While comic book movies are everywhere nowadays, none have had the unique life of Justice League. Fans campaigned for years to see the Snyder Cut, with Warner Bros. eventually giving in and giving Snyder millions to complete his original vision. But there were still some caveats, with the filmmaker shooting a Green Lantern scene that would never see the light of day. And Snyder Cut fans have made a new hashtag to campaign for the studio to finally make that footage public.
While it seemed like a pipe dream for years, the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League offered a way longer and better take on the DC blockbuster. Snyder Cut reshoots included the alternate ending with Martian Manhunter. Green Lantern was orginally meant to appear in that sequence, with the studio seemingly shutting that down thanks to its announced Green Lantern Corps. TV series. But since there's a new DC Universe starting with Superman: Legacy, fans want to finally see that footage see the light of day. #ReleaseTheGreenLanternScene has been trending on Twitter today as a result of the campaign, with one popular tweet reading:
WBD, the time is now. @wbd #ReleaseTheGreenLanternScene 💚💚 pic.twitter.com/pehqx0QgcHOctober 3, 2023
And just like that, another popular hashtag about the Snyder Cut has begun trending. This was a concerted effort by the fandom, which is hoping to see that Green lantern scene. After all, that scene is one of the the last lingering threads from Justice League. We'll just have to see how many days #ReleaseTheGreenLanternScene ends up getting traction for.
While the fandom's years of calling for the Snyder Cut was successful, it doesn't seem like Warner Bros. is hoping to budge any more. Fans pivoted to campaign for the entire SnyderVerse to be released, which would have included two more movies from the filmmaker. By comparison, putting out the lost footage of Green Lantern feels more doable. And since we're already leaving the old DCEU behind us for the new timeline, it really wouldn't do any harm to see Wayne T. Carr as John Stewart. Another tweet in support for this movement can be seen below:
I Would like to See this Scene 💚#ReleaseTheGreenLanternScene pic.twitter.com/aKIIxnIm8hOctober 3, 2023
Since Warner Bros. was originally planning their Green Lantern Corps. show, it made sense that they didn't want the cosmic team of peacekeepers to make their debut in Zack Snyder's Justice League-- especially because that film wasn't in the official timeline.
But the DCU will start things over, so why not finally give fans the Green Lantern scene? It feels like it couldn't hurt, although calls for Warner Bros. to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse might return. Another fan pointed out the timeline issue being moot, posting:
Why would WB block this scene? What could possibly be controversial or bad about introducing John Stewart into the Justice League? Since the DCEU is no longer continuing, there's no reason not to release this.#ReleaseTheGreenLanternScene#RestoreTheSnyderVerse#ReleaseTheAyerCut pic.twitter.com/r7mOk7qyI1October 3, 2023
Touche. It still doesn't seem likely that Warner Bros. will do an about-face, even if a new shared universe is being crafted by Gunn and Safran. The studio has been firm in its decisions, including scrapping the Batgirl movie. Still, I'd love to see the Green Lanterns have a conversation with Ben Affleck, even if the footage isn't complete. Fingers crossed.
The next DC movie hitting theaters is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on December 20th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
