First, there was Release the Snyder Cut, an online campaign staged by Zack Snyder’s loyal fans to get his version of Justice League released in some format. And it worked! Snyder’s four-hour cut of Justice League landed on HBO Max, and it was glorious. But because the movie ended on a tease of where Snyder’s story could have gone, fans wanted more. Which led to Restore the SnyderVerse. But when that movement failed to catch on, Snyder’s fans came up with one more Hail Mary attempt at keeping the DC heroes under his domain. They want(ed) Warner Bros. to sell the “SnyderVerse” to Netflix, allowing Snyder to continue making his movies… just for a different studio.
Now, first, that’s not how things work. At all. WB owns the rights to DC and all of its characters. There have been examples of characters being loaned to competing studios – the most famous being Sony lending Spider-Man to Disney so that Tom Holland’s version of the hero could appear in the MCU. But financially, Sony still reaped the benefits of that partnership. Still, the drum of “Sell the SnyderVerse to Netflix” is getting beaten on social media. So, during the director’s appearance on the legendary Vodka Stream with Dave “The Film Junkie,” the Justice League director was asked about the possibility, and he explained:
What probably is amazing to learn is that my influence over those things is very small. … Like I said, the truth is, it would be amazing if… whatever control over the IP exists, I don’t… that’s not my role. That’s, as they say, above my pay grade.
Classic answer. It defers the blame, and responsibility, to people above him on the organizational chart. Snyder admits that he has no control over what happens with the DC IP. And while he has set up shop at the streaming giant Netflix to create original IP through Army of the Dead and two Rebel Moon movies, the chances of Warner Bros. playing nice at Netflix and loaning their incredibly valuable characters to a competing studio to make more Justice League movies (while James Gunn and Peter Safran roll out a new slate of DC projects) are slim.
That doesn’t mean that Warner Bros. has been uncooperative. Quite the opposite, as Zack Snyder went on to explain:
But, I would say that – I’ll say one thing. Warner Bros., as far as this (SnyderCon) screening event is concerned, have been incredible. This group now is beyond kind and caring and personal. It’s been amazing working with them. I have no complaints. Beyond that, as far as the creative goes and what they’re planning? I honestly have been busy shooting (Rebel Moon). I have no idea what they’re up to. … It’s really not my call, I guess is the point.
Watch the full stream, with an hour of Snyder talk, right here:
So, this should put an end to the conversation, right? It has to. Zack Snyder admits as part of that conversation that he and James Gunn are buddies, and that he’s content working on the universes that are keeping him very busy in worlds that he has created. But that’s not going to stop him from celebrating his three DC movies during an upcoming event fans have dubbed SnyderCon, being held in Los Angeles in April. It’s all for charity, and it’s all for the fans. Tremendous job, Mr. Snyder.
