How Mad Max inspired Zack Snyder’s recut of Justice League

After its release in 2017, the fans, expecting a final chapter to Snyder’s earlier films Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), began campaigning for the studio to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, the original planned edit of the film.

Then two final pieces of the jigsaw fell into place: the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave new value to a film that could be recut from existing footage, and the launch of the studio’s content-hungry streamer, HBO Max.

The movement also won the support of cast members, including Momoa and Fisher, cinematographer Wagner, and other high-profile Hollywood figures, such as director Kevin Smith and comic book writer and television producer Robert Kirkman. In an effort to prove to the studio how serious they were, the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement also bought two billboards over New York’s Times Square.

“Is this a new world where the fans decide what movies [a studio gets to] make?” ask Snyder. “I’m not saying it’s not that but I don’t know that that is the end game here, except that I do think streaming services, and having a platform like HBO Max, really does give an option to an otherwise impossible release scenario.”

The new cut did involve reshoots, which were challenged by the fact COVID-19 travel restrictions essentially stranded everyone where they were. Miller, for example, was in London shooting the third Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them chapter, so that film’s crew actually shot Miller’s new scenes with Snyder directing the action via Zoom.

Smaller scenes that were cut from the original film, but will have immense appeal to DC Comics fans – such as those featuring Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Ryan Choi (Ryan Zheng), Aquaman comics character Nuidis Vulko (Willem Dafoe) and The Flash’s Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) – have been reinstated.

Another new sequence features the iconic Batman villain the Joker (Jared Leto), who had previously appeared in David Ayer 2016 film Suicide Squad but never shared the DCEU screen with Batman.

“Whatever you want to call it, the DECU, the DC Universe, Batman exists in that world and Joker exists in that world, and they’ve never met and it seemed cathartic and important to have those guys who defined each other in such a giant way come into conflict and us to get a little scene with the two of them,” Snyder says.

The film in its new four-hour format is “a cut that I finished right away, right when we got back [and] was the first version of the movie that I completed,” Snyder says. “So it’s the freshest and most optimistic. I love these actors and I love this material. So I put my head down and soldiered on as best I can.”

Which of the two films – Whedon’s 2017 cinema release or the new Snyder Cut – prevails in canon is, to some extent, a decision the fans will have to make, says Snyder.

But the prevailing wind is leaning to the latter. Momoa has said publicly he considers “his” Aquaman to be the Snyder version of the character, and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has said her film is in sync, canonically, with the Snyder Cut.

“I hope that in the end, I will convince you that my idea was right to begin with,and then [the studio] should have just let me do it that way from the start,” Snyder says. “That’s gotten me in trouble, I admit. But I think in the end, look, we’re here. And that’s the good news.”

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will stream on Binge and Foxtel on Demand from March 18 at 6pm.

The Weird and the Wonderful: A Canon Guide to the Justice League and the DC Pantheon

Superfriends (1973-1985) An animated TV series featuring Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman and Robin, plus a who’s who of DC Comics favourites: The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and, later, original heroes such as Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai. It also tapped DC’s best villains, including Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Cheetah and Sinestro.

The New Original Wonder Woman (1975) Wonder Woman goes live-action with actress Lynda Carter, who was so beloved by fans the character was not successfully recast until Gadot took the role decades later. The first season is the strongest, notable for sequences set in the Amazon home, Paradise Island, and the inclusion of Diana’s sister, Drusilla, aka Wonder Girl.

Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Superman is hard to top, as is Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane. The two films were shot consecutively but director Richard Donner was replaced by Richard Lester midway through. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was released on DVD in 2006.

Supergirl (1984) This film’s villain, the witch Selena (Faye Dunaway), who captures a Kryptonian relic known as the Omegahedron, is more campy than genuinely menacing. But it is memorable because Helen Slater was perfectly cast and, for the first time, we saw Krypton’s extra-dimensional criminal dumping ground, the Phantom Zone.

Batman (1989) Tim Burton’s first Batman feature film was magnificently gothic, with a majestic score from composer Danny Elfman the equal of Edvard Grieg or Hector Berlioz. It rendered Batman (Michael Keaton) every bit as dark and haunting as he was in the comic books and featured Jack Nicholson in an unrivalled turn as the Joker.

Batman Begins (2005) Christopher Nolan brilliantly rebooted the film series with Christian Bale as Batman and Michael Caine as his loyal manservant Alfred, returning to the events of Detective Comics #27, and the tragic death of Bruce Wayne’s parents.

Smallville: Absolute Justice (2010) A two-part episode of the Superman-themed TV series Smallville that introduced the other Justice League, the Justice Society of America. The episode featured Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Stargirl, Flash, Atom, the Alan Scott version of Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and The Spectre.

Crisis on Infinite Earths (2020) A crossover connecting the TV series Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow, and based on the DC Comics series of the same name, this featured Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, Burt Ward as 1960s-era Dick Grayson and a touching nod to the Christopher Reeve Superman-era.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) The second of two solid Wonder Woman feature films from director Patty Jenkins, this comes with a gift-with-purchase: a post-credits appearance by the original Wonder Woman, actress Lynda Carter, as the legendary Amazon warrior Asteria.