Joss Whedon Confirms He Directed Justice League’s Opening Sequence

Joss Whedon has remained controversially quiet about Justice League throughout the DC movie’s production and release. Despite delivering the final cut of the film for Warner Bros., after working on some extensive reshoots throughout the summer, the usually active Twitter user has had nothing to say about his latest project online. At least, until now, that is.

The former Avengers director has finally mentioned JL on his timeline… and cleared up a fan debate while he was at it. In reply to The New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum quoting the lyrics for Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows,” Whedon piped up to admit that he “stuck it in JL.” In other words, he’s responsible for the movie’s opening credits montage, over which plays a cover of the classic song by Sigrid.

Since JL hit theaters, fans have taken to trying to work out which bits of the film are from Zack Snyder’s original cut and which parts are by Whedon. It was generally assumed that the opening montage was Snyder, due to its moody tone, themes of a darker DC universe and choice of soundtrack. In other words, it heavily resembled the opening montage in Snyder’s Watchmen. However, it’s now clear that Whedon was actually behind this sequence. Maybe it was envisioned as a homage to his predecessor’s distinctive style?

Whatever the thinking behind it, the song seems to have been part of Whedon’s vision for Justice League from the beginning of his tenure on the production. Previously, composer Danny Elfman revealed that he had a clean slate when it came to his score, except that he had to work around the opening montage.

The only other time that Whedon has made a reference to Justice League on his Twitter account it caused a lot of stir amongst the fandom. Whether by accident or not, the director liked a Tweet claiming that Steppenwolf was the worst superhero movie villain ever. This has led some to theorize that Whedon is not all that pleased with his work on the DC pic, while others have pointed out that his name in the credits appears in the same shot as a sign reading ‘I tried.’ Coincidence or coded message? You decide.