One of the main reasons why so many of the industry’s premiere filmmakers have been taking their talents to streaming is the almost complete creative freedom afforded by the likes of Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max and even Disney Plus to a certain extent. When it comes to making movies for a theatrical release, plenty of compromises have to be made as potentially billions of box office dollars are at stake, which is something subscription-based platforms don’t need to worry about.
Zack Snyder knows this better than most, given that his originally-intended vision for Justice League finally premiered last month, half a decade after the director originally called action on the DCEU’s all-star blockbuster back in in April 2016. Between those two points, the studio tried to get him to lighten the tone and add more comedy, before he departed to be replaced by Joss Whedon, who delivered a box office bomb which led directly to the fan campaign that eventually resulted in the Snyder Cut.
Netflix’s Army of the Dead debuts next month, and if the first full-length trailer is any indication, Snyder’s shackles are well and truly off. When hyping his upcoming zombie heist thriller, he even managed to have a little dig at Warner Bros.’ expense while praising Netflix for letting him make exactly the movie he wanted to.
“I didn’t have to fight Netflix. There are no other cuts of this movie. You don’t have to see a bastardized version, you get to see the awesome version first.”
Army of the Dead looks like it’s going to be an absolute riot, and now that the Snyder Cut saga is finally over, it’s going to be a hugely cathartic experience for the 55 year-old to see his undiluted creativity beamed into the homes of over 200 million customers, safe in the knowledge that the final product has turned out precisely how he imagined it.
