Sophia Michaels
Not many comic book movies underperform in this superhero era, but one that did was Justice League, the DCEU’s attempt at their very own Avengers. The super-production ran into a lot of trouble, and the version that stumbled into theaters in the fall of 2018 was noticeably not long, misshapen, and anti-climactic. Since then calls for the “Snyder Cut,” which restores something like original director Zack Snyder’s vision, has been a nerd clarion call — and one that was belatedly heard Wednesday, when it was revealed that version would be making a belated appearance on HBO Max. Many were excited, not least of them Kevin Smith.
ComicBook.com reached out to the filmmaker and peerless comics super-fan to see how he was taking the news. And, well, he was predictably stoked. “So happy that Zack gets to complete his vision!” Smith told the site. “Many thanks to the folks at HBO Max for making this happen, but the passion of fandom is the unsung hero here! Congrats to all the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut folks for never losing faith!”
Also excited: two of its stars, Henry Cavill and Jason Momoa. Superman and Aquaman, respectively, both took to Instagram to celebrate news they had long publicly hoped would come true.
“Now, I know there have been two camps over the whole Snyder Cut thing and whether it will ever happen for a while,” the past and possibly future Clark Kent wrote. “Just remember, we all get to have more Justice League now, it’s a win win.”
Meanwhile, Momoa was so stoked he misspelled “you’re welcome.”
Of course, Smith, Cavill, Momoa, and everyone else will have to wait awhile; the “Snyder Cut” won’t be ready for the service until 2021. But when it drops there will be almost twice as much of it as there was in 2017, with a running time approaching four hours, the film divided into sections/episodes à la prestige TV. Considering how much footage from the trailers that never made the theatrical cut, a Justice League that’s longer than a single series of Fleabag seems about right.
There were many issues that plagued Justice League during production, not least being the tragic loss mid-shoot of his daughter Autumn, which caused him to drop out. He was replaced by no less than Joss Whedon, but he was unable to bring to the film what he’d previously brought to the first two Avengers outings. In any case, we’ll find out what happens next year.
Written by: Uproxx
