Zack Snyder Talks JUSTICE LEAGUE Snyder Cut, Toxic Fans, the State of Superhero Films, and the DC Movie He Would Make
Zack Snyder recently opened up about his cut of Justice League, revealing new details about how it actually came to exist. He also addressed toxic fandom and defended his fans who got the Snyder Cut made. The filmmaker also shared his thoughts on the current state of superhero films and revealed the one movie that he would return to DC Studios to make.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Snyder talked about what he was initially trying to do with Justice League before he left the project and was replaced by Joss Whedon, who changed everything:
"We cared deeply about what we were doing. We weren’t trying to make an Avengers movie. We weren’t. We didn’t know how, quite frankly. They brought someone in that did. I’ve never seen the [Whedon version], but it wasn’t the answer."
No, it certainly wasn’t. Whedon’s Justice League movie didn’t work at all. Once word got out that a version of Syder’s film existed, his fans relentlessly campaigned to get WB to release it. At first, the fans’ cries fell on deaf ears, but Snyder revealed that, on Ann Sarnoff's first day as chairwoman and CEO of Warner Bros., she walked into her office to find dozens of bouquets and fruit baskets sent over from Snyder Cut supporters.
Snyder said that one note read: "Welcome to Warner Bros., now release the Snyder Cut," and he added that there was "One after another after another...She didn’t even know what it was. She wasn’t even aware of the saga. When she told me the story, she was like, ‘This is the job? Managing this? I didn’t know it was a thing.’ Now it was the thing."
Zack Snyder's Justice League was eventually released on HBO Max, and that was followed by reports of toxic fans sending abuse, death threats and even enlisting bots to fake the groundswell of support the director's cut had achieved. Snyder himself was accused of weaponizing fans. When asked about the fans, he said:
"I’m not going to comment on the details of whether they are good or bad, whether they are toxic or bullying. That’s in every chat room. It’s what comes with the internet. But I do know that the work they did on some level was good. I can say for a fact that they did good. That is undeniable."
He specifically addressed the bots:
"The truth is? It doesn’t matter. The movie got made. If they were smart enough to employ bots in this thing, then they won. That movie has no business existing - and it does."
When talking about the current state of superhero movies, he believes that it "has not evolved" and admits "I don’t have the excitement for it that I used to have."
He went on to say that he’s done with comic book movies for now but does admit that, if DC Studios' co-CEO James Gunn calls and asks him to direct anything, he'd be open to directing on film… a comic-accurate take on The Dark Knight Returns but only if it's "a true representation of the graphic novel."
As for Marvel, he said he’d be open to directing a Daredevil and Elektra movie, and adaptation of Frank Miller's Elektra Lives Again, "But that’s it," he said.