One of the most anticipated titles of 2021, Zack Snyder’s extended cut of Justice League promises to follow through on the original potential of the movie. With the director hinting at an R-rated edit, and some talk of the film also getting a theatrical release, it’s fair to say that its premiere on HBO Max can’t come soon enough and we now know that Snyder’s work will be arriving on the streaming platform in March, confirming what Warner Bros. appeared to be suggesting a few weeks ago.
The director revealed the decision as part of a Twitter exchange over the original Whedon version, commenting as so:
Zack Snyder has confirmed Zack Snyder’s Justice League will debut on HBO Max in March! pic.twitter.com/MnoIvmVEfe
— Brooks | 🏳️🌈 (@brookstweetz) December 17, 2020
The 2017 take on Justice League has come in for a lot of criticism, with other DCEU filmmakers effectively disregarding it from the canon they’re working with. The two-hour, PG-13-rated picture we received isn’t altogether terrible, but clearly seems to be very different from what Snyder intended. To be fair to Whedon, though, he was probably just trying to deliver what WB wanted at the time, resulting in a truncated movie.
We already know that the new Justice League will adopt a markedly different tone than its predecessor, and will most likely be split into a four-hour miniseries on HBO Max before being bundled together as one experience. Whether or not the same approach can be taken for a big screen showing is another question, though.
Given that we have several more months to wait for the Snyder Cut, it may be worth revisiting the existing film. I personally don’t remember it being that bad, just somewhat underwhelming and forgettable, and certainly not the epic story that the unused material and supporting characters suggest. That’s not to say that the new Justice League will solve all the problems with the DCEU entry, but it should allow us to make a fairer judgment on the finished product.