After two and a half years of extensive campaigning on social media, fans of director Zack Snyder and DC Comics are finally going to get their wish as Snyder's version of Justice League or the "Snyder Cut" as it has become known will be released on HBO's new streaming service HBO Max sometime in 2021.
Whether it all comes out as a movie or mini-series, the fact that the campaign to get Warner Brothers(the studio that owns DC comics) to agree to have Snyder come back to finish his version of the much maligned 2017 movie is a win for his fans and people who wanted to see Snyder's take on the movie.
For those who do not what I am taking about, Snyder was in the middle of post-production for Justice League when he stepped down as director to grieve after the tragic suicide of his daughter, Autumn.
Instead of allowing for Snyder to take his time and mourn, Warner Brothers brought in Joss Whedon to finish the film so it could maintain its release date in November of 2017.
The results were disastrous as Whedon overhauled the film which included replacing composer Junkie XL's score with Danny Elfman who decided to use his old Batman theme from the 1989 film as well as John Williams' Superman theme from the Christoper Reeve movies instead of the themes Hans Zimmer had composed for Superman in Man of Steel or his collaboration with Junkie XL for the Batman theme in Batman vs Superman.
Add in all the awkward attempts at lighting the film's tone with funny bits such as The Flash falling on top of Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck's Batman being because neutered from what we saw in BvS, Cyborg essentially being the least important character of the group of heroes when Snyder described him as the "heart" of the movie and of course the infamous CGI effects on Henry Cavill's face as he could not shave the mustache that he had for his role in Mission Impossible: Fallout and what you got was a movie that was panned by critics and viewers, resulting in a worldwide take of $657 million at the box office, less than the $750 million needed to make a profit.
But now Snyder has a chance to complete his vision and I like millions of others around the world couldn't be happier because there is one simple reason I want to see the "Snyder Cut": It has to be better than what we got.
The theatrical version or "Josstice League" as what has become known as wasn't a terrible movie in my opinion, but an underwhelming one.
I like many others expected a sweeping epic but instead got an average superhero movie.
There were good parts in "Josstice League" like Ezra Miller's performance as The Flash, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Jason Momoa as Aquaman, who would shine even brightly in his own movie Aquaman which came out one year later.
But again there were many things with the film that were underwhelming like the villain, Steppenwolf, and Superman's resurrection after his death in Batman vs Superman.
We wanted Justice League to have moments that made you want stand up and cheer like in Avengers:Endgame when Captain America picks up Thor's hammer or when all the heroes who had to turn to dust in Infinity War returned for the final battle, but there was none of that in Whedon's version.
Hopefully with Snyder's Justice League we will have those type of moments as one thing Snyder is known for his thrilling action sequences like the fight between Superman and General Zod at the end of Man of Steel and the warehouse fight between Batman and a bunch of goons in Batman vs Superman.
Then there is the music as Junkie XL's score will be used for Snyder's version as the score he help composed with Zimmer in BvS was one of the highlights of the film for me.
It was confirmed by Snyder that Junkie would use Zimmer's Man of Steel theme for Superman rather than Elfman's butchered cover of Williams' iconic theme.
We'll get to see if Cyborg truly is the "heart" of the movie and maybe give Ray Fisher, the man who played Cyborg, a chance to get his own movie which has been in development hell for years.
Another thing I want to see is Affleck's performance in the Snyder Cut as his ruthless nature that had been established in BvS had completely vanished in "Josstice League".
It would be interesting to see if Batman who vowed not to fail Superman in death at the end of BvS had found the right balance of ruthlessness and mercy he didn't have in Batman vs Superman as he could be the complete badass we want to see.
Finally, there is the arc of Superman as maybe we will get to see Cavill complete his transformation from an alien who felt lost from his world as he wears a black suit upon his return and become the iconic symbol of hope on his adopted planet when his suit changes back to the traditional blue and red at the end.
Plus, we'll get to see more of Momoa and Gadot who have been fantastic in their roles of Aquaman and Wonder Woman as well as more of Amy Adams' Lois Lane, whose role was cut to basically an extended cameo in Whedon's version and if Snyder goes though with General Swanwick being the Martian Manhunter as Zack had teased though his many posts on Vero for the two plus years since the movie's release.
Will it be good as Avengers:Endgame was? Who's to say, but at least we are finally going to see the true Justice League movie when it comes out next year.
