After years of fan-led demands forZack Snyder’s cut of 2017’sJustice Leagueto be released, it’s finally happening. Wednesday, May 20 is now a date which will live in infamy after the director announced theSnyder Cut ofJustice Leaguewill be releasedon HBO Max in 2021. But, as the excitement begins to settle, the question remains: What shape with Snyder’sJustice Leaguetake?
An in-depth report fromThe Hollywood Reporterpublished Wednesday afternoon teases the possibility of Snyder’sJustice Leaguebeing released on HBO Max as a six-episode show rather than a feature-length movie. THR notes back in February, Snyder and his creative partner, wifeDeborah Snyder, helped to outline a pitch for a select group of execs from Warner Bros., HBO Max, and DC Comics which explained his vision for what The Snyder Cut ofJustice Leaguewould look like. The report notes that “at his presentation after the screening, Snyder outlined ideas for not just releasing the cut but the concept of episodes and cliffhangers.”
No official statements from anyone involved in this endeavor, including the Snyders, HBO Max, and Warner Bros., have confirmed the precise shape ofJustice League.However, the 2021 release date indicates there will be enough time to make the call on how it will be cut. THR’s report indicates there may be no plan to play it safe by making a standard two-and-a-half hour epic. Instead, the report reveals the Snyders are working on maybe shaping this new cut into episodes or possibly a four-hour movie as they reassemble their post-production crew to “to score, cut, add new and finish old visual effects” and consider calling back any or allJustice Leagueactors — that includesBen Affleck,Henry Cavill,Gal Gadot,Jason Momoa,Ezra Miller,Ray Fisher, in case you forgot — to re-record dialogue. Luckily for fans, Snyder has his entire original cut to work with, telling THR, “When we left the movie, I just took the drive of the cut on it. I honestly never thought it would be anything.”
It would no doubt be advantageous to HBO Max for the Snyder Cut ofJusticeLeagueto be released in multiple episodes versus one movie, however long that movie may be. It’s already a massive win for the nascent streamer to be home to the future Snyder Cut, a property which has set various corners of social media ablaze over the years as fans have feverishly champed at the bit to see Snyder’s vision writ large onscreen. After years of waiting and wondering, why not make a meal of it and turnJustice Leagueinto a full-on event (as if it wasn’t already) to ensure maximum viewer engagement? The Snyders need not worry about losing the audience from week to week because of the specialness of this cut’s release, so crafting six episodes to tell the story Snyder’s apparently been keen to tell could actually work. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Whatisclear in THR’s report is just how excited the Snyders are to have a chance at releasing theirJustice Leaguevision after all of this time. As Snyder told the outlet, “It will be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that movie,” while Snyder’s wife, Deborah, added, “With the new platform and streaming services, you can have something like this. You can’t release something like this theatrically, but you could with a streaming service. It’s an opportunity that wasn’t there two years ago, to be honest.”
Zack Snyder’sJustice Leaguecut is officially expected to hit HBO Max some time in 2021. Until then, check out what it actuallymeans now that the Snyder Cut is happening, howthe Snyder Cut actually happened, and peep our calendar ofrelease dates for other big superhero movies.
