Considering you’re on the internet right now reading this article after presumably also reading the headline, I’m going to assume that you’re already well-aware of the surprise reveal that the mythological Snyder Cut of 2017’sJustice Leagueis finally going to be released on HBO Max next year. Yes, after two-and-a-half years of hashtags and histrionics, fans will finally get to see a different version of a movie nobody really likes all that much and that I personally regularly forget exists. Victory!
Now, it’s not going to be on the streaming platform until sometime next year, with no specific release date pegged. That’s becauseZack Snyder’s cut ofJustice Leaguedoesn’t technically exist yet – Warner Bros. is spending around $20-$30 million to let the director finish it, which means everything from tons of post-production work to possible reshoots (which,as Matt Goldberg pointed out, are likely to be extremely limited if they even happen at all). But the big question for fans of the DCEU films, beyond “How many necks will Superman snap in this version and will he be wearing a mustache while he does it?”, is whether or not Snyder’s revision will affect the future of the DCEU.
We know from some behind-the-scenes images (most notablyHenry Cavillas the black-suited Superman, which is an appropriate reference to Reign of the Supermen, the comic storyline immediately following The Death of Superman) that Snyder had some dramatically different things planned which didn’t end up in the released film. Now that those differences will finally see the light of day, how will they impact the storyline of the DCEU? The black suit (which, in the comics, is a restoration suit) implies that the manner in which the Justice League revives Superman was probably very different in Snyder’s version. We also know that the fight scene between Supes and the League was one of the major reshoots in which they had to digitally erase Cavill’s face broom. In fact, according to various rumors and in-depth comparisons from the original trailer to the finished film that have existed on the internet pretty much sinceJustice Leaguereleased in November of 2017, it’s safe to say that virtually all of Superman’s scenes were replaced. So we know that, at the very least, Cavill’s role in Snyder’s cut of the film will be substantially different. But how could the Snyder Cut affect the other superheroes?
Obviously,Wonder Woman 1984has been completed for some time, and as the title suggests, it takes place well before the events ofJustice Leagueanyway. So it’s safe to say that nothing is going to change for Diana Prince. But what aboutAquaman 2, or the Flash’s upcoming solo movie? The Snyder Cut having any effect onJason Momoa’s Aquaman seems minimal, because we’ve already seen one (thunderously entertaining) solo movie that fully fleshed out his character and only passingly mentioned the events ofJustice League. That said, because the Justice League references in Aquaman were so minimal, it leaves room inAquaman2to address any significant plot or character changes that might arise in the Snyder Cut. It might end up being something as simple as Arthur Curry cracking, “Hey, remember when Superman showed up in that goth luge suit? That was nuts!”, before drinking an entire beer. And honestly, I would be totally fine with that.
The Flash is the more interesting possibility.Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen has only existed as a full character inJustice League(his brief cameos inBatman v SupermanandSuicide Squadgive us nothing about his character), so he’s the one hero whose upcoming film could be impacted the most by any changes in the Snyder Cut. However, fans have been pushing for Miller’s dismissal from the franchise aftera videoof him choking a woman in Iceland surfaced on the internet, and it’s been rumored that the Flash’s solo movie would be an adaptation of the timeline-altering Flashpoint storyline serving as a soft reboot of the DCEU to realign behind the successful tones of theWonder WomanandAquamanfilms. So it’s entirely possible that the Flash movie (when it finally comes out in 2022) won’t even connect to the current version ofJustice League, let alone the Snyder Cut.
And finally, what ofShazam? Dear, sweetShazam, one of the best body-switching comedies I’ve seen in a very long time. As you might already know, Cavill was supposed to appear in the very end ofShazamas Superman, but was unable to due to scheduling conflicts, so we only see the Man of Steel from the neck down.Shazamis notably entrenched in the DCEU, moreso thanWonder WomanorAquaman;its two main characters, Billy (Asher Angel) and Freddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), are entrenched in superhero culture to the point that they even collect memorabilia recovered from scenes of heroism, like stray batarangs. Because Billy specifically is such a fan of Superman, the changes to the character in the Snyder Cut could potentially have an effect onShazam 2– but again, as withAquaman 2, these effects might be nothing more than a few lines of dialogue.
Because the major differences between the Snyder Cut and the theatrical version of Justice League(as we understand them) are primarily focused on Superman, and because Cavill participated in the livestream announcement that Snyder’s version would finally be completed and released, could the Snyder Cut lead to more Superman films with Cavill back in the blue tights? The actor will presumably have to participate in post-production work on Snyder’s film, even if its just providing some ADR or insert close-ups. Maybe having him return to the role, even in a relatively small way, will inspire Warners to throw some money at a sequel. We can dream.
Related to that, what are the odds of gettingBen Affleckto return for another DCEU Batman film? (We know thatMatt Reeves’ upcomingThe Batman, starringRobert Pattinson, is a wholly separate project, likeTodd Phillips’Joker.) Frankly, the odds are zero. Affleck famously left the role under considerable personal stress, so I’d be surprised if he even participates in the post-production of the Snyder Cut. The fact thatJoe Manganiello, who briefly appears as Deathstroke in the post-credits sequence ofJustice Leagueas a set-up for a solo AffleckBatman, posted a mysterious tweet about “the original post-credits sequence” in response to the Snyder Cut announcement which he subsequently deleted seems to indicate that the Batman element of the Snyder Cut isn’t going to change much.
Of course, this is all complete speculation, and it depends entirely on whether or not Warners decides to consider the Snyder Cut as part of the DCEU canon instead of just a one-off gift for fans. The overall story ofJustice Leagueisn’t really going to change – they’re still going to slowly band together, resurrect Superman, and defeat Steppenwolf. But it’s interesting to think about how the scene-to-scene stuff (and Superman’s characterization specifically) might impact any decisions the studio makes about this franchise going forward.
For more on the Snyder Cut, read aboutwhy Warner Bros. finally decided to finish itand how it could be releasedas episodes instead of one movie.
