Twelve months ago, even the most optimistic of Justice League fans couldn’t have guessed that when the Snyder Cut finally arrived, it would run for at least four hours, and it just goes to show how heavily the theatrical edition was reworked by Joss Whedon under the watchful eye of the Warner Bros. brass.
Snyder admitted that he’s only filmed four of five minutes of new footage, but somehow still managed to piece together an alternate cut of the DCEU blockbuster that’s twice as long as the previous version without using a single frame shot by Whedon. The director is known for making very lengthy movies, of course, and Justice League will give him the unique distinction of being responsible for the three longest comic book blockbusters ever made after Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut and Batman v Superman‘s Ultimate Edition.
It’s also going to be an R-rated venture, with Ben Affleck’s Batman set to hold the honor of becoming the first live-action Dark Knight to drop an F-bomb. Fans were divided on the news at first, and it would appear as though a more adult-orientated Justice League is still generating plenty of debate, as you can see from the reactions below.
March gives us #ComingToAmerica going from an R-rated original to a PG-13 sequel, plus #JusticeLeague moving from a PG-13 original to the #SnyderCut which will carry an R rating. Welcome to the Bizarro world of Streaming 2021.
— Gitesh Pandya (@GiteshPandya) February 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/DellDracula/status/1357010466837520391?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1357010466837520391%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fjustice-league-r-rated-movie-is-generating-intense-debate-online%2F
1) I wonder why they even bother with the MPAA when they're not releasing it in theaters?
2) In the streaming era, I bet studios will be less hesitant to make R-rated movies because kids won't have to trick a human into selling them a ticket at the risk of fines to watch it. https://t.co/HJyG0U0vf6
— Dan Stapleton (@DanStapleton) February 3, 2021
people couldn't stop whining about "dark and gritty" so he doubled down, I'd do the same
of course the "kids can't watch it" argument is stupid: it'll be violent and very stupid – that's exactly what kids love, that's what I was watching when I was 12 https://t.co/76Wn0B1GbV
— 🎃Big Gleb🎃 (@GlebMelnikov8) February 3, 2021
Nothing says I fundamentally do not understand the Justice League like an R-rated Justice League. https://t.co/zSqQ9PuLVP
— Tim Demeter (@quixotim) February 3, 2021
An R-rated JL movie is preposterous, but the whole point of Zack Snyder's Justice League is that it's ZACK SNYDER'S Justice League, and as much as he's shown he's entirely ill-fit for these characters, if you're gonna do Zach Snyder's Justice League then that's what it should be. https://t.co/n3mnYn5iWr
— Ziggybooks Comics & Stuff (@PowerPackNation) February 3, 2021
Imagine in 2034 when every CBM is R-Rated and there are no superhero movies for kids. We are raising a generation of supervillains I tell ya
— Royal Stag Films (@RoyalStagFilms1) February 3, 2021
So Zack Snyder's vision for A Justice League film is a 4 hour R-rated film pic.twitter.com/xmOw3qCSKp
— Tom – Pop Cult Pod on YT (@PopCultPod) February 3, 2021
I can see both sides of this. One on hand, when the average person thinks “Justice League”, they don’t think R-Rated.
On the other, it’s also been 70 years since these characters were created and they have had some very dark storylines. https://t.co/UI4YD1uwwN
— Zach (In his handicap era) (@og_starr) February 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/Unphiltereddd/status/1356846822321348611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1356846822321348611%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fjustice-league-r-rated-movie-is-generating-intense-debate-online%2F
R-rated superhero movies have always tended to be hit-or-miss, unless of course the added levels of violence and profanity serve the story in a meaningful way as we’ve seen in the likes of Joker, Deadpool and Logan. Having waited so long for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, longtime supporters aren’t going to grudge an R-rating, but it’ll be interesting nonetheless to see what it adds to or possibly even detracts from the final product when it hits HBO Max on March 18th.
