With theaters still closed and studios considering delaying major movies once again, the Justice League Director’s Cut is set to cause a hell of a splash when it lands on HBO Max next month. It comes after years of campaigning by passionate fans, a lot of behind-the-scenes negotiating and a whole bunch of naysayers who smugly argued that the ‘Snyder Cut’ definitely didn’t exist and even if it did, there was no chance it would ever be released.
Well, they’ve had to eat their words and then some, as Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder seem to have decided to make the campaigners’ wildest dreams come true. Jared Leto is reprising his role of the Joker, Joe Manganiello is finally making a proper appearance as Deathstroke, Ezra Miller shot scenes as the Flash from the Fantastic Beasts 3 set, and then there’s the return of Ben Affleck as Batman.
Now, we have what’s likely to be our last look at the movie before its release, as Snyder has posted the final trailer and it’s a doozy. Though it contains several shots we’ve seen already, there’s also a bunch of fresh footage that’s just being shown off for the first time – including a tantalizing glimpse of Leto’s Clown Prince of Crime.
The trailer showcases some of the amazing effects work done for the film, too. In an interview last year, Snyder confirmed that the project contained 2,800 VFX shots (beating out Avengers: Endgame‘s 2,500). Many of the CGI elements were completed back in 2017 and merely had to be retrieved from the digital archive, but it’s worth remembering that this has provided much-needed work for VFX studios struggling after COVID-19 put the brakes on blockbuster movie production.
All that remains to be seen is whether the Justice League Director’s Cut was worth the wait. I suspect many already have their hot takes on it pre-packaged for release day, but I’m optimistic that this is going to turn out to be something truly special. We’ll find out for certain on March 18th, 2021.
