Since arriving last week, Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League has mostly met expectations of what the re-edit could accomplish, even if it seems that there won’t be continuing stories in that particular version of the DCEU. And after releasing a short featurette about the production a few days ago, HBO Max has now made Justice League: Justice Is Gray available to stream on the platform.
Added at 12am PST/3am EST today, Justice Is Gray, as the name suggests, is a black-and-white treatment of what we’ve already received. It’s the same 242-minute director’s cut, but with a comprehensive coloring, or uncoloring, pass in the IMAX format.
While this release might not seem like a big deal, it’s worth noting that Snyder considers the picture to be the definitive take on the material, and has recently commented on this subject, calling it “the most fan-centric, most pure Justice League experience. Because that’s how I lived with the movie for two years, in black-and-white.”
In many ways, it makes sense that the director views Justice Is Gray as the best representation of his ideas for the DCEU, as it further emphasizes the epic scope and the mood of the film, which had already been updated from the 2017 theatrical edit. While sitting through the near 4-hour experience may only appeal to diehard fans, people might be more willing to dip back into it as part of Snyder’s plan to include Gray within a SnyderVerse charity marathon later this year.
At this point, it seems unlikely that there’ll be further re-workings of Justice League to enjoy, although Zack apparently does have some extra Joker footage, and there are reports that Amber Heard’s Mera originally had more screen time that Warner Bros. wanted to drop. For now, though, the addition of Justice Is Gray will be sure to please those who (somehow) haven’t had enough yet of the Snyder Cut, and want to re-appreciate it in a new way.