The current fan demand for Warner Bros. to release the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League brings the expression ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ to mind. Given that what was put into theaters was already pretty bad, surely Snyder’s original vision must have been better, right?
Part of this is wishful thinking, with fans imagining an idealized version of the film that fixes everything wrong with it, but I’ve got to admit that the flurry of details we’ve heard about the original cut screened to WB execs makes it sound at the very least, quite interesting.
The latest word on the Snyder cut comes courtesy of Kevin Smith, who fleshes out Darkseid’s brief appearance. Smith, speaking on his own YouTube channel, explains what he knows about these scenes, and according to him, they’d come in the final moments of the battle with Steppenwolf, after Superman’s resurrection.
Apparently, during the fight, Steppenwolf attempts to tempt the Man of Steel with joining his army by using the same apocalyptic vision of the future we see in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Pride of place in this vision would have been the Ruler of Apokolips and the God of Evil himself, Darkseid. Fortunately, Superman snaps out of the fantasy and goes on to defeat Steppenwolf. Following that, Steppenwolf is transported to Apokolips where he’s executed by Darkseid, who makes a vow to visit Earth to meet ‘the Kryptonian.’
Of the many criticisms of Justice League, one of the most common is Steppenwolf’s flimsiness as a villain. I suspect having the explicit threat of Darkseid backing him up might have made him a little more threatening, but either way, I’m certainly annoyed that we didn’t get to see him on the big screen. Perhaps we’ll get our hands on that Snyder cut one day, though. After all, as Kevin Smith says “they’d be ridiculous not to [release it]. What’s the worst that could happen?”
