Some hardcore DC Extended Universe fans are demanding that Warner Bros. release Zack Snyder’s original cut for the Justice League movie.
Snyder was the director of Justice League, but stepped down during reshoots and post-production, handing the reins of the film over to Avengers director Joss Whedon. Though Justice League’s producer estimates that Whedon only contributed about a fifth of the movie, for some fans that’s too much.
Roberto Mata, a fan in Puerto Rico, has launched a Change.org petition for Warner Bros. to release Snyder’s unaltered version of the film. The petition currently has over 17,000 signees.
Here’s a sample of the petition’s over 2400 word mission statement:
“We the undersigned make this petition,because during the last few months, the film Justice League underwent a few changes in terms of composer and runtime. Zack Snyder, director of the film, screened Justice League to Warner Bros. executives earlier this year, they where happy with the film, but the director himself felt the film needed something more, he contacted Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, to write a few additional scenes with plans to shoot them over the summer, but an unfortunate tragedy in his family happened and he understandably had to step down, Warner Bros. following Snyder’s departure, released a statement saying that Justice League will be finished as Zack Snyder’s vision, but a week after that statement, composer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) was replaced with Danny Elfman, much to the dismay of fans, who were concerned about the thematic compositional elements from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman being changed, due to the change in composer.
In early October cinemas confirmed that the runtime for Justice League will be 2hrs long, much to the shock of fans, who were asking themselves: “how will a film that has 6 main characters, their supporting players, a story that revolves around an alien invasion, the terraforming of earth and the return of a familiar face, would fit in a 2hr runtime?”, Many film critics, websites and journalists started comparing the runtime to Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, stating that the sci-fi/fantasy film dealt with 5 characters, the introduction of a mythology and an intergalactic war, but the difference between Justice League and Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope is very simple: Justice League as mentioned earlier, revolves around a plot to terraform earth, an alien invasion, 4 new characters, their backstories and their motivations, the development of 2 other characters from previous entries in the DC Extended Universe and the return of a familiar face that need development and I will explain myself.
The DC Extended Universe is based on DC comics, a brand of comic books that writes superheroes, villains and other characters from different backgrounds with different backstories and motivations, that are relatable to the reader with themes that mirror the real world, for example, Man of Steel was the first entry in the the DC Extended Universe, the film revolved around an alien trying to find his place in the world, while dealing with his past, alien origins, superhuman abilities and a plot that revolved around first contact with an alien civilization, while the sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice revolved around the existence of an alien and his purpose in the world, how humanity reacted to him, how they were divided and ultimately united, because ofnhim, the different philosophies, ideologies and motivations of a man coming to gripes with his past, the reality of aliens living amongst humans and the realization that such alien could be dangerous, a man with a childhood trauma, who wants to get rid of abusive figures and who realizes that power is not innocent and the perception of humans towards the alien in question. Justice League is the culmination of the alien’s story and the beginning of a new chapter in the DC Extended Universe. Fans have been waiting for years, while others have waited decades for the film to finally arrive on the silver screen. The 2hr runtime is disrespectful towards Zack Snyder’s vision and towards the fans who have waited for more than a year to see the alien’s story come to an end.”
The petition goes on to touch on the importance of the film’s score and other items. Warner Bros. has set some kind of precedent for this kind of thing, having released the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Ultimate Edition with a significant number of scenes cut from the theatrical edition of the movie restored. However, Suicide Squad, another movie where much of the director’s original footage was excised and rearranged for the theatrical cut, received no such restored edition.
Fans will have to wait and see if Warner Bros. decides to act on their petition.
Justice League is now playing in theaters. The film will be followed in the DC Extended Universe by Aquaman on December 21, 2018, Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.
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