Members of the Release the Snyder Cut movement have been battling for years to get Warner Bros. to unveil Zack Snyder’s true vision for Justice League. And it is the belief of many in the movement that there are key executives at the top of the studio food chain who are blocking progress on the release of Snyder’s cut, so when a new studio leader gives the RTSC push any recognition, it’s viewed as a win.
This week, WarnerMedia announced that Hulu founding CEO Jason Kilar had been hired as its new CEO. From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense, as Warner Bros. is about to launch HBO Max, so bringing on a chief with vital experience in the streaming universe can only be beneficial. Speaking of beneficial, the Snyder Cut kids already think they have found an ally in Kilar, because he’s liking Tweets with the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag, giving the movement hope.
Is he being kind? Possible. But it’s also likely that Jason Kilar is smart enough to realize that liking Tweets which ask him to release the Snyder Cut of Justice League can only give hope to a thirsty fanbase who’ve spent three years in a metaphorical desert, and use acknowledgments like this as water.
If we take the “Likes” one step further, we can make the assumption that Jason Kilar’s new “baby,” HBO Max, stands as the most obvious home for the movie we all know now as Zack Snyder’s Justice League. While many fans assumedly want a theatrical release for the 3.5-hour cut, that’s becoming increasingly unlikely. Especially as theater chains rebound from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there are so many studio features that will be fighting for screen space, meaning Snyder’s Justice League should be content with a streaming release so that fans can simply see what his vision for the movie would have been.
Or – and RTSC fans might not want to hear this – Jason Kilar might just have been being nice. The Tweets are congratulatory before they make the ask for the Snyder Cut. It’s possible that the new WarnerMedia CEO isn’t social-media savvy, and just liked Tweets that he thought were kind. Personally, I don’t believe that. I’m willing to bet there’s a class taught at WB on how to handle the passionate RTSC fanbase. Jim Lee certainly understands how to dance around the topic!
HBO Max launches in May, so we’ll soon know if Zack Snyder’s Justice League is part of the programming at launch, or if they use it to entice new signups as the streaming service seeks new patrons.
