Well, it happened.Zack Snyder’s cut of his failed superhero team-up movieJustice Leaguewill see a release on Warner Media’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform HBO Max sometime in 2021. Members of the movement, who have been hectoring Warner Bros. to release this version of the movie, see it as a giant win; everyone else should be worried about what this means for the rest of cinema.
The saga of Snyder’sJustice Leaguestarts long before the Internet began crying out for “The Snyder Cut;” the production of the movie was fraught, and Warner Bros. started second-guessing their decision to go all in on Snyder onceBatman v. Superman: Dawn of Justicebecome a commercial disappointment and a critical disaster. An original plan for twoJustice Leaguemovies was reduced down to one and the shape of the DC Extended Universe, Warner’s attempt for a Marvel Studios-style series of interconnected films, grew foggier and less defined. Eventually, Snyder left the project in the wake of a personal tragedy. They replaced Snyder withJoss Whedon, the writer-director ofThe Avengersand its sequel, who had a few short months to do the unthinkable: fix a giant cruise ship with a busted hull that was quickly taking on water.
Fans imagined that the rough cut ofJustice Leaguethat Snyder submitted to the studio was better than the one that was released into theaters in November 2017. They shared the hash tag on Twitter, bought billboards in California and New York, flew planes with a giant sign that said “Release the Snyder Cut” trailing behind it. They even got corporations like Subway to contribute to the cause. Worst of all they cloaked their activity, which grew into something of a public nuisance, under the shadow of charity. They regularly contributed to suicide prevention foundations, which on the outset seems noble but really was a way of concealing what they were actually doing: bullyingeveryone.
They bullied those who suggested that maybe the Snyder version, which would require tens of millions of dollars to finish the audio and visual effects, might actually be the worse version. (Who would want to watch a half-finished movie anyway? The skeptics wondered.) They bullied those who thought that the theatrically released version was good. But most of all they bullied Warner Bros., who clearly went in a completely different direction from what Snyder was planning. (According to areport in the New York Times, Whedon wrote80 new pages of material.) Fans in the industry began asking anyone involved with the film about what they thought about the Snyder Cut and whether or not they thought it should be seen. One of the most vocal supporters of the movement on Twitter described the move by Warner Bros. as “sabotage,” failing to acknowledge that if the version Snyder submitted was so good, then Warners would have probably, you know,released itin the first place.
As Snyder eventually began stoking the movement, so too did several stars of the film (includingBen Affleck,Jason Momoa,Henry CavillandGal Gadot). It seemed like a profound waste of everyone’s time and further evidence that the only tool in this movement’s arsenal was aggressive, unpleasant forcefulness.
The fact that Warner Bros. has not only acknowledged this incredibly obnoxious fan uproar but also agreed to, per their demands, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, is mystifying and potentially dangerous. The message is clear: if you bitch and moan enough, chances are that the studio might not only hear you butagree with you. The fan uproar, which was, at the very least very annoying and at the very worst (especially on Twitter) actively threatening, has been vindicated. Their methods have been approved. Everything that they did had a purpose, because Warner Bros. has finally given them what they want.
We have seen the shadow of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement rear its ugly head recently, with the release ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Fans, convinced thatJ.J. Abrams’ had an original cut that was far superior to the one that Disney andKathy Kennedyreleased into theaters, began whining to #ReleaseTheJJCut. I’ve talked to several people involved with the film who said that it was a trial to get any cut ready for its December release, so the idea that an entirely separate version exists is laughable. Like any good conspiracy theory, the fact that it couldn’t be true doesn’t really matter. The idea that Snyder or Abrams have toiled away on some unseen masterpiece is ultimately more comforting than the reality of the situation that they just made lousy movies.
For as long as the movement has raged, Warner Bros. has done the right thing and simply ignored them. The internet already gave them a voice when they shouldn’t have had one. Yesterday, the studio gave them something they never expected but always craved: legitimacy. And now we’re screwed. Fans, displeased by perceived slights, will now beinsufferable. Not only will they demand alternate versions of movies more often, but their rhetoric will infect the release of this (and any other) DC property. If Warner Bros. thought that this would quiet them down, it won’t. If anything, it will amplify their voices. The entitlement is already unbearable.
You also have to feel for the creative talent involved in trying to fix Snyder’s problem, from Whedon to the countless artists and technicians who labored day and night to meet the release date. It also won’t be fun forMatt Reeves, director of the forthcomingThe Batman, to be asked questions aboutthis versionof the character while he’s working to establish his own take on the material.
And it would be wise to remember that this is not a case of an artist having his paintbrush taken away from him midway through completing his masterpiece.Justice Leagueis a corporate product, one designed to sell Happy Meals and bed sheets and pave the way for additional, equally unambitious product. Snyder agreed to provide something and didn’t follow through. Now Warner Bros. is going back on its commitment and instead is just giving fanssomething(it’s unclear now if it’ll even be a movie;it could be a miniseries). Warner Bros. has been bullied worst of all (not that their behavior regarding Snyder’s dismissal was all that admirable) and they have responded in kind:Here, just have it, now leave me alone. But bullies are never done. They’ll be back. And we’ll all have to pay for it.
Read what the “Snyder Cut"actually means, how itcame to be, and whether or notit’ll be a movie at all.
