A lot of silly things had to happen for the Snyder cut become a reality, but it has, and we’re all here for it. After Joss Whedon’s vision for Justice League plopped through theaters it garnered little support from fans, but managed to earn almost $650 MIL. The problem is that, by the time he finished with the film, $300 MIL had been spent. While it made a profit, after everyone got their piece it wasn’t much. Another problem that haunts all Whedon movies is he likes “strong (preferably Caucasian) women” who stand in the shadows of white men. Buffy the Vampire Slayer seems to have been his only exception. But that was written before he cheated on his wife numerous times and discovered how power makes ugly men sexy. He, honest to God, calls himself a “woke bae” when it comes to women. That’s nearly as cringe worthy as “I’m not a racist, but …” With Justice League he was handed a character, Wonder Woman, who had shown the ability to stand on her own, in all aspects of the term.
To avoid sounding like I’m picking on the guy, this is an excerpt from his script for Wonder Woman, which was (thankfully) rejected.
“To say she is beautiful is almost to miss the point. She is elemental, as natural and wild as the luminous flora surrounding. Her dark hair waterfalls to her shoulders in soft arcs and curls. Her body is curvaceous, but taut as a drawn bow … She is barefoot.”
There’s a lot more about feet.
So, yeah, that just screamed “empowered.”
You can tell the scenes Whedon added for her pretty easily. She needs the Flash to save her after she drops her sword. She’s not a major factor in the fight with Steppenwolf, and so on. Where ever possible, she got relegated to a second tier character. Easy to excuse when you have Superman, but still troubling.
Somehow, despite all this, he was slated to write and direct Batgirl. Depending on who you talk to he either left to pursue different opportunities, or was shown the door. He claims the former, my contacts at the DCEU claim the latter. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that particular bullet got dodged.
Now, back to the Snyder cut.
Shortly after Whedon’s version was released there were rumors, started by crew members it seems, a Snyder cut existed, it was mostly complete, and it was, as the kids like to say, The Fo Schnizzle. Facebook groups, with tens of thousands of members, began forming.
The hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut would trend on Twitter multiple times a month. Not a common occurrence for a hashtag related to one specific entity.
Near the end of 2019 Warner Brothers studios had seen darker, offbeat, films like Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn and Joker make goo gobs of cash and maintain critical acclaim. A darker, more violent, Justice League no longer looked problematic.
Now it was simply a matter of justifying it, as it were. “Angry nerds” isn’t a good reason to throw millions of dollars at a movie that’s already out.
Nevertheless, behind the scenes talks began between Snyder and Warner Brothers.
Then, miracle of miracles, a pandemic hit the world in January and was headed towards America at terrifying speeds. Studios quickly shut down production on everything. Even before the death toll started to climb, people who listened to scientists knew we were in for a world of hurt. A quick check at who was in charge and their historical responses to anything that had a bad image was well known. America was going to suffer for a long time.
Suddenly, getting a blockbuster back on screens, for the cost of the catering budget for the first one, had its appeal. By the end of February a deal had been struck.
Warner Brothers is going to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.
On HBO Max to encourage social distancing.
Watch the video below to get a taste of things to come.
https://youtu.be/44lY4wO5vmc
contact Bill McCormick