At this point, the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League has become almost the stuff of legend. It’s no secret that when Warner Bros. brought Joss Whedon in to finish off the job, they threw out a lot of Snyder’s scenes, resulting in what many DC fans feel is a half-baked film, one that would have been much better had they kept a lot of that discarded footage in. And now, with rumors pointing towards a finished cut of Snyder’s original version existing, the demand for WB to release it has been intense, to say the least.
A petition started last week has already hit over 100,000 signatures and with more and more leaking out about what exactly the alternate cut includes, fans are pushing hard for it to see the light of day. But it’s not only the DC diehards who are hoping for this to happen, as Snyder himself has now subtly shown his support as well. Taking to Vero, the director liked a post which was promoting the petition, showing that he’s in agreement with the fans, even if he’s yet to sign it.
The original plea, which was started by Robert Mata and has also gained the backing of Justice League cinematographer Fabian Wagner, takes particular issue with the film’s score, after Warner Bros. decided to recruit Danny Elfman in place of Antonius Tom Holkenborg (AKA Junkie XL).
Here’s an excerpt from the petition, in case you’ve yet to sign/read it.
…it’s understandable that the visionary filmmaker [Snyder] doesn’t own the rights to the film and that he stepped down for understandable, tragic and heartbreaking reasons, but fans deserve better the version the director always intended, than half a film, given that they are the movie-paying audience and from a business standpoint it makes sense that the studio will want to cut the film…but the petition [is not asking WB] to take the film out of theaters; the petition is to ask Warner Bros. to release Zack Snyder’s director’s cut, together with Tom Holkenborg’s (Junkie XL) score on home release.
Unfortunately, the studio hasn’t commented on whether or not we’ll ever get to see Snyder’s original vision, but with the petition only growing bigger and bigger by the day, and demand for a Director’s Cut really heating up, Warner Bros. would be foolish if they didn’t give us an alternate version of Justice League. Not to mention they risk losing a lot of fans if they don’t.
Plus, much like the Ultimate Edition of Batman V Superman before it, it’ll open up another stream of revenue for WB. And lord knows the studio needs it now, considering JL may wind up losing $100 million when all is said and done.