Overview

Release the Snyder Cut is fan-led campaign that aims to allow for the exhibition of an alternate cut of Zack Snyder's 2017 superhero film Justice League. After Snyder left production of the film due to personal reasons, Avengers-director Joss Whedon took over directorial duties. Following its release, some criticized the film for displaying more of Whedon's stylistic-tendencies than Snyder's. As such, some believe that an alternate version of the movie, dubbed the "Snyder Cut," has been withheld from release by Warner Bros., the studio behind Justice League.

Snyder later confirmed that he had multiple cuts of the film. In 2020, Warner Bros. announced that they would have Snyder finish his cut of the film and release Zack Snyder's Justice League on the HBO Max streaming service in 2021. Zack Snyder's Justice League premiered on March 18th, 2021.

Background

On April 11th, 2016, production on Justice League began. The following month, The Hollywood Reporter^[1] stated that the negative reception of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice led to the formation of DC Films, which would be run by Jon Berg, DC's Vice President, and Geoff Johns, the company's chief creative content officer would produce, hoping to correct some of the tone and plot issues audiences and critics had with Dawn of Justice_. Later that month, Zach Snyder stepped down from production after the sudden death of his daughter. DC quickly brought Joss Whedon (_The Avengers) on to direct the film's post-production and reshoots. In a statement,^[2] Zach Snyder wrote:

“In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was the way through it. The demands of this job are pretty intense. It is all-consuming. And in the last two months, I’ve come to the realization … I’ve decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me. They are all having a hard time. I’m having a hard time.”

The film was released on November 17th, 2017.

Development

On November 11th, 2017, Roberto Mata started a Change.org^[3] petition addressed to Warner Bros. to release a Zack Snyder cut of the film. The petition also included a plea to release the original score by Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL), which was replaced by composer Tim Burton ahead of release. As of July 2018, the petition has received more than 175,000 signatures of its 200,000 signature goal.

The petition criticizes the film for both the writing, particularly the film's comedic moments and the handling of Superman's storyline, and the score, which was originalcomposed by Holkenborg, whom Whedon allegedly fired and replaced with Tim Burton. Mata writes on the film's script, "In 2017, such attempts at 'comedy' are seen as acceptable or funny is an indictment on where we are as a society. We believe WB can and should be better than that." On the score, he says, "Tom Holkenborg would have provided a cinematic score more in line with what we, the supporters of this franchise are familiar with and love. It is public knowledge that Junkie XL planned to create themes for every member of the Justice League whilst bringing back the iconic works of Hans Zimmer used in previous DC films."

On November 24th, a visual effects artist on the film said in a Reddit ^[6] AMA that there is another cut of the film. The post has since been deleted, but it read:

"1000% bullshit. As I’ve said, of course there is an assembly cut Zack had going before he left, but that was 9 months ago.

"He himself said he hasn’t touched or interfered or been a part of the process since March. There is no cut. People like this guy are the worst, perpetuating rumours of processes they don’t understand."

That day, the website BleedingCool^[7] reported that Snyder had liked a posted about the campaign to release the cut on the social media site Vero. They write:

"Snyder, it seems, liked a Vero post promoting a petition demanding that Warner Bros release a director’s cut of the film with Snyder’s vision restored. Snyder’s social media activity follows a recent scandal wherein the traitorous Whedon liked a tweet critical of Justice League before its release. Taken together, this is near irrefutable evidence that the Ultimate Cut of Justice League really is possible, despite it being completely economically infeasible for Warner Bros to make one!

Several months later, Facebook user Itzmoe posted^[4] an event page for a photo opportunity at Warner Bros. studio on January 6th, 2018. They wrote, "Join me (ITZMOE on YouTube) and other Snyder fans as we take a photo in front of Warner Bros. with a #ReleaseTheSnyderCut sign while wearing our Zack Snyder shirts/ DC shirts, & costumes to (peacefully) show our support for the release of a Snyder cut of Justice League! After we take the photo, we will all share it on ALL of our social media so hopefully it will spread and get it to Zack himself so he can see it, like he saw the 'Thank You Zack Snyder' video I made!"

On January 4th, 2018, Itzmoe published a video describing her reasoning behind the event. The post (shown below) received more than 4,600 views in seven months.

Two days later, the Twitter ^[5] account @BatmanNewsCom published the photograph of several fans holding a sign that reads "#ReleaseTheSnyderCut." The post (shown below) received more than 565 retweets and 1,500 likes in seven years.

On February 25th, 2018, Twitter^[8] user @nickalbright tweeted that Snyder had responded to a comment on Vero in which he describes a scene that was intended to be in Justice League. Snyder confirmed his suspicions. The post (shown below, left) received more than 540 retweets and 1,400 likes in six months.

In June 2018, following the merger of AT&T and Time Warner, the owners of DC Comics and its properties, supporters of the Snyder Cut's release began tweeting at AT&T demanding its release. On June 14th, Twitter^[9] user @grayghost84 tweeted, "Hey @ATT there’s millions of ravenous fans who want you to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut so if you could go ahead and release that tomorrow, it would really be a sign of good faith to the fans. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut." In one month, the post (shown below, center) received more than 80 retweets and 270 likes.

The following day, Twitter^[10] user @Haroon4D tweeted a conversation between a supporter of the cut's release and an AT&T support employee. The post (shown below, right) received more than 125 retweets and 400 likes in one month.

On July 19th, the Wall Street Journal^[11] reported on the existence of the Snyder Cut. In the article, a representative for Snyder says that the director has never seen the theatrical version of Justice League.

Additionally, a senior executive at Warner Bros. told the publication that it has no plans to release any other versions of the film. However, while some crew members said that Snyder had assembled a rough cut after completing principal photography, there was never any intention of releasing the film in that state. Snyder, they say, also oversaw the writing of new scenes by Whedon and had planned on directing them in reshoots before leaving the production for personal reasons. As Business Insider^[12] writes, "This indicates that Snyder was on board for taking the film in a different direction until he had to step away."

Confirmation

On March 25th, 2019, Twitter user @Woke_master tweeted a video of Snyder confirming the existence of multiple alternate versions of Justice League. He said, "All I can say is… sure there’s a cut… it’s done. I have a cut. I have a bunch of them. So, it’s not like… that’s up to them [Warner Bros.]" The video received more than 575 retweets and 1,200 likes in less than one week (shown below).

Online, fans expressed their excitement and desire to see the film. Twitter^[13] user @willrowactor tweeted, "'When will the Snyder Cut of Justice League be released?' Zack; 'I can’t give an exact answer to that because I don’t know, but IT EXISTS, ITS READY aside from a few CG tweaks, But I don’t own it, Legally I cannot release it, I’m hoping it won’t be long' It exists" (shown below, left). Twitter^[14] user @ItsDavery tweeted about how "bloggers" were wrong about the cut, receiving 145 retweets and 800 likes in less than one week (shown below, center). Twitter^[15] user @SnyderCutJL tweeted the video and wrote, "It's done. It's up to them. Tried cleaning up the audio a bit to make what he's saying more discernible." The tweet received more than 140 retweets and 430 likes in one week (shown below, right).

On May 20th, 2020, Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League was officially announced for a future release on HBO Max.^[16]

Release

On March 18th, 2021, Zack Snyder's Justice League premiered on HBO Max.^[17] The cut has the running time of 242 minutes (over four hours) and, while keeping the framework of the theatrical version, features dozens of additional scenes, introducing backstories for some characters and other worldbuilding elements. Many CGI effects were replaced, and the film's color palette is less saturated compared to Whedon's version.

Search Interest

External References