The saga of the so-called Snyder Cut of Justice League is fast approaching mythical status. Support behind releasing at least some version of Zack Snyder’s original vision for DC and Warner Bros.’ superhero epic has never really gone away, ever since he first departed the project due to a family tragedy less than six months before the movie was scheduled to hit theaters.
It would be an understatement to call Justice League one of the most divisive blockbusters to come along in years, which was clearly an end result of what turned out to be both one of the most troubled yet also most fascinating studio productions in recent history. The DC Extended Universe has long since moved on into new, more successful pastures, but thanks largely to the fans, the conversation surrounding the Snyder Cut is now arguably louder than ever before.
Snyder also isn’t above stirring the pot, as he coincidentally posted three pre-viz images of how Wonder Woman would have killed Steppenwolf in his version of the movie, on exactly the same weekend fans hired a plane reading #ReleaseTheSnyderCut to fly over San Diego Comic-Con. However, an anonymous source who worked for an effects house that was employed on Justice League has now cast doubt over the whole thing, revealing the following in an interview:
“The movie was still months away from delivery when Joss came on board. It seems very unlikely to me that there was anything close to a releasable cut of the film. Put it another way: if there was a near-finished movie that everyone was happy with, then Warner Bros. would have got the editor to complete it rather than drop another $30-40m on it.”
You can see both sides of the argument here. Fans keep demanding to see the Snyder Cut of Justice League, but there isn’t anyone who can definitively prove if it even exists and whether or not it was better than what Joss Whedon added in reshoots. And even then, it would require a lot of expensive effects work to get a new version of the movie anywhere near the standard it would require to release it to the general public.
Perhaps one day Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder will reach a compromise and allow the filmmaker to restore at least some of his finishing touches to the material and release the Snyder Cut, but at this rate it doesn’t seem likely to be happening anytime in the near future despite how lucrative it could potentially turn out to be for both parties.