An artistic mismatch, creative differences, personal tragedy, and egregious mismanagement were the foundation of Justice League (2017). Hailed to become one of the biggest superhero movies, Joss Whedon’s Justice League was a colossal failure and a box-office bomb which almost marked the end of the DC Extended Universe.
The failure of Justice League prompted Ben Affleck who played the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman to leave the DCEU, followed by Henry Cavill who played the role of Clark Kent/Superman. If recent speculations are to be believed, Warner Bros. has been able to negotiate with Henry Cavill to return as the last son of Krypton in the future DCEU movies. Despite Cavill’s frustration with the studio, his love and dedication for Superman surely seem optimistic so far.
Targeted to be Warner Bros.’ answer to Marvel Studio’s Avengers (2012), Justice League‘s artistic mismatch was quite unpalatable. Originally envisioned by Zack Snyder to be a part of his saga, the striking tonal shift from an intense and ominous atmosphere to cringe and out-of-character humour, Joss Whedon taking over Zack Snyder’s project due to the loss of the latter’s daughter was heavily criticized. Recently, Ray Fisher who played the part of Vic Stone/Cyborg in the Justice League has accused Whedon of being abusive and unprofessional in the sets of Justice League which has angered the fans even more.
In 2018, Zack Snyder became quite active on the social media platform Vero where he started posting the unseen pictures from Justice League. Known for his muted colour palette and aesthetic cinematography, even his harshest critics consider his style to be unmatched. The pictures posted on Vero soon gained momentum from fans who wanted to watch his original version of Justice League. Soon enough, adding fuel to the fire, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Henry Cavill, and Ben Affleck posted the famous #ReleaseTheSnyderCut which was finally picked up by HBO Max for a re-release.
Back in June, Zack Snyder released the first teaser trailer of Snyder Cut with Princess Diana/Wonder Woman looking at a mural of Darkseid in terror. The teaser ends with a glimpse of Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips, marking his first-ever appearance on the big screen.
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As the anticipation for the Snyder Cut keeps rising, Zack Snyder decided to bless us with another short teaser which has left us gasping. As a part of this weekend’s Justice Con, Snyder teased us with a short clip where Superman meets Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), the trusted butler of Bruce Wayne.
Clocking under 20 seconds, the teaser does not delve anything substantial regarding the plot of the movie. Yet, the revelation of the teaser confirmed the existence of a Kryptonian clothing which was teased way before Justice League was released.
In the video, the camera pans into a glass of whiskey kept on a table which starts shaking unexpectedly. Soon enough, the camera shifts towards Alfred who looks surprised and a bit apprehensive. As he is working on one of Bruce’s vintage cars, the camera zooms towards a towering figure in all black. Soon enough, it is revealed that the man in black is Superman who walks towards Alfred. Before anything significant happens, Superman speaks “I’m assuming you are Alfred” as a taken aback Alfred replies “Yes” with slight trepidation.
Despite such a short teaser, Snyder revealed the existence of the black Superman suit which was teased back in 2017. Unfortunately, Whedon did not include the black suit of Superman in his Justice League which had disappointed many fans. But now, the time has come for the black suit to shine.
Undoubtedly, Superman looks much more menacing in the black suit than his traditional blue and red uniform. But rest assured, the black suit is not for aesthetics. Why did Zack Snyder bring the black suit into his movie? Let’s find out.
In the Death and Return of Superman, Kal-El donned the black Kryptonian garment for the first time. Less of a fashion statement and more of a plot-device, the black suit is synonymous with the resurrection of Superman after his apparent death when he fought Doomsday.
The black suit is quite different from Superman’s traditional trademark blue and red uniform. After his apparent death, Superman was resurrected in the Fortress of Solitude. But upon returning, his power levels were dangerously low. In order to replenish his energy before fighting monsters and aliens, Superman donned the iconic black suit which allowed him to soak in the solar energy of Earth’s yellow sun at a much faster rate.
In the Snyder Cut, Superman will be resurrected, after which he will probably don the black suit sans the long hair to replenish his energy. According to Zack Snyder, Kal-El will also talk to his father Jor-El in the Fortress of Solitude, which was previously withheld from Justice League. Also, his old blue-and-red suit was torn in his fight against Doomsday in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which implies that Superman might wear the black suit in the entire movie before he finds another blue-and-red suit.
In a deleted scene from Justice League, a resurrected Superman walks through the hallway in the Fortress of Solitude where two different suits are shown for a brief amount of time. On the right, is the Kryptonian battle armour, and on the left is the iconic black suit which will finally be donned by him in the Snyder Cut. Apart from being just another plot-device, the black suit also symbolizes a much darker and terrifying Superman, before he returns back to become the symbol of hope. His first tryst as a hero led to him getting impaled along with Lois Lane almost losing her life. The black suit fills in a lot of loopholes, and can probably make the Snyder Cut much more cohesive with the required emotional depth.
As Snyder envisaged five movies for the DCEU, the story was supposed to revolve around the last son of Krypton and his redemption arc. After the events of Snyder Cut where he wears the black suit, Superman would have undergone an emotional journey and realised what defines a hero, before picking up his trademark blue-and-red suit. As the executives at Warner Bros. did not approve a black suit considering it to symbolise everything wrong with the DCEU, the Snyder Cut is a victory of creative freedom over corporate greed. One man’s crusade to bring his vision to life, the way Superman believes it should be. And with the dark suit back, the unrelenting creative freedom shall dawn upon us, like justice.
