The DCEU is soon going to be wiped away to make way for James Gunn’s DCU in an effort to finally erect a DC superhero franchise. While the Zack Snyder-led DCEU doesn’t have much to boast about, it can’t be denied that his DC universe offered something different and drew in a cult-like following of fans.
Man of Steel was a shaky start to the DC universe, but it was Batman v Superman that bent the knee of the franchise, and everything was effectively over with Justice League. WB reportedly removed Zack Snyder from directing duties on the big superhero team-up and brought in Joss Whedon. As for the end result? Snyder wasn’t allowed to see it.
The Tumultuous Saga Of DCEU’s Biggest Debacle- Justice League
Justice League’s production, aftermath, and consequences will live as a famous story in the pages of Hollywood. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice failed to strike lightning and cross the 1 billion at the global box office, Warner Bros. didn’t trust Zack Snyder to deliver a hit with Justice League. Reportedly, they wanted him to make the movie light-hearted like Marvel films were at that time.
But Snyder wanted to stick to his themes and vision. Amid this back-and-forth with the studio, the director’s daughter, Autumn Snyder, passed away. This incident plunged him and his wife, Deborah Snyder, into grief. The two decided to leave Justice League and mourn their loss. WB then brought in Joss Whedon, who had already directed two Avengers films (The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron) by then.
Whedon was brought in to patch up the film and make it more like Marvel films. When Justice League was released in theaters, it wasn’t initially met with any enthusiasm. Most people thought it was a cookie-cutter tentpole film. As in, it didn’t add to the superhero genre in any way. But many weren’t happy that Snyder’s work was so badly tampered with.
The fans of the director demanded that WB release Zack Snyder‘s version of the film. Over the years, this movement gained support and finally, in 2021, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on HBO Max. It was a 4-hour-long saga that was catered towards the Snyderverse supporters, essentially thanking them for making the impossible happen.
But did the Army of the Dead director even see Whedon’s Justice League to gauge what changes have been made to his vision? Not at all. It’s because his wife Deborah Snyder and friend Christopher Nolan advised him not to.
Zack Snyder’s Wife Didn’t Want Him To Be Brokenhearted Over Justice League
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Zack Snyder revealed that he has never seen Joss Whedon’s Justice League even though his name is there in the credits. His wife, Deborah Snyder, who produced the film, said about 2017’s Justice League:
“It was just…it’s a weird experience. I don’t know how many people have that experience. You’ve worked on something for a long time, and then you leave, and then you see what happened to it.”
Deborah Snyder watched the film with Christopher Nolan, one of the executive producers of the film as well as the famed director of the Dark Knight trilogy. Zack Snyder shared what they said to him when they came out of the screening.
“They came and they just said, ‘You can never see that movie.”
But why didn’t they want him to see it? “Because I knew it would break his heart,” Deborah Snyder said. In an interview with Esquire, the director elaborated and explained:
“The truth is, I was unclear with the specifics of what had happened to the movie… But I did know the movie (Justice League) was two hours. And I knew with credits that meant it was like an hour and 50 minutes, because with these visual effects, movies have massive credits. I was like, geez, that’s got to be problematic. How could they have serviced all these characters correctly? And it turns out that they didn’t.”
Audiences too didn’t like how the characters in the superhero team were treated. So on a mammoth budget of $300 million, the film made only $657 million worldwide. It was a failure of epic proportions when just six months later, MCU’s Avengers: Infinity War ran away with more than $2 billion at the box office. However, there’s hope that James Gunn’s DCU will ensure that the DC universe reaches its potential.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Justice League are streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Variety Fair
