The mythical “Snyder Cut.” A version of Justice League that consists of unfinished footage and basic VFX that is compiled from an assembly cut by original director Zack Snyder. It’s a legend, a lost film that DC fans are clamoring to see, mainly because they are unsatisfied with the theatrical version that was constructed by Joss Whedon.
But does the fabled “Snyder Cut” of Justice League actually exist? And will fans ever get a chance to see it? There are numerous opinions and recounts on the veracity of the existence of “The Snyder Cut,” and one comes from acclaimed storyteller Kevin Smith.
Smith is a die-hard comic fan, an aficionado on all things superhero-movie, and someone whose fingerprints have been all over multiple DC projects. He also was a recent guest on CinemaBlend’s own ReelBlend podcast, where he confirmed that he knows the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League does exist, and explained why it’d be crazy of Warner Bros. NOT to release it.
Kevin Smith started off by confirming:
I've not seen it firsthand. And also to be clear, I know Zack, but it’s not like, ‘We're fucking tight son!’ … That being said, I’ve spoken now to enough people at various levels in that production. There IS a Snyder cut. For sure. That's not a mythical beast. It exists. Now, it's not a finished movie by any stretch of the imagination. There were things that went away from the story that they shot that didn't wind up going into (visual) effects or anything like that. So I would assume, based on what I've been told, that large sections of that Snyder Cut are, you know, pre-viz (with) a lot of green screen. We're not talking a finished movie. When people hear ‘Snyder Cut’ in their heads, they think about, like, a DVD they've seen of an extended cut or something that's finished. The ‘Snyder Cut’ that, again I haven't seen, but the one I've heard everyone speak of was never a finished film. It was a movie that people in production could watch and fill in the blanks. It was certainly not meant for mass consumption.
It’s definitely possible that people who are clamoring for the Snyder Cut version of Justice League believe that it is a completed work which would resemble a movie that’s in theaters at the moment. But I think the majority of the people who have made it this far down the rabbit hole understand that the “Cut” in question is a very early assembly of shots that spell out where Snyder’s Justice League would have gone, had he been able to finish it.
And it’s that version that Kevin Smith thinks Warner Bros. needs to think long and hard about releasing. Smith tells the ReelBlend hosts that we, as a movie-loving community, have come to accept work-in-progress versions of movies we adore. He singled out the extras that Peter Jackson put on his DVD releases of Lord of the Rings that educated audiences on the massive effort that went into the building of that universe. And Smith adds:
I feel confident that the audience could handle that cut of the movie without being like… I think there's a common thought process, probably within the studio – and again, no studio has said this to me, but I would assume that they're like, ‘We can’t show people this. Yes, there is a Snyder Cut, but no audience would be able to look at this and see what the director's intent was.’ I disagree. That would seem like common wisdom because everyone always wants to put their best foot forward. But I think the audience now, particularly the audience that would consume the Snyder Cut and discuss it at great length, can watch a work print. They can watch a work-in-progress and fill in the blanks in their heads.
I have to agree. Of course, all things boil down to money. Yet, even here, the idea that Warner Bros. could make even more money from a release of a “Snyder Cut” of Justice League bolsters the narrative that the unfinished Snyder version should see the light of day. To not do that leaves significant amounts of money on the table, according to Kevin Smith, who rationalizes:
Every studio likes to make money. They do multiple incarnations of movies on video all the time. This could just be one more of those. All they have to do is lend their audience a little more credence to be like, ‘Look, they’ll get it.’ Put up a bunch of fucking disclaimers, including one from Zack himself at the head of it going, ‘Obviously the movie wasn't finished, but here's what we were thinking.’ There's definitely a way to do it. … They could definitely shoot a version of that flick where, you know, they put [Snyder] into it explaining what would have went here, what went there.
Want to listen to the rest of our ReelBlend interview with Kevin Smith? Trust me, you do! In addition to all of this great Justice League content, he gets into amazing details about his planned Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, his reunions with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and so much more. Press play on this episode and enjoy:
As for the Snyder Cut of Justice League, the ball bounces back into WB’s court. This is more confirmation that a version of the film likely does exist. And Smith, at the very least, believes that audiences – particularly the ones eager to see this League – will be on board with checking out Zack Snyder’s vision, even if it is incomplete.
DC, meanwhile, continues to roll along. Todd Phillips has a Joker movie coming to theaters in October, and the ongoing DC film universe expands next year with the addition of the Birds of Prey, the return of Wonder Woman, and more future films on the radar.
Keep up with the latest news by bookmarking our DC Portal Page. Then head to the comments and let us know if you are interested in seeing a work-in-progress version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, even if it means filling in some gaps with your own creative mind.
