Inspired by Comic Movie Mark's The History Of The Donner Cut and What It Means For The Snyder Cut.
There's an old saying "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". Well Warner Bros. apparently don't live by that quote and in doing so that ruined what some would think was going to be their $1 billion dollar hit of 2017. That ruined project was Zack Snyder's Justice League. But what's interesting is this isn't the first time Warner Bros. tampered with a director's superhero movie and released a completely different version, the other one was Richard Donner's Superman II. Granted both films had different outcomes (I mean critically and commercially) but their histories are quite similar. For this I'll be putting the stories in separately and in bold print as well as red for Superman II and blue for Justice League. So I hope you enjoy this.
Part One - Pre-Production
Superman II
On Mar 28th, 1977 Pinewood Studios began principal photography for Superman and Superman II for the Krypton scenes. However by May 1977 production has running two weeks behind. Around this time rumors begin to circle that there was tension with Richard Donner, the Salkinds, and Pierre Spengler surrounding the escalating production budget and the film's schedule, but Donner claimed he has never given a budget. Later on in July of the same year Richard Lester (who at this time was known for directing 1973's The Three Musketeers & 1974's The Four Musketeers) joined the project as an uncredited associate producer and intermediary for the films, he also helped the tension between Donner and the Salkinds who around this time were not on speaking terms. Then some time later Lester become a second unit director for both the Superman films this is also the time when Richard Donner and Richard Lester started an effective partnership. Then came Oct 1977, when Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, and Valerie Perrine had completed their scenes but we're still under contract to finish both movies. Also round this time there was still months of filming left, the Salkinds made the decision to finish filming Superman and halted filming Superman II by that time Donner had completed 75% of Superman II. During this pause, the Salkinds agreed to a negative pickup deal with Warner Bros. This meant that the studio had the rights to foreign distribution and television airings which will give them more financing.
Justice League
On Apr 27th, 2014 it was announced that Zack Snyder (the director of Man of Steel prior to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) would direct Justice League. Then in Jul 25th, 2014 Warner Bros. was reportedly wanted Chris Terrio (best known for Argo around this time) to write Justice League after they were impressed with his re-write of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Later on October 15th of the same year, Warner Bros. announced the film would be released in two parts, with Part One set to release on Nov 17th, 2017 and Part Two was announced to release in 2019 but with no confirmed release date yet. Both films would be directed by Zack Snyder. Principal photography began on Apr 11, 2016 with shooting taking place at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden as well as various locations in London and Scotland with additional filming taken place in Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, and Iceland. Then on May 17th, 2016, it was reported that Geoff Johns (a longtime writer for DC Comics with stories such as Superman: Secret Origin, Blackest Night, Brightest Day, Flashpoint, and as of recently Doomsday Clock and the newest volume of Shazam!) and Jon Berg were not only going to help produce Justice League but also would be in charge of the DC Extended Universe (aka the DCEU). Within that same month Jeremy Irons (the actor who plays Alfred Pennyworth) stated that the film would have a more linear and simple storyline compared to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Seventeen days later on Jun 3rd, 2016 Geoff Johns would announce that the film would simply be titled Justice League as suppose to Justice League - Part One as originally planned, he would also make a statement saying the movie would be more "hopeful and optimistic" compared to other DCEU films.
Part Two - The Director's Exit and Replacement
Part Two - The Director's Exit and Replacement
Superman II
After the release of Superman (1978) during a Christmas party, Variety writer Army Archerd meet up with Pierre Spengler. Now around this time it was assumed that Richard Donner would complete what remained of Superman II, however during this party it was confirmed that there was in deed tensions with Donner and Spengler. But while Spengler admitted there was tension he also said he was proud of the film and looked forward to working with Donner on the sequel. However over on Donner's side it as a completely different story, Army contacted Donner to which Donner responded with "If he's on it - I'm not". So not only was his beef with Spengler a factor of Donner's exit but there were also other events that lead to Richard getting replaced. The biggest one being that the Salkinds were being sued by Marlon Brando (the actor who plays Superman's father Jor-El) for $50 million dollars because he claimed he didn't receive his percentage of the first movie's gross and would later file a restraining order which would prevent his likeness from being used for the second movie. His restraining order would later be thrown out and Brando would receive a total $15 million dollars from the settlement. To prevent another lawsuit from Marlon, the Salkinds would later announce that while Brando completed his scenes for Superman II they wouldn't use his scenes. Which would not only prevent another lawsuit but it also mean they would have to pay him a reported 11.75% of the U.S. box office gross. However Ilya Salkind would claim they removed Brando's scenes because of creative differences, he would back this up by saying he suggested this to his father by saying to him "What if it's the mother [instead]? She talks about love to her son. And it kind of made sense creatively....Jor-El had done his thing if you want." This decision infuriated Richard Donner and he would publicly say how much he hated this idea. During an interview with Variety he told them "That means no games... They have to want me to do it. It has to be on my terms and I don't mean financially. I mean control." Donner would later become unavailable for the European promotional campaign for Superman, so the Salkinds would approach Guy Hamilton to take over directing Superman II because Richard Lester was busy filming Cuba (1979). However Hamilton would also be unavailable but luckily Lester finished Cuba and was ready to direct. Then on Mar 1979, the Salkinds made the decision to replace Richard Donner. Donner recalled the event by saying "One day, I got a telegram from them saying my services are no longer needed and that my dear friend Richard Lester would take over. I have not heard from them". Ilya would counter by saying "Dick Donner said, I will do the second movie on my terms and without [Pierre] Spengler...Spengler was my friend since childhood and my father and I were very loyal guys. We said no and it really boiled down to that". This decision would have three very important people to leave the movie, those people being creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz, editor Stuart Baird, and Lex Luthor actor Gene Hackman. Mankiewicz would go on to say "I have a lot of respect from him. [talking about Richard Lester] Friendship is more important than anything. And Dick [Donner] brought me on the picture and my loyalty was with Dick and I couldn't believe that they fired him." Stuart Baird would just plain decline and Gene Hackman would decline to return for re-shots for the sequel, which would result in stand-in actors and a voice double for several scenes.
Justice League
Somewhere in March, Zack Snyder's daughter Autumn Snyder sadly committed suicide. Justice League would later be put on a two-week break for the Snyders to deal with the tragedy. Despite this Snyder would still continue to work on the movie. However on May 22nd, 2017, Both Zack Snyder and his wife Deborah announced they were stepping down from the film so they could properly heal. Snyder would go on to say "I never planned to make this public, I thought it would just be in the family, a private matter, our private sorrow that we would deal with it. When it became obvious that I need to take a break, I knew there would be narratives created on the Internet. They'll do what they do. The truth is...I'm past caring about that kind of thing now." With Snyder gone Warner Bros. would hire Joss Whedon (director of 2012's The Avengers and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron) to take over post-production duties in Snyder's place. Although some of speculated that Whedon was brought on board sooner than that to join a larger writer's room. He was hired back in Mar of 2017 to make a Batgirl movie but I suppose people are more so talking about him being brought into the Justice League's writers room.
Part Three - Production Under Lester & Whedon
After the release of Superman (1978) during a Christmas party, Variety writer Army Archerd meet up with Pierre Spengler. Now around this time it was assumed that Richard Donner would complete what remained of Superman II, however during this party it was confirmed that there was in deed tensions with Donner and Spengler. But while Spengler admitted there was tension he also said he was proud of the film and looked forward to working with Donner on the sequel. However over on Donner's side it as a completely different story, Army contacted Donner to which Donner responded with "If he's on it - I'm not". So not only was his beef with Spengler a factor of Donner's exit but there were also other events that lead to Richard getting replaced. The biggest one being that the Salkinds were being sued by Marlon Brando (the actor who plays Superman's father Jor-El) for $50 million dollars because he claimed he didn't receive his percentage of the first movie's gross and would later file a restraining order which would prevent his likeness from being used for the second movie. His restraining order would later be thrown out and Brando would receive a total $15 million dollars from the settlement. To prevent another lawsuit from Marlon, the Salkinds would later announce that while Brando completed his scenes for Superman II they wouldn't use his scenes. Which would not only prevent another lawsuit but it also mean they would have to pay him a reported 11.75% of the U.S. box office gross. However Ilya Salkind would claim they removed Brando's scenes because of creative differences, he would back this up by saying he suggested this to his father by saying to him "What if it's the mother [instead]? She talks about love to her son. And it kind of made sense creatively....Jor-El had done his thing if you want." This decision infuriated Richard Donner and he would publicly say how much he hated this idea. During an interview with Variety he told them "That means no games... They have to want me to do it. It has to be on my terms and I don't mean financially. I mean control." Donner would later become unavailable for the European promotional campaign for Superman, so the Salkinds would approach Guy Hamilton to take over directing Superman II because Richard Lester was busy filming Cuba (1979). However Hamilton would also be unavailable but luckily Lester finished Cuba and was ready to direct. Then on Mar 1979, the Salkinds made the decision to replace Richard Donner. Donner recalled the event by saying "One day, I got a telegram from them saying my services are no longer needed and that my dear friend Richard Lester would take over. I have not heard from them". Ilya would counter by saying "Dick Donner said, I will do the second movie on my terms and without [Pierre] Spengler...Spengler was my friend since childhood and my father and I were very loyal guys. We said no and it really boiled down to that". This decision would have three very important people to leave the movie, those people being creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz, editor Stuart Baird, and Lex Luthor actor Gene Hackman. Mankiewicz would go on to say "I have a lot of respect from him. [talking about Richard Lester] Friendship is more important than anything. And Dick [Donner] brought me on the picture and my loyalty was with Dick and I couldn't believe that they fired him." Stuart Baird would just plain decline and Gene Hackman would decline to return for re-shots for the sequel, which would result in stand-in actors and a voice double for several scenes.
Justice League
Somewhere in March, Zack Snyder's daughter Autumn Snyder sadly committed suicide. Justice League would later be put on a two-week break for the Snyders to deal with the tragedy. Despite this Snyder would still continue to work on the movie. However on May 22nd, 2017, Both Zack Snyder and his wife Deborah announced they were stepping down from the film so they could properly heal. Snyder would go on to say "I never planned to make this public, I thought it would just be in the family, a private matter, our private sorrow that we would deal with it. When it became obvious that I need to take a break, I knew there would be narratives created on the Internet. They'll do what they do. The truth is...I'm past caring about that kind of thing now." With Snyder gone Warner Bros. would hire Joss Whedon (director of 2012's The Avengers and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron) to take over post-production duties in Snyder's place. Although some of speculated that Whedon was brought on board sooner than that to join a larger writer's room. He was hired back in Mar of 2017 to make a Batgirl movie but I suppose people are more so talking about him being brought into the Justice League's writers room.
Part Three - Production Under Lester & Whedon
Superman II
While Richard Lester was fully on board to direct Superman II he wasn't interested in filming something that resembled Donner's filmmaking style, saying "I think that Donner was emphasizing a kind of grandiose myth. There was a kind of David Lean-ish attempt in several sequences, and enormous scale. There was a type of epic quality which isn't in my nature, so my work really didn't embrace that...That's not me. That's his vision of it. I'm more quirky and I play around with slightly more unexpected silliness." Since Tom Mankiewicz wasn't going to come back for Superman II, writers David and Leslie Newman were brought back to rewrite the script. The new script feature new scenes (including a new opening and ending). Also during production Robert Raynter replaced Geoffrey Unsworth, who sadly died before the release of Superman. Lester wanted Raynter to evoke the garish color scheme from the comics. Another replacement was Peter Murton replacing John Barry. The reason why Murton replaced Barry is because during filming for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) he collapsed on a nearby set and would later die from meningitis. Christopher Reeve was not available because he accepted a the staring role the romantic film Somewhere in Time (1980), because of this his contract to shoot both Superman films back-to-back expired. This would cause problems between Reeve and the Salkinds. Reeve claimed that twelve hours after his casting he received a letter from the producers to be available for Superman II on Jul 16th, five days after he finished Somewhere in Time. Then in Mar of 1979, the Salkinds filed a suit against Reeve stating that he breached his contract by walking off the sequel. After renegotiation's fell through Christopher agreed to the financial terms but only if he had more artistic control. Superman II's filming would re-commence on Sept 1979 at Pinewood Studios. Location shooting took place in Canada, Paris, Norway, and St. Lucia, and the Metropolis scenes were filmed on the backlot of of Pinewood Studios (which was the complete opposite of the first film were they shot on location in New York). Throughout filming Lester's directorial style of using his three-camera setup cause a lot of tension because whenever there was a close-up shot the actors had no idea where they were being filmed, however despite the frustration filming was finally completed on Mar 10, 1980. While filming was done there arose another problem, because of actors not being available and the budget key scenes that Donner filmed were inserted into the film. Before the movie was even released Warner Bros. had to follow the guidelines set up by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) to assign for a proper co-director credit. The DGA argued that Lester couldn't be credited as as the director unless he shot 40 percent of Superman II. Even though Lester had earlier thought he would not be credited he still called Richard Donner to see if he wished to be credited as a co-director. Donner would simply reply with "I don't share credit."
Justice League
Around the time Joss Whedon was announced as Snyder's replacement from my own personal experience fans were mixed. On one hand people were fine with Whedon taking over because all he was going to do was finish what was left and just handle a couple of reshoots and that's it. People on the other side thought since Whedon was taking over he would make something that's more akin to his own films and just make another Avengers movie but with DC characters. But everything seemed to calm down when Warner Bros. COO Toby Emmerich would say "The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and the tone and the template that Zack set. We're not introducing any new characters. It's the same characters in some new scenes. He's handling the baton to Joss, but the course has been set by Zack. I still believe that despite the tragedy, we'll still end up with a great movie." When asked about the reshoots during 2017's San Diego Comic-Con, Ray Fisher (the actor playing Victor Stone/Cyborg) would say "They brief if anything. Joss is a great guy and Zack picked a great guy to finish up for him." So yeah it seems like everything was going to be a okay......boy were we wrong!
One of the biggest announcements that came during the Whedon production/Snyder's stepping down arrived on Jun 14th, 2017 when it was reported that Danny Elfman (famous for scoring films such 1989's Batman, 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas, 2002's Spider-Man etc. and making The Simpsons theme song) was brought on board to complete the score for the movie despite the fact that Junkie XL (the original composer) was midway through completing the score, in matter of fact it was later reported that while making the score Elfman mainly went by storyboards and very little footage of the movie, he would state "I got the call from Joss very last-second", "I got the call and it was 'You have to decide now and then go to work tomorrow'. I had a lot storyboards in place of action. There would be full scenes and then five-minute sequence of storyboards. Honestly, it was like working on an animated film. I didn't score any unused footage - the movie that came out is the movie I scored, it was just in a very rough form." After Elfman came on board months later it was reported that Justice League would undergo two months of reshoots in London and Los Angeles, with Warner Bros. to put about $25 million dollars which is more than the typical $6-10 million dollars that reshoots usual have, because of the extra money the film's budget would be brought up to a total of $300 million, this would make Justice League the fifth most expensive film to be produced along with 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. With the news of the reshoots journalist began to speculate that this held some sort of significants to the movie, when asked about the reshoots during 2017's San Diego Comic-Con, Ray Fisher (the actor playing Victor Stone/Cyborg) would state "They're brief if anything. Zack picked a great director to help clean up for us." However as much as I hate to admit it turned out the journalist/bloggers were right, turns out the reshoots were way more extensive than what everyone thought they would be in matter of fact the reshoots would cut so many things out of the movie that would end up being a completely different flick than what was originally made. Character's backstories are either gone or briefly mentioned, other characters such as Vulko, Iris West, among others were removed or their presences was reduced, additional lore isn't there or barley there, the whole Knightmare world that was introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was completely removed with no mentions what so ever, and even the final battle in the movie is vastly different than it was in the original cut of the film. And just to make the reshoots even more obvious they were all filmed digitally using a Arri Alexa 65 but for the Snyder footage the whole thing we shot on film using 35 millimeter. So if rewriting the whole script and reshooting the whole movie wasn't bad enough along with the film's release date getting closer and closer another problem reared it's ugly head. The reshoots came around the time Henry Cavill (the actor playing Clark Kent/Superman) was busy filming Mission: Impossible - Fallout, during that time Cavill grew a mustache for that movie. This would cause a problem because in Justice League Superman is clean shaven but Cavill's Mission: Impossible character August Walker well has a mustache, while Christopher McQuarrie (the director of Mission: Impossible - Fallout) gave the producers permission to shave Cavill's mustache but only in exchange for $3 million dollars to shut down production for Fallout and then digitally fill in the mustache later, but Paramount Pictures rejected the idea especially since Henry Cavill was contractually obligated to keep it. So the Justice League VFX team was forced to digitally remove Cavill's stache during post-production. During this troubled production Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara mandated the movie to be only 120 minutes (two hours), Warner Bros. also didn't want the film's release date to be pushed back despite knowing how production was going. They did this so the executives would receive their cash bonuses before the company merged with AT&T. On Aug 30th, 2017 it was reported that Joss Whedon received a screenwriting credit along with Chris Terrio while Zack Snyder was still credited as the film's director.
Part Four - Release & Reviews
Justice League
Around the time Joss Whedon was announced as Snyder's replacement from my own personal experience fans were mixed. On one hand people were fine with Whedon taking over because all he was going to do was finish what was left and just handle a couple of reshoots and that's it. People on the other side thought since Whedon was taking over he would make something that's more akin to his own films and just make another Avengers movie but with DC characters. But everything seemed to calm down when Warner Bros. COO Toby Emmerich would say "The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and the tone and the template that Zack set. We're not introducing any new characters. It's the same characters in some new scenes. He's handling the baton to Joss, but the course has been set by Zack. I still believe that despite the tragedy, we'll still end up with a great movie." When asked about the reshoots during 2017's San Diego Comic-Con, Ray Fisher (the actor playing Victor Stone/Cyborg) would say "They brief if anything. Joss is a great guy and Zack picked a great guy to finish up for him." So yeah it seems like everything was going to be a okay......boy were we wrong!
One of the biggest announcements that came during the Whedon production/Snyder's stepping down arrived on Jun 14th, 2017 when it was reported that Danny Elfman (famous for scoring films such 1989's Batman, 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas, 2002's Spider-Man etc. and making The Simpsons theme song) was brought on board to complete the score for the movie despite the fact that Junkie XL (the original composer) was midway through completing the score, in matter of fact it was later reported that while making the score Elfman mainly went by storyboards and very little footage of the movie, he would state "I got the call from Joss very last-second", "I got the call and it was 'You have to decide now and then go to work tomorrow'. I had a lot storyboards in place of action. There would be full scenes and then five-minute sequence of storyboards. Honestly, it was like working on an animated film. I didn't score any unused footage - the movie that came out is the movie I scored, it was just in a very rough form." After Elfman came on board months later it was reported that Justice League would undergo two months of reshoots in London and Los Angeles, with Warner Bros. to put about $25 million dollars which is more than the typical $6-10 million dollars that reshoots usual have, because of the extra money the film's budget would be brought up to a total of $300 million, this would make Justice League the fifth most expensive film to be produced along with 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. With the news of the reshoots journalist began to speculate that this held some sort of significants to the movie, when asked about the reshoots during 2017's San Diego Comic-Con, Ray Fisher (the actor playing Victor Stone/Cyborg) would state "They're brief if anything. Zack picked a great director to help clean up for us." However as much as I hate to admit it turned out the journalist/bloggers were right, turns out the reshoots were way more extensive than what everyone thought they would be in matter of fact the reshoots would cut so many things out of the movie that would end up being a completely different flick than what was originally made. Character's backstories are either gone or briefly mentioned, other characters such as Vulko, Iris West, among others were removed or their presences was reduced, additional lore isn't there or barley there, the whole Knightmare world that was introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was completely removed with no mentions what so ever, and even the final battle in the movie is vastly different than it was in the original cut of the film. And just to make the reshoots even more obvious they were all filmed digitally using a Arri Alexa 65 but for the Snyder footage the whole thing we shot on film using 35 millimeter. So if rewriting the whole script and reshooting the whole movie wasn't bad enough along with the film's release date getting closer and closer another problem reared it's ugly head. The reshoots came around the time Henry Cavill (the actor playing Clark Kent/Superman) was busy filming Mission: Impossible - Fallout, during that time Cavill grew a mustache for that movie. This would cause a problem because in Justice League Superman is clean shaven but Cavill's Mission: Impossible character August Walker well has a mustache, while Christopher McQuarrie (the director of Mission: Impossible - Fallout) gave the producers permission to shave Cavill's mustache but only in exchange for $3 million dollars to shut down production for Fallout and then digitally fill in the mustache later, but Paramount Pictures rejected the idea especially since Henry Cavill was contractually obligated to keep it. So the Justice League VFX team was forced to digitally remove Cavill's stache during post-production. During this troubled production Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara mandated the movie to be only 120 minutes (two hours), Warner Bros. also didn't want the film's release date to be pushed back despite knowing how production was going. They did this so the executives would receive their cash bonuses before the company merged with AT&T. On Aug 30th, 2017 it was reported that Joss Whedon received a screenwriting credit along with Chris Terrio while Zack Snyder was still credited as the film's director.
Part Four - Release & Reviews
Superman II
On Jun 19th, 1981 Superman II was released to theaters and would receive positive reviews from both critics and fans of the first film. Praise was giving to the movie's visual effects, humor, and the performances from Reeve, Stamp, and Hackman. Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and would write "This movie's most intriguing insight is that Superman's disguise as Clark Kent isn't a matter of looks as much as mental attitude: Clark is disguised not by his glasses but by his ordinariness. Beneath his meek exterior, of course, is concealed a superhero. And, the movie subtly hints, isn't that the case with us all?" Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded Superman II three-and-a-half out of four stars and declared it "better than the original." Even Christopher Reeve said that Superman II is "the best of the series.' The film was made on a budget of $54 million dollars and would go to gross $190.4 million dollars thus becoming a box office success.
Now I've watched many reviews of Superman II from people on YouTube and they say some very similar things about the movie as well, one of my favorite online film critics, Chris Stuckmann (during this time he was collaborating with Schomes Know which in that series of reviews would lead into 2013's Man of Steel) would give the film a "B+" giving praise to Reeve's performance, the conflict of wanting to be human and still being Superman, and giving Superman a villain to fight however he did criticize the outdated humor and the special effects (although he does say that's not the movie's fault). So yeah it seems people and film critics alike really enjoyed Superman II.
Justice League
On Nov 17th, 2017 Justice League was released to theaters but unlike Superman II it didn't get praise, the film at best got mixed reviews. Praise was giving to the action sequences, the lighter tone, and Gal Gadot's (the actress playing Diana/Wonder Woman) and Ezra Miller's (the actor playing Barry Allen/The Flash) performances. However the plot, writing, pacing, the villain (Steppenwolf), and the CGI (mostly Superman's mouth) were criticized. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 3.5 out of 4 stars stating "It's a putting-the-band-together origins movie, executed with great fun and energy". Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice wrote "...action scenes start and stop and then start again, then go in different directions, and it was a few moments into the Big Climactic Face-Off before I realized we'd arrived at the Big Climactic Face-Off. But these off-kilter rhythms actually lend the film a pleasant unpredictability. As does the humor, which often sits uneasily next to moodiness, but somehow fast and witty enough to work." However more negative reviews would come from the likes of Todd McCarthy (a writer for The Hollywood Reporter) and Sara Stewart (a writer for the New York Post). McCarthy would praise Gadot and Miller but would call the film visually ugly and boring and stated "Fatigue, repetition, and a laborious approach to exposition are keynotes to this affair, which is also notable for how Ben Affleck, donning the bat suit for the second time, he looks like he'd rather be almost anywhere else but here." Then Sara Stewart would give the film a rating of 1.5 out of 4 stars and she would write "Justice League is pointless flail of expensive (yet somehow cheap-looking) CGI that no-amount of tacked-on quips, or even Gadot's luminescent star power can rescue. Like Cyborg (Ray Fisher), one of its ostensible heroes, Justice League is patched together from disparate elements. Original director Zack Snyder left partway through due to a death in the family, leaving Joss Whedon to finish up. The result? All the plodding, gray, generic action of a Snyder film with stabs of Whedonian humor that almost never feel organic. There's no sense of purpose here, not even a sense of place." The film was made with a budget of $300 million dollars but would only go to gross $657 million dollars against a break-even point of $750 million, thus becoming the highest-grossing film to become a box-office bomb and would lose Warner Bros. an estimated $60 million dollars.
Over on the fanbase/the internet side of the things reviews/thoughts at first started out well, while fans didn't mind the lighter tone and such, people for the most part didn't mind however things wouldn't remain like this for long. When people started to really think about the film their opinions on it began to change. Fans became hugely disappointed on how Warner Bros./Joss Whedon would just destroy/cut everything Snyder worked on in favor of having their movie that was more akin to something the Marvel Cinematic Universe would make. One tweeter user named @GreatKungLao would make an entire Twitter thread showcasing every change that was made from the trailers to the theatrical cut of the movie. So yeah fans weren't very happy.
Part Five - The Richard Donner Cut: From Demands to Release
Over on the fanbase/the internet side of the things reviews/thoughts at first started out well, while fans didn't mind the lighter tone and such, people for the most part didn't mind however things wouldn't remain like this for long. When people started to really think about the film their opinions on it began to change. Fans became hugely disappointed on how Warner Bros./Joss Whedon would just destroy/cut everything Snyder worked on in favor of having their movie that was more akin to something the Marvel Cinematic Universe would make. One tweeter user named @GreatKungLao would make an entire Twitter thread showcasing every change that was made from the trailers to the theatrical cut of the movie. So yeah fans weren't very happy.
Part Five - The Richard Donner Cut: From Demands to Release
Part One - Demands and Creation
While there were demands for Donner cut of Superman II prior to the internet the movement didn't gain any real momentum until 2001 when a restored version of Superman was released on DVD. During this time six tons of footage from both Superman and Superman II were discovered in a vault in England by a man named Michael Thau, after this discovery Donner was approached by Warner Bros. to do an extended cut of Superman II but he declined. He told IGN, "At the time, the studio wanted me to go back in and re-cut the film and add anything I wanted to add or do anything I wanted to do. Quite honestly, I was done with it. I was finished." Despite this fans were still campaigning including a Birmingham man named Dharmesh Chauhan who would launch the website supermancinema.co.uk, in which he would petition for the cuts release. Somewhere in Jun 2004, Margot Kidder (the actress who played Lois Lane) told Starlog "There's a whole other Superman II in a vault somewhere, with scenes of Chris and me that have never seen the light of day. It far better than the one that was released." Because of how big of a deal this was even a Planet of the Apes fansite called TheForbidden-Zone.com would launch their own campaign demanding Warner Bros. to allow Richard Donner to release his own version of the movie in conjunction withe film's 25th anniversary. Then on Jun 19th, 2004, Warner Bros. would release an official statement saying "Warner Home Video is supportive of an extended version of Superman II on DVD. However, there are complex legal issues that need to be resolved before the film can be re-released. Warner Home Video is presently addressing those issues." The issues they were referring to some of the required footage was still owned by the Salkinds and using Brando's filmed scenes for Superman II were still unresolved. In Apr 2005 fans were giving a different cut of Superman II but it wasn't anything officially made by Warner Bros. and/or Richard Donner it was a fan cut called Superman II: Restored International Cut, this version contained extended scenes that were featured in international television broadcast over the years, Warner Bros. would later threaten legal action over the bootleg film, so this cut has been very hard to find (for me anyways). Work on a different cut of Superman II would start in late 2005 but without Richard Donner. Michael Thau would explain Donner's reluctance by saying "Dick was doing the film 16 Blocks at the time and I was always trying to lure him in with, you know 'Dick, here's a piece of candy, come in to the cutting room'. and he said 'No, no, no... Then in Jan 2006, Donner told IGN "They're doing it. I'm not doing it... I don't even want to see it until it comes out in theater... I'm too far away from it now." A month later Richard Donner was asked about the new cut of Superman II and told the website Dark Horizons, "I would never shoot like that now in a million years, I mean it was a different way, a different style, different interpretation." After so much reluctance to join the project in Jun of 2006, Michael Thau confirmed that Donner would be working closer on the project along with Tom Mankiewicz to assist on this cut. When this news came about Thau told the magazine Movie Magic about working with Donner and would say "When I'd get a cut of a scene, I'd show it to Dick and he'd say, 'I don't like that line; that reading's not good, 'and so on". With Dick it's always, 'Make it move faster." Another story that was brought up during Jun of 2006 was an interview with George Feltenstein (the senior vice president of Warner Home Video's Catalog Marketing division) he would talk about the Donner cut by stating "We have been getting years and years letters begging us to release the Donner cut of Superman II, and this year we bit the bullet and we've created what is ostensibly a new film, although the footage is all footage that was shot years and years and years ago. But it was sitting in a lab and never assembled. And for those of us were very saddened and touched by the loss of Christopher Reeve - to see footage you've never seen of him before, and a whole different take on the Superman II story is really thrilling. Then in August of the same year, Thau confirmed that not only would the new cut feature new material but that the entire film would be re-cut from the original camera negatives (including small amounts of Lester scenes), in an interview with Now Playing magazine Thau told them "A lot scenes that had been already cut, that Richard Lester had interwoven new material in - and there was a lot of them - I unwove that material and recut those scenes, basically from scratch a lot of times. I also had to deal with negatives that had already been cut. And when I wanted to recut it, and Lester had already cut it in a different way, I'd have to unwind that. It was a complicated jigsaw puzzle sometimes, to put it back the way I envisioned Dick would want it cut. We only used the Lester footage when there was material when they had not been able to shoot, and to keep some continuity to the story."
Part Two - Release
On Jul 21st, 2006 extended/exclusive footage of the film was shown during San Diego Comic-Con, the panel was called "Warner Home Video's Superman Through the Ages". The new cut was also given a world premiere release and took place on Nov 2nd of the same year at the Directors Guild of America building in Hollywood, it was attended by many of the associates of the film, including Richard Donner and Ilya Salkind. After the film was over Donner, Tom Mankiewicz, Margot Kidder, Sarah Douglas and other cast members took part in a panel discussion. Another screening took place on Nov 25th, 2006 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Los Angeles with ticket proceeds going to the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Then on Nov 28th, 2006, fans were finally given a physical copy of the film when it was released on DVD and HD DVD.
Part Six - The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut Movement: A Timeline of Events
While there were demands for Donner cut of Superman II prior to the internet the movement didn't gain any real momentum until 2001 when a restored version of Superman was released on DVD. During this time six tons of footage from both Superman and Superman II were discovered in a vault in England by a man named Michael Thau, after this discovery Donner was approached by Warner Bros. to do an extended cut of Superman II but he declined. He told IGN, "At the time, the studio wanted me to go back in and re-cut the film and add anything I wanted to add or do anything I wanted to do. Quite honestly, I was done with it. I was finished." Despite this fans were still campaigning including a Birmingham man named Dharmesh Chauhan who would launch the website supermancinema.co.uk, in which he would petition for the cuts release. Somewhere in Jun 2004, Margot Kidder (the actress who played Lois Lane) told Starlog "There's a whole other Superman II in a vault somewhere, with scenes of Chris and me that have never seen the light of day. It far better than the one that was released." Because of how big of a deal this was even a Planet of the Apes fansite called TheForbidden-Zone.com would launch their own campaign demanding Warner Bros. to allow Richard Donner to release his own version of the movie in conjunction withe film's 25th anniversary. Then on Jun 19th, 2004, Warner Bros. would release an official statement saying "Warner Home Video is supportive of an extended version of Superman II on DVD. However, there are complex legal issues that need to be resolved before the film can be re-released. Warner Home Video is presently addressing those issues." The issues they were referring to some of the required footage was still owned by the Salkinds and using Brando's filmed scenes for Superman II were still unresolved. In Apr 2005 fans were giving a different cut of Superman II but it wasn't anything officially made by Warner Bros. and/or Richard Donner it was a fan cut called Superman II: Restored International Cut, this version contained extended scenes that were featured in international television broadcast over the years, Warner Bros. would later threaten legal action over the bootleg film, so this cut has been very hard to find (for me anyways). Work on a different cut of Superman II would start in late 2005 but without Richard Donner. Michael Thau would explain Donner's reluctance by saying "Dick was doing the film 16 Blocks at the time and I was always trying to lure him in with, you know 'Dick, here's a piece of candy, come in to the cutting room'. and he said 'No, no, no... Then in Jan 2006, Donner told IGN "They're doing it. I'm not doing it... I don't even want to see it until it comes out in theater... I'm too far away from it now." A month later Richard Donner was asked about the new cut of Superman II and told the website Dark Horizons, "I would never shoot like that now in a million years, I mean it was a different way, a different style, different interpretation." After so much reluctance to join the project in Jun of 2006, Michael Thau confirmed that Donner would be working closer on the project along with Tom Mankiewicz to assist on this cut. When this news came about Thau told the magazine Movie Magic about working with Donner and would say "When I'd get a cut of a scene, I'd show it to Dick and he'd say, 'I don't like that line; that reading's not good, 'and so on". With Dick it's always, 'Make it move faster." Another story that was brought up during Jun of 2006 was an interview with George Feltenstein (the senior vice president of Warner Home Video's Catalog Marketing division) he would talk about the Donner cut by stating "We have been getting years and years letters begging us to release the Donner cut of Superman II, and this year we bit the bullet and we've created what is ostensibly a new film, although the footage is all footage that was shot years and years and years ago. But it was sitting in a lab and never assembled. And for those of us were very saddened and touched by the loss of Christopher Reeve - to see footage you've never seen of him before, and a whole different take on the Superman II story is really thrilling. Then in August of the same year, Thau confirmed that not only would the new cut feature new material but that the entire film would be re-cut from the original camera negatives (including small amounts of Lester scenes), in an interview with Now Playing magazine Thau told them "A lot scenes that had been already cut, that Richard Lester had interwoven new material in - and there was a lot of them - I unwove that material and recut those scenes, basically from scratch a lot of times. I also had to deal with negatives that had already been cut. And when I wanted to recut it, and Lester had already cut it in a different way, I'd have to unwind that. It was a complicated jigsaw puzzle sometimes, to put it back the way I envisioned Dick would want it cut. We only used the Lester footage when there was material when they had not been able to shoot, and to keep some continuity to the story."
Part Two - Release
On Jul 21st, 2006 extended/exclusive footage of the film was shown during San Diego Comic-Con, the panel was called "Warner Home Video's Superman Through the Ages". The new cut was also given a world premiere release and took place on Nov 2nd of the same year at the Directors Guild of America building in Hollywood, it was attended by many of the associates of the film, including Richard Donner and Ilya Salkind. After the film was over Donner, Tom Mankiewicz, Margot Kidder, Sarah Douglas and other cast members took part in a panel discussion. Another screening took place on Nov 25th, 2006 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Los Angeles with ticket proceeds going to the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Then on Nov 28th, 2006, fans were finally given a physical copy of the film when it was released on DVD and HD DVD.
Part Six - The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut Movement: A Timeline of Events
As far back as when Justice League was still in theaters a movement was growing for Warner Bros. to release Snyder's version of the movie the way he intended. For this part I'll being giving you a timeline on the big things that have happened for this movement from fan events, to people coming out and saying they support a cut, things that would be changed/removed from the movie, and whatever Zack Snyder posted on Vero. For this timeline I'll be telling things that happened between Nov 19th, 2017 to now.
SIDE NOTE: There is a possibility that I might have missed a couple of things, so please forgive me for that. Other than that enjoy.
SIDE NOTE: There is a possibility that I might have missed a couple of things, so please forgive me for that. Other than that enjoy.
2017
- Nov 19th, A fan named Roberto Mata starts a petition on Change.org asking for Warner Bros. to release Snyder's version of Justice League.
- Nov 21st, Both Fabian Wagner (the cinematographer for Justice League) & Richard Cetrone (Ben Affleck's stunt double) voice their support for a Snyder cut.
- Nov 30th, Filmmaker & podcaster Kevin Smith talks about the changes to Justice League on his show Fatman on Batman, when talking about the changes he would also show support for the Snyder cut.
- Dec 10th, Ciaran Hinds (Steppenwolf) says that's he's unhappy with the theatrical cut of the film and wants to see Snyder's version.
2018
- Jan 6th, Fans gather outside of Warner Bros. and ask them to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.
- Jan 16th, Fiona Zheng and many other fans would launch a site called forsnydercut.com.
- Jan 30th, Zack Snyder himself would support the Snyder cut.
- Feb 13th, Snyder reveals storyboards which not only show the Hall of Justice but Darkseid.
- Mar 8th, Snyder reveals a cut scene with involves Lois Lane and Martha Kent from Justice League.
- Mar 22nd, A Chinese social media site named Weibo released over thirty-five photos from Snyder's Justice League.
- Mar 26th, longtime supporter of the Snyder cut, Chris Wong-Swenson of the YouTube channel Ping Pong Flix would report that fans have made their own cut of Justice League.
- Apr 2nd, Both Zack Snyder & Ray Fisher share a deleted scene from Victor's football scene.
- Apr 5th, the petition for the Snyder cut of Justice League approaches 200k signatures.
- Apr 6th, At a Middle East Film & Comic Con in Dubai, Ezra Miller (The Flash) spots a fan's shirt that says "I Need Snyder Cut" to which Ezra agrees with.
- Apr 23rd, Joe Manganiello (Deathstroke) would confirm that the post-credit scene in Justice League was shot by Zack Snyder.
- May 1st, It was Gal Gadot's 33rd birthday and Zack celebrated by showing a deleted Wonder Woman scene.
- May 12th, Jason Momoa (Aquaman) hopes that someone leaks the Snyder cut.
- May 16th, Snyder reveals that Batman was suppose to operate a Parademon canon in his vision.
- May 17th, Twitter usher @vinaldo7 holds a #ReleaseTheSnyderCut to make the hashtag trend worldwide. Which does succeed with over 11,000 tweets.
- Jun 16th, Jay Oliva (the storyboard artist for Justice League) would confirm Zack Snyder had a full cut before leaving.
- Jul 11th, Fulvio Cecere (Actor & Director of 350 Days - Legends. Champions. Survivors) thinks Warner Bros. should release the Snyder cut of Justice League.
- Jul 14th, While still supporting the Snyder cut, fans would launch a fundraiser for the American Federation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
- Jul 29th, Actor Marc McClure (best know for playing Jimmy Olsen in 1978's Superman & cameoed in Justice League) revealed that Superman's return in the film happened much earlier in the Snyder cut. Also around this time Jason Momoa would yet again speak about the Snyder cut simply stating "it's better".
- Jul 30th, Marc McClure yet again talks about the Snyder cut, only this time it's about stuff that was changed after Zack left.
- Sept 17th, Zack Snyder confirms Ryan Choi (aka The Atom) would have appeared in his cut of Justice League.
- Sept 27th, Zack shares a photo of Batman from his cut of the film.
- Oct 11th, Zack reveals a scene from Justice League was cut because it was "too scary".
- Oct 13th, Photos surface of a deleted invasion history lesson.
- Oct 25th, Zack talks about the final shot of the Justice League looking at a boom tube.
- Nov 19th, Fans made money for a plane to flying around Warner Bros. Studios with a banner that says #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Zack publicly thanks them.
- Nov 25th - Zack shares a photo of a mural of Darkseid.
- Dec 3rd, While promoting Aquaman, Jason Momoa talks about the character's ending in Justice League.
- Dec 7th, Once again James Momoa talks about the Snyder cut. When asked if he wants to see it he replies with "Yeah. F*ck yeah, I wanna see it".
- Dec 31st, The Snyder cut was reportedly the most dominated DC topic of 2018.
2019
- Jan 29th, During his Fatman Beyond podcast, Kevin Smith would yet again voice his support for the Snyder cut and would also reveal what was suppose to an ongoing storyline for a Justice League trilogy.
- Mar 24th, During his Director Cut event for his films (Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Snyder agrees with a fan hoping that his tradition of his films getting a director cuts (i.e. the Snyder cut).
- Mar 28th, Still around the time of his Director Cuts event, Snyder would confirm that his cut of Justice League cut exist, it's done, and it's up to Warner Bros. to release it. It would also reveal that his cut of the movie is 214 minutes long (3 hours and 34 minutes).
- Apr 9th, The Exiles Network would reveal that Ray Porter was cast as Darkseid.
- Apr 11th, Zack would confirm that Ray Porter was indeed casted as Darkseid.
- Apr 14th, Nick McKinless confirms he played Ares in Justice League and that he had a fight scene with Darkseid.
- May 20th, Supporters raise over $11, 000 to promote the Snyder Cut at San Diego Comic Con with what they call #ProjectComicCon, half of the money would be going to AFSP.
- May 30th, Snyder talks about a heartbreaking death in his original cut of Justice League.
- Jun 17th, Snyder reveals a pic of Darkseid of what would have been his appearance in the history lesson.
- Jun 24th, Ann Sarnoff is announced as the new CEO of Warner Bros. Fans congratulate her and hope that maybe she'll release the Snyder cut.
- Jul 2nd, Famed Superman writer, Jerry Ordway says he would like to see the Snyder cut.
- Jul 3rd, Creator of Deadpool, Rob Liefeld tweets that he wants to see Snyder's version of Justice League. Also during this time Zack would reveal yet another photo of Darkseid.
- Jul 7th, Zack showcases another pic of Cyborg.
- Jul 9th, HBO Max is announced and people are not only asking for the Snyder Cut but are also saying that it would be a great place for the film to be released.
- Jul 12th, A snail mail campaign is started what with Ann Sarnoff being the incoming CEO for Warner Bros. Not only is the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut being used but also #AnnNewHope.
- Jul 15th, Rob Liefeld continues to show support for the Snyder Cut. Also around this time Snyder Cut advertisement is stopped at San Diego Comic Con.
- Jul 16th, Deborah Snyder responses regrading the effects around SDCC.
- Jul 19th, A #ReleaseTheSnyderCut airplane is seen flying around SDCC.
- Jul 26th, The SDCC campaign donates $15K to Suicide Prevention.
- Jul 30th, Fabian Wagner would shares a behind the scenes pic from the set of Justice League.
- Aug 20th, Jason Momoa would come out and say that he saw the Snyder Cut of Justice League and that "it's sick".
- Aug 26th, Fabian Wagner states that he would like to see the Snyder Cut, all while dropping the f-bomb (👍).
- Sept 3rd, Rob Liefeld says that he will campaign for the Snyder Cut at the New York Comic Con.
- Sept 15th, Zack Snyder shares a new image of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman.
- Sept 22nd, Fabian Wagner shares more behind the scenes pics from the set of the movie.
- Sept 24th, Fans are planning something for the upcoming New York Comic Con.
- Sept 26th, The creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman would come out and says that he supports the Snyder Cut.
- Oct 10th, A #ReleaseTheSnyderCut billboard is spotted in Times Square.
- Oct 5th, Rob Liefeld shows that he's the biggest support at NYCC but the biggest news is Zack Snyder would reveal that General Swanwick was going to revealed as Martian Manhunter for his cut of Justice League.
- Oct 7th, Zack would state that he is "speechless" about the efforts being done at the NYCC.
- Oct 12th, New images are released showing a mural of Darkseid.
- Oct 19th, The movement gets it's own anthem.
- Oct 30th, Junkie XL (the composer of Justice League) would confirm the score for the movie is still there. While at the same time, Jesse Eisenberg (the actor who plays Lex Luthor) would reveal that he's unaware of the Snyder Cut BUT would confirm that there were more scenes.
- Nov 8th, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut becomes a trending topic after Zack shares a pic of Ezra Miller and Kiersey Clemons as Barry Allen and Iris West.
- Nov 15th, Zack shares a new image of Superman with the caption of "HE HAS YET TO RISE".
- Nov 17th, It's the two year anniversary of Justice League and the movement has it's biggest moment yet with many celebrities tweeting about the Snyder Cut including Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot.
- Nov 18th, The Justice League stunt team shares a video showcasing the fight choreography that wasn't shown in the theatrical cut.
- Nov 19th, Joe Manganiello shares behind the scenes pics of Deathstroke.
- Dec 4th, Zack Snyder gives proof that the Snyder Cut indeed does exist.
- Dec 6th, Subway (yes the sandwich brand) would show their support for the Snyder Cut along with other sandwich food chains. And yet another big story to pop up around this time is Fabian Wagner revealed that only 10% of Zack's footage was used in the theatrical cut.
- Dec 11th, Zack Snyder shows Superman in the black suit.
- Dec 21st, Zack shares another cut scene from his Justice League showing Flash carrying Superman's casket.
- Dec 23rd, Zack makes a hoodie for suicide awareness but it's not titled Snyder Cut or something similar it's called Zack Snyder's Justice League.
- Dec 25th, It's Christmas and Zack decides to be Santa Claus by giving the movement a whole bunch of photos of his cut of the movie.
2020
- Jan 5th, Fans pay for Snyder Cut banner for the FA Cup. The ad is then shown at the FA Cup.
- Jan 8th, Zack shares a photo of Wonder Woman and Aquaman at the cemetery where Superman is buried.
- Jan 14th, Another photo of Darkseid is shown but this time he's fighting during the History Lesson. When this photo was released Zack would confirm that Ray Porter completed all of his Darkseid scenes.
- Jan 17th, Another video regrading the History Lesson is shown, this time showcasing Parademons being brutality slaughtered.
- Jan 21st, Zack shows a picture of Ryan Choi/The Atom on his Vero. On the same day, Zack shares a pic of Alfred working at an abandoned Wayne aerospace.
- Jan 22nd, It's reported that the movement raised over $150,000 for Suicide Prevention.
- Jan 23rd, Zack announces he wants fans to make their own Zack Snyder's Justice League posters for a contest he's holding.
- Jan 30th, Fans hold the "He Has Yet to Rise" event, celebrating the nine year anniversary of Henry Cavill being announced as Superman. Then on the same day, Zack confirms he shot the scene where Bruce (Batman) & Diana (Wonder Woman) discussing a possible Hall of Justice.
- Feb 2nd, The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement raises over $32,000 for the AFSP through @inktothepeople.
- Feb 6th, Images of the "Exploring The Tunnel" scene is leaked, along with a Batman vs. Parademon stunt video.
- Feb 14th - 16th, The movement holds their first ever Snyder Cut Arts Festival. The event is not only about the Snyder Cut but also raises money for AFSP & @LinaDep's POWERFUL ART.
- Feb 14th, Snyder releases a photo of The Flash with the caption "Happy 214".
- Feb 18th, Ben Affleck would reveal that the troubled shoot with Justice League is what lead me to step down playing Batman.
- Feb 21st, Ben Affleck says that Zack's cut of the film should be available.
- Feb 27th, Leigh Whannell (director of Insidious: Chapter 3, Upgrade, and recently The Invisible Man) says it's a terrible thing we haven't seen the Snyder Cut.
- Feb 28th - Zack announces the finalists of the fan poster contest.
- Feb 29th - Zack reveals the prize of the contest and it blows everybody's mind.
- Mar 1st - Zack crowns the winner of the fan poster contest.
Part Seven - Not If But When & What Will Become of the Movement Afterwards?
There's always two questions I ask myself regrading the Snyder Cut & the movement. Let's start with the Snyder Cut. We're always asking ourselves when will the movie be released? I have heard one person I forget who it was or where I heard it from, but they think maybe the movie will be released in November. It makes sense to me, after all we were promised a Zack Snyder Justice League film in November but sadly we didn't get that. So I guess it would be nice if Snyder did release it on that month. The truth on the matter is the movie will be released on a day that Zack seems fit. Now my other question is when the Snyder Cut is released, what will become of the movement? I mean this whole journey was about getting the Snyder Cut released so when that does happen what will the movement do? Maybe they can help other directors get their cuts released, I mean I'm still waiting for the Kinberg cut of Dark Phoenix along with other director cuts. Well I'm not the voice of this group so I can't really say what they'll do. One thing's for certain only time will tell.
So that's going to do it for me. The making of this was long, stressful, and very tiring but if you guys enjoyed then it was truly worth it. Do come back next time on Saturday, Mar 7th for my review of the newest Disney/Pixar film, Onward. Until then enjoy your day and remember #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.
- Dec 10th, Ciaran Hinds (Steppenwolf) says that's he's unhappy with the theatrical cut of the film and wants to see Snyder's version.
2018
- Jan 6th, Fans gather outside of Warner Bros. and ask them to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.
- Jan 16th, Fiona Zheng and many other fans would launch a site called forsnydercut.com.
- Jan 30th, Zack Snyder himself would support the Snyder cut.
- Feb 13th, Snyder reveals storyboards which not only show the Hall of Justice but Darkseid.
- Mar 8th, Snyder reveals a cut scene with involves Lois Lane and Martha Kent from Justice League.
- Mar 22nd, A Chinese social media site named Weibo released over thirty-five photos from Snyder's Justice League.
- Mar 26th, longtime supporter of the Snyder cut, Chris Wong-Swenson of the YouTube channel Ping Pong Flix would report that fans have made their own cut of Justice League.
- Apr 2nd, Both Zack Snyder & Ray Fisher share a deleted scene from Victor's football scene.
- Apr 5th, the petition for the Snyder cut of Justice League approaches 200k signatures.
- Apr 6th, At a Middle East Film & Comic Con in Dubai, Ezra Miller (The Flash) spots a fan's shirt that says "I Need Snyder Cut" to which Ezra agrees with.
- Apr 23rd, Joe Manganiello (Deathstroke) would confirm that the post-credit scene in Justice League was shot by Zack Snyder.
- May 1st, It was Gal Gadot's 33rd birthday and Zack celebrated by showing a deleted Wonder Woman scene.
- May 12th, Jason Momoa (Aquaman) hopes that someone leaks the Snyder cut.
- May 16th, Snyder reveals that Batman was suppose to operate a Parademon canon in his vision.
- May 17th, Twitter usher @vinaldo7 holds a #ReleaseTheSnyderCut to make the hashtag trend worldwide. Which does succeed with over 11,000 tweets.
- Jun 16th, Jay Oliva (the storyboard artist for Justice League) would confirm Zack Snyder had a full cut before leaving.
- Jul 11th, Fulvio Cecere (Actor & Director of 350 Days - Legends. Champions. Survivors) thinks Warner Bros. should release the Snyder cut of Justice League.
- Jul 14th, While still supporting the Snyder cut, fans would launch a fundraiser for the American Federation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
- Jul 29th, Actor Marc McClure (best know for playing Jimmy Olsen in 1978's Superman & cameoed in Justice League) revealed that Superman's return in the film happened much earlier in the Snyder cut. Also around this time Jason Momoa would yet again speak about the Snyder cut simply stating "it's better".
- Jul 30th, Marc McClure yet again talks about the Snyder cut, only this time it's about stuff that was changed after Zack left.
- Sept 17th, Zack Snyder confirms Ryan Choi (aka The Atom) would have appeared in his cut of Justice League.
- Sept 27th, Zack shares a photo of Batman from his cut of the film.
- Oct 11th, Zack reveals a scene from Justice League was cut because it was "too scary".
- Oct 13th, Photos surface of a deleted invasion history lesson.
- Oct 25th, Zack talks about the final shot of the Justice League looking at a boom tube.
- Nov 19th, Fans made money for a plane to flying around Warner Bros. Studios with a banner that says #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Zack publicly thanks them.
- Nov 25th - Zack shares a photo of a mural of Darkseid.
- Dec 3rd, While promoting Aquaman, Jason Momoa talks about the character's ending in Justice League.
- Dec 7th, Once again James Momoa talks about the Snyder cut. When asked if he wants to see it he replies with "Yeah. F*ck yeah, I wanna see it".
- Dec 31st, The Snyder cut was reportedly the most dominated DC topic of 2018.
2019
- Jan 29th, During his Fatman Beyond podcast, Kevin Smith would yet again voice his support for the Snyder cut and would also reveal what was suppose to an ongoing storyline for a Justice League trilogy.
- Mar 24th, During his Director Cut event for his films (Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Snyder agrees with a fan hoping that his tradition of his films getting a director cuts (i.e. the Snyder cut).
- Mar 28th, Still around the time of his Director Cuts event, Snyder would confirm that his cut of Justice League cut exist, it's done, and it's up to Warner Bros. to release it. It would also reveal that his cut of the movie is 214 minutes long (3 hours and 34 minutes).
- Apr 9th, The Exiles Network would reveal that Ray Porter was cast as Darkseid.
- Apr 11th, Zack would confirm that Ray Porter was indeed casted as Darkseid.
- Apr 14th, Nick McKinless confirms he played Ares in Justice League and that he had a fight scene with Darkseid.
- May 20th, Supporters raise over $11, 000 to promote the Snyder Cut at San Diego Comic Con with what they call #ProjectComicCon, half of the money would be going to AFSP.
- May 30th, Snyder talks about a heartbreaking death in his original cut of Justice League.
- Jun 17th, Snyder reveals a pic of Darkseid of what would have been his appearance in the history lesson.
- Jun 24th, Ann Sarnoff is announced as the new CEO of Warner Bros. Fans congratulate her and hope that maybe she'll release the Snyder cut.
- Jul 2nd, Famed Superman writer, Jerry Ordway says he would like to see the Snyder cut.
- Jul 3rd, Creator of Deadpool, Rob Liefeld tweets that he wants to see Snyder's version of Justice League. Also during this time Zack would reveal yet another photo of Darkseid.
- Jul 7th, Zack showcases another pic of Cyborg.
- Jul 9th, HBO Max is announced and people are not only asking for the Snyder Cut but are also saying that it would be a great place for the film to be released.
- Jul 12th, A snail mail campaign is started what with Ann Sarnoff being the incoming CEO for Warner Bros. Not only is the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut being used but also #AnnNewHope.
- Jul 15th, Rob Liefeld continues to show support for the Snyder Cut. Also around this time Snyder Cut advertisement is stopped at San Diego Comic Con.
- Jul 16th, Deborah Snyder responses regrading the effects around SDCC.
- Jul 19th, A #ReleaseTheSnyderCut airplane is seen flying around SDCC.
- Jul 26th, The SDCC campaign donates $15K to Suicide Prevention.
- Jul 30th, Fabian Wagner would shares a behind the scenes pic from the set of Justice League.
- Aug 20th, Jason Momoa would come out and say that he saw the Snyder Cut of Justice League and that "it's sick".
- Aug 26th, Fabian Wagner states that he would like to see the Snyder Cut, all while dropping the f-bomb (👍).
- Sept 3rd, Rob Liefeld says that he will campaign for the Snyder Cut at the New York Comic Con.
- Sept 15th, Zack Snyder shares a new image of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman.
- Sept 22nd, Fabian Wagner shares more behind the scenes pics from the set of the movie.
- Sept 24th, Fans are planning something for the upcoming New York Comic Con.
- Sept 26th, The creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman would come out and says that he supports the Snyder Cut.
- Oct 10th, A #ReleaseTheSnyderCut billboard is spotted in Times Square.
- Oct 5th, Rob Liefeld shows that he's the biggest support at NYCC but the biggest news is Zack Snyder would reveal that General Swanwick was going to revealed as Martian Manhunter for his cut of Justice League.
- Oct 7th, Zack would state that he is "speechless" about the efforts being done at the NYCC.
- Oct 12th, New images are released showing a mural of Darkseid.
- Oct 19th, The movement gets it's own anthem.
- Oct 30th, Junkie XL (the composer of Justice League) would confirm the score for the movie is still there. While at the same time, Jesse Eisenberg (the actor who plays Lex Luthor) would reveal that he's unaware of the Snyder Cut BUT would confirm that there were more scenes.
- Nov 8th, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut becomes a trending topic after Zack shares a pic of Ezra Miller and Kiersey Clemons as Barry Allen and Iris West.
- Nov 15th, Zack shares a new image of Superman with the caption of "HE HAS YET TO RISE".
- Nov 17th, It's the two year anniversary of Justice League and the movement has it's biggest moment yet with many celebrities tweeting about the Snyder Cut including Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot.
- Nov 18th, The Justice League stunt team shares a video showcasing the fight choreography that wasn't shown in the theatrical cut.
- Nov 19th, Joe Manganiello shares behind the scenes pics of Deathstroke.
- Dec 4th, Zack Snyder gives proof that the Snyder Cut indeed does exist.
- Dec 6th, Subway (yes the sandwich brand) would show their support for the Snyder Cut along with other sandwich food chains. And yet another big story to pop up around this time is Fabian Wagner revealed that only 10% of Zack's footage was used in the theatrical cut.
- Dec 11th, Zack Snyder shows Superman in the black suit.
- Dec 21st, Zack shares another cut scene from his Justice League showing Flash carrying Superman's casket.
- Dec 23rd, Zack makes a hoodie for suicide awareness but it's not titled Snyder Cut or something similar it's called Zack Snyder's Justice League.
- Dec 25th, It's Christmas and Zack decides to be Santa Claus by giving the movement a whole bunch of photos of his cut of the movie.
2020
- Jan 5th, Fans pay for Snyder Cut banner for the FA Cup. The ad is then shown at the FA Cup.
- Jan 8th, Zack shares a photo of Wonder Woman and Aquaman at the cemetery where Superman is buried.
- Jan 14th, Another photo of Darkseid is shown but this time he's fighting during the History Lesson. When this photo was released Zack would confirm that Ray Porter completed all of his Darkseid scenes.
- Jan 17th, Another video regrading the History Lesson is shown, this time showcasing Parademons being brutality slaughtered.
- Jan 21st, Zack shows a picture of Ryan Choi/The Atom on his Vero. On the same day, Zack shares a pic of Alfred working at an abandoned Wayne aerospace.
- Jan 22nd, It's reported that the movement raised over $150,000 for Suicide Prevention.
- Jan 23rd, Zack announces he wants fans to make their own Zack Snyder's Justice League posters for a contest he's holding.
- Jan 30th, Fans hold the "He Has Yet to Rise" event, celebrating the nine year anniversary of Henry Cavill being announced as Superman. Then on the same day, Zack confirms he shot the scene where Bruce (Batman) & Diana (Wonder Woman) discussing a possible Hall of Justice.
- Feb 2nd, The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement raises over $32,000 for the AFSP through @inktothepeople.
- Feb 6th, Images of the "Exploring The Tunnel" scene is leaked, along with a Batman vs. Parademon stunt video.
- Feb 14th - 16th, The movement holds their first ever Snyder Cut Arts Festival. The event is not only about the Snyder Cut but also raises money for AFSP & @LinaDep's POWERFUL ART.
- Feb 14th, Snyder releases a photo of The Flash with the caption "Happy 214".
- Feb 18th, Ben Affleck would reveal that the troubled shoot with Justice League is what lead me to step down playing Batman.
- Feb 21st, Ben Affleck says that Zack's cut of the film should be available.
- Feb 27th, Leigh Whannell (director of Insidious: Chapter 3, Upgrade, and recently The Invisible Man) says it's a terrible thing we haven't seen the Snyder Cut.
- Feb 28th - Zack announces the finalists of the fan poster contest.
- Feb 29th - Zack reveals the prize of the contest and it blows everybody's mind.
- Mar 1st - Zack crowns the winner of the fan poster contest.
Part Seven - Not If But When & What Will Become of the Movement Afterwards?
There's always two questions I ask myself regrading the Snyder Cut & the movement. Let's start with the Snyder Cut. We're always asking ourselves when will the movie be released? I have heard one person I forget who it was or where I heard it from, but they think maybe the movie will be released in November. It makes sense to me, after all we were promised a Zack Snyder Justice League film in November but sadly we didn't get that. So I guess it would be nice if Snyder did release it on that month. The truth on the matter is the movie will be released on a day that Zack seems fit. Now my other question is when the Snyder Cut is released, what will become of the movement? I mean this whole journey was about getting the Snyder Cut released so when that does happen what will the movement do? Maybe they can help other directors get their cuts released, I mean I'm still waiting for the Kinberg cut of Dark Phoenix along with other director cuts. Well I'm not the voice of this group so I can't really say what they'll do. One thing's for certain only time will tell.
So that's going to do it for me. The making of this was long, stressful, and very tiring but if you guys enjoyed then it was truly worth it. Do come back next time on Saturday, Mar 7th for my review of the newest Disney/Pixar film, Onward. Until then enjoy your day and remember #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.
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