Zack Snyder kept the hope of seeing his cut of Justice League alive for years after Joss Whedon and Warner Bros.’s recut of the film came out and flopped in 2017.
He particularly shared much of his vision throughh the use of his Vero account. However, the director wasn’t always confident that his efforts would pay off or that they wouldn’t be halted by legal action from the studio.
As he told The Times over in the UK, Snyder was afraid of getting sued. “I was more worried the studio would sue me,” he said. “Do something to silence me.”
That’s understandable when the material he shared, from production stills to concept art, was sensitive and probably not meant to be seen by the average person. But Snyder’s worries might’ve had more to do with poking a very large bear in Hollywood than anything else.
WB had washed their hands of Justice League and the DCEU and was ready to move on, until the very vocal fanbase took up the cause and campaigned to release The Snyder Cut.
It grew so loud Warner had to take notice, and along the way, those fans raised money for an even better cause than their own: suicide prevention and mental health, in tribute to Snyder’s late daughter.
Billboards went up at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 to push further for The Snyder Cut’s release with all the proceeds going to charity – an act Snyder is still cognizant of and continues to appreciate.
Related: Justice League Director Zack Snyder Attacks His Fans, Implies They Are Part Of A Hate Group
“Here’s the reality. That fandom raised $750,000 for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. They’ve saved lives. That’s a fact,” Snyder stated.
Still, his remarks comes with a caveat. Snyder Cut fans have been labeled as toxic and misogynous in the past, and while he’s never flinched or backed down in defending their enthusiasm and support, he recently distanced himself from some of them based on what he perceived to be prejudice and hate.
During a recent livestream with a group of YouTubers from Geeks + Gamers to raise funds for suicide prevention and promote the Snyder Cut, Snyder joined the stream and made clear he was not associated with Geeks + Gamers.
He stated, “Just a quick thing before we get started, I know that on our donation page we still have the Geeks + Gamers logo. I just want to say that we talked about this and we are not really affiliated with Geeks + Gamers as far as I am concerned. And I really just want to make that clear.”
He immediately followed that up by referencing the recent Atlanta spa murders, “And I also want to just say in light of recent events I think if Justice League teaches us anything, it’s about coming together and there is no room for hate. I just think that it’s an important message and as the father of Asian children it really hits close to home for me. And I just want to put that out there that there is no room for hate and that is what it is all about.”
While Snyder kept praising the charitable acts to The Times, he also seemed to make light of his fans, calling them “an easy target” to provoke.
“But on the other hand, was it fun to provoke them? For a clickable thing? Yes,” he said. “And they were an easy target.”
He added, “they continue to raise money,” while going on to say they “realized their other main thing was to bring awareness to mental health and suicide prevention. For me, it’s kind of hard to be mad at them.”
That may be, but it’s also kind of hard not to feel as if Snyder is taking them for granted if only a little. After all, should it come to pass, those same fans will be the reason the Snyderverse continues.
Toby Emmerich, the Warner Chairman who called up Zack Snyder and extended the olive branch to finish what they started in the first place, is reportedly following Snyder over to Netflix, leaving one less executive who would possibly champion a continuation.
It’s not official, but The Hollywood Reporter claims Emmerich took a call from Netflix. However, they also claim that a WB source told them, “no call was placed to him, and there was no discussion about a position.”
Regardless, Snyder has stated that he feels like he’s completed his DC trilogy with his version of Justice League on HBO Max – insinuating he is satisfied with the way things are at this time – so we’ll see what happens.
Do you think Snyder is trying to have it both ways or are his comments poorly worded? Give us your answer below.