One of the first new projects Warner Bros. announced in an attempt to lure viewers to their new streaming service HBO Max was a ‘director’s cut’ of 2017’sJustice League, aptly renamedJustice League: Director’s Cut. Colloquially referred to asZack Snyder’s Justice League, the release promisesto fulfill Snyder’s original directorial visionfor the film after he had to leave the project midway through due to a family emergency.
Indeed, the 2017 theatrical version ofJustice Leaguehas often been referred to as a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ by viewers, as replacement director Joss Whedon seemingly took the remaining film in a starkly different direction than Snyder had initially intended. Fans have been lobbying ever since for the original ‘Snyder Cut’ of the film to be released, although that was initially deemed impossible as only some of the ‘Snyder scenes’ had been filmed.
Related:The Snyder Cut Of Justice League Will Likely Be Zack Snyder’s Final DC Project
Now, however, Warner Bros. has given Snyder $70m and their blessing to ‘complete’ his vision and finally give fans the ‘Cut’ they’ve been demanding. New material forJustice Leaguewas filmed in October 2020 witha scheduled release in March 2021as a miniseries. Yes, in an effort to further add content to their streaming platform, Warner Bros. will initially be releasing the project as a four-part miniseries (with each episode being roughly an hour long), before combining all the segments into a single film. Of course, this naturally gives rise to the question of how will the film be broken up? What could each episode of Zack Snyder’sJustice Leaguelook like? Answering this question is actually far more complex than it seems.
For one thing, there were significant changes to the original theatrical cut, meaning it’s difficult to assert what will remain in the film, what will be removed, and what will be added. Some elements reportedly removed from the original ‘Snyder Cut’ include: at least 10 comic book cameos, includingJared Leto’s the Joker, Atom and Martian Manhunter; scenes involvingcut primary antagonist Darkseid; additional lore and backstories for the Flash, Aquaman, and The Cyborg (Cyborg actorRay Fisher has mentioned that “practically none” of Cyborg’s origin sceneswere included in the theatrical cut); the first invasion of Earth; and changes to Superman’s arc, namely the presences of his iconic black suit. It’s impossible to know for sure how many of these scenes will be readded to the upcoming mini-series and which will be discarded again.
On a meta-level, theJustice Leaguefilm is in a unique position. With this new cut, Snyder can react and respond to criticisms leveled at the initial film, doubling down on them or perhaps acquiescing. Equally, because it’s on a streaming service, Snyder will be less pressured to make the film accessible to the average movie-goer, as box-office returns are less critical. Therefore, with all these additional influences and considerations, it’s a Herculean task to try and cut it up into four known episodes.
However, it is possible to discern a rough structure for the film. Assuming the film will follow the same basic narrative beats to the original film and considering elements mentioned by Snyder and the cast, it is possible to predict this structure:
