Zack Snyder’s passionate fans spent the better part of the past three years fighting to get the director’s cut of Justice League restored, and they finally succeeded in getting the movie released on HBO Max. The fans fought for artistic integrity. They fought on behalf of all the craftspeople who poured their hearts into Justice League. And they fought on behalf of mental health and suicide prevention awareness in the name of Autumn Snyder, Zack and Debbie’s late daughter.
Eagle-eyed viewers finally catching up with the Snyder Cut of Justice League might see a tribute to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in the movie, and Debbie Snyder told us the story of how it got there.
The moment occurs right after Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) recruits the speedster Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) to become a member of their newly formed Justice League. The duo hop into Wayne’s incredible car, and as they enter the highway, a billboard reads, “You Are Not Alone.” The AFSP logo is on it, serving as a reminder that the push for suicide prevention and mental health awareness is every bit as important to the Snyders as this movie is. As Debbie Snyder told CinemaBlend during a recent, exclusive interview:
Well, I think this journey for us towards Zack Snyder’s Justice League started with the fans and them taking on a cause that obviously is near and dear to us. But I also think that today, with the year we’ve had -- with so many people losing their jobs or losing loved ones, mental health is so important. So we wanted to continue the work to support AFSP. And a lot of the things that we are doing at the release of the film are also fundraising for money for them. But also, I think, to generate awareness. Because I think with mental health, so many times there’s still such a stigma against it. People are afraid to talk about it, they’re embarrassed to talk about it. When we made the decision to come forward about our tragic loss of Autumn, we did so very thoughtfully, but also feeling like out of such a horrible thing we can at least tell our story and tell people that there is help out there, and spread that word that it’s OK to talk about it, and there is support out there. It has been amazing to see this fan community embrace this cause. And even when they were trying to get the movie made all along, they were still raising money and raising awareness for AFSP. So there was this billboard, and there was something else on it, and Zack was like, ‘I think this would be a great place to incorporate it into the movie.’
It’s a “blink and you might miss it” moment. But it’s there for fans to find, and its meaning runs so deep to the core of the existence of the Release the Snyder Cut movement, I’m personally thrilled that Zack Snyder was able to make that change and include it. This is the full restoration of his Justice League vision, and fans wouldn’t be seeing it if the Snyder Cut community didn’t routinely gather in the name of mental health and artistic integrity to push for the studio to unleash this cut.
Now is the time to celebrate. Zack Snyder’s Justice League has been released and can be streamed on HBO Max in the U.S., and on other platforms around the globe. Keep it here on CinemaBlend for Justice League coverage, and bookmark our list of Upcoming DC Movies to stay up to date on everything that’s coming from that superhero universe.
