Most people know that Zack Snyder departed Justice League following a family tragedy, but that hasn’t stopped numerous conspiracy theories doing the rounds online in the years since.
The rumors began as soon as Joss Whedon was announced as his replacement, with reports that the Avengers director was reshooting almost the entire movie under strict supervision from the studio, leading to increased speculation that Warner Bros. weren’t happy with what Snyder was putting together, and him leaving the project meant that they could assemble their own version of Justice League.
Of course, things didn’t exactly go as planned, with the theatrical release being largely panned by fans and critics alike, and the studio spent so much money on reshoots and marketing that Justice League didn’t turn a single penny of profit despite earning over $650 million at the box office. This directly led to the two and a half year #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign, and by the time the latest version of the movie lands on HBO Max next year, WB will have spent over half a billion dollars on the DCEU’s all-star ensemble.
Even though he dropped out of the director’s chair after suffering an unimaginable loss, rumors nonetheless persisted that Snyder had been fired from Justice League after an early cut of the movie was deemed unwatchable, or that he had been pushed out of the door after the studio decided they wanted to take their marquee comic book franchise in a new creative direction.
However, as part of the recent online Justice Con event, Snyder addressed the rumors and reiterated that it was his decision to walk away from Justice League, and there’s no animosity whatsoever between himself and Warner Bros.
“It certainly was our decision to leave the movie in the light of what happened, and it was specifically our call on who would do it and all that, it was before the committee. We were pretty distracted at the time.”
If Snyder had been fired from Justice League, then there’s no chance that he’d have been brought back by the studio and handed a hefty amount of their money to finish a movie that they didn’t want him to be involved with. That being said, the internet loves a bit of gossip. But the filmmaker’s renewed working relationship with the studio should finally be able to put the long-standing rumors to bed.
