The Simple Reason You’ll Never See Zack Snyder’s Cut Of Justice League

Amid the feeding frenzy that has predictably erupted across the internet following the release of Justice League, many voices have been fighting to be heard. Diehard fans of the DC Extended Universe as it stands have been pushing a petition designed to demonstrate to Warner Bros. that there’s an appetite for a home video release of the Zack Snyder cut of the film – the theatrical version of which was infamously re-worked by Joss Whedon. In response to that groundswell, others have pushed back – arguing that the film should just be seen for what it is – whether that’s something that audiences find successful, or not.

Now, El Fanboy – which is operated by former Lead Editor of Latino-Review, Mario-Francisco Robles – has released a blog post entitled The Truth About The Zack Snyder Cut Of Justice League. While the headline may be ultimately misleading (since neither Snyder himself nor any of the film’s producers specifically confirm details for the piece), it does make some very clear and important points based on deduction and history. It is, essentially, a lengthy clarification of two of Roble’s own Tweets, which cite an ‘insider’ as a source.

BREAKING: A WB Insider Has Confirmed That Only An "Assembly Cut" of Snyder's #JusticeLeague Exists!

"Junkie score is not finished. There is SOME FX work completed. Snyder cut isn't 'unwatchable' but it's just Snyder- WB does not trust [his vision] anymore. Would cost millions."

— Mario-Francisco Robles (@iDJWeddings) November 25, 2017

It's essentially the same rough cut they internally screened earlier this year; The cut that led to the studio essentially taking the movie away from Snyder. It has sat, untouched, since February. They refuse to invest any more money or resources into that cut.

Pass it on! https://t.co/DRkPT2Jx1L

— Mario-Francisco Robles (@iDJWeddings) November 25, 2017

As Robles correctly highlights here, the most important thing to remember is that the studio is guided by the bottom line – and his ‘insider’ has referred to this much vaunted Zack Snyder cut as an “assembly cut.” The point here being that an “assembly cut” would require a vast amount of further investment before it could be released, and Warner Bros. is uninterested in increasing its Justice League bill for something that would appeal to a relatively small – albeit devoted – audience.

As Robles points out in his blog post, Snyder’s cut, in its current state, would still require the following – none of which the studio will pay for:

• More editing
• More filming (pickups and additional scenes to round out the edges)
• Junkie XL to finish the score
• More FX work to complete the crude, placeholder effects used in the rough cut

Robles’ biggest point, though – which, oddly, seems to be little-discussed in the public forum – is the fact that there are significant parallels between the Justice League situation, and 1980’s Superman II. Specifically, Superman II had the same issue with directors – with Richard Donner being replaced by Richard Lester, and the film being the source of controversy for fans of Donner’s Superman. As with Justice League, fans campaigned for a Richard Donner cut and were finally rewarded with one in 2006 – a quarter of a century after the fact.

These similarities beg the deeper question, though: why does Warner Bros. succeed so spectacularly with standalone Batman projects (most recently with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy), while Superman projects generally struggle (as in, every other standalone Superman film)? Is there a difference between the way audiences respond to the vigilante and the way they respond to the big boy scout?

Wherever you land on the issue of demanding a Zack Snyder cut from a studio that requires profit, we can surely all agree that there’s more to this Justice League debate than simply ‘studios shouldn’t interfere.’ Indeed, history tells us exactly that.