As is often the case for a big-budget blockbuster, Justice League‘s trailer campaign included a fair amount of footage that was ultimately cast aside as VFX editors started working on a final cut.
Couple this with the fact that Justice League was developed by two directors – namely Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon (Avengers, Batgirl) – and it was almost inevitable that the Warner Bros. epic would undergo significant changes leading up to release.
And thanks to a YouTube user by the name of Royal Wakefield (h/t ComicBook.com), we now have a better idea of what’s missing from Justice League‘s first official trailer. According to the video’s description, the following is “an attempt to compare two videos for consistency of their video, audio, and dialogue.”
It’s included below, just after this briefing from the official description:
The videos being compared are: “Justice League – Official Trailer 1” against “Justice League (2017, Theatrical)”.
Individual timers are allocated for each video to measure how many seconds each video runs for.
Three other timers are provided to time “Inconsistent” or “Missing” statuses of video, audio, and dialogue, between the two videos being compared. If a status is “Consistent”, the timer will pause until it is not “Consistent” again.
If anything, it’s further proof that Justice League was thrust under the microscope leading up to release, what with reports claiming that Warner Bros. brass imposed a two-hour mandate on the final cut. Against all odds, Zack Snyder (and later Joss Whedon) managed to nip and tuck the DC tentpole until it could fit within a 120-minute runtime, even if it came at the expense of a competent, compelling superhero story.
Like it or lump it, Justice League will be available to pick up on Blu-ray and DVD from March 13th (Amazon pre-orders are now live) – just don’t hold your breath for a director’s cut of any form. There is, however, a scene that skipped theaters, and it presumably has something to do with the second coming of Superman. Watch this space for more.