snyder
The whole thing around this has been super weird, to say the least. And not only because this is years later but because there really is no way to completely redeem the blunder that was 2018’s Justice League. The other odd thing with this is that it just further proves that there never was a completed Snyder Cut in the first place. Why? Well, there could not have been since he left production some point through, but also because this project is allegedly going to cost an additional $20-$30 million to make with new content in.
Among this new content is allegedly some reshoots with at least some of the original cast possibly returning in some capacity. As to who or for how much of this supposed new footage is unknown at this time, since the project is underway currently and doesn’t have a ton of details out there just yet.
Personally, I am not a fan of Zack Snyder. If the guy knew how to direct, his movies wouldn’t all be 4+ hours long, as you would have to figure that one of the basics of film school for directors is to be able to tell a good story within the common allotted time for theaters. Or, simply make the film in two parts. Cramming everything together and bitching about it years after the fact because your film turned out lousy isn’t exactly professional, either.
With the above being said, I am not too sure how interested people will be having to sit through a 5-hour cut of Justice League, as it will likely just be more of the same things people didn’t like in the first place. And considering many fans, in general, can’t stand the way Warner Bros, DC, and Zack Snyder rushed their shared universe in the first place, I don’t think reshooting and appending some new scenes to a relatively panned movie by critics will ever be enough to redeem it.
