HBO Max launches Zack Snyder’s first Justice League trailer

Fans clamoring to see Zack Snyder’s director cut from the disappointing 2017 film, Justice League, will finally get their wish, as HBO Max released a two-minute trailer for Justice League by Zack Snyder during the DC Fandome virtual event. The trailer did leak online before the panel, but was quickly withdrawn until the official release.

(Some spoilers for the 2017 Justice League below.)

The original Justice League was the third film in a trilogy that included Steel man (2013) and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). It reunited Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). Their mission is to save the world from the arch-villain Steppenwolf, a new god in search of three “mother boxes” that will allow him to terraform Earth into something more hospitable to him and his army of Parademons.

Snyder completed all of the main photography and was well in post production. But he stepped down as director in May 2017, following his daughter’s tragic suicide, and the studio turned to Joss Whedon (The Avengers) to end the movie. Whedon rewrote the script, adding around 80 pages, and did numerous covers, bringing more humor and a clearer tone to the mix. (A common criticism of Batman vs. Superman was that he was slow, lacking in humor, and had too dark a tone.) He also cut over 90 minutes of Snyder’s original footage to fit the 120-minute runtime requested by the studio, although Whedon’s version retained the basic story outline.

The result was what some critics called a “Frankenstein” film, struggling to incorporate very different visions from two directors. Reviews were mixed and although Justice League resulted in gross of $ 657 million, the assumed break-even point was around $ 750 million. Its poor box office comeback may have influenced Warner Bros. ‘subsequent decision to move away from the Marvel model of an interconnected series of films in a shared universe, in favor of stand-alone films and franchises.

Rumors of the production’s woes prompted some fans to call for an alternative “Snyder cut” shortly after theatrical release, leading to a social media campaign that at times turned ugly. In May, Snyder confirmed that his cut would air on HBO Max during a virtual surveillance party for Steel man, insisting it would look like an entirely different movie, with new visual effects sequences, additional character development, and additional dialogue.

During the DC Fandome online panel, Snyder confirmed that his cut will air on the streaming platform in four hour-long increments. As well as being darker in tone, Snyder said that the character of Steppenwolf has been redesigned and that Steppenwolf’s uncle Darkseid (Ray Porter) will be the main villain. (Darkseid does not appear at all in the original theatrical release.)

Miller and Fisher also appeared on the panel, and Snyder said we’ll be seeing more of their respective characters. The Flash will have “more of an emotional arc,” and Cyborg will be “the heart of the film,” according to Snyder. “He keeps the team together in so many ways and I’m delighted the fans are seeing how that is coming about.”

This should be particularly good news for Fisher, who recently expressed his frustrations with Whedon’s behavior on the Justice League put after Snyder left. While Fisher was a good soldier promoting theatrical release at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, he retracted those statements in early July. “Joss Whedon’s treatment of the cast and crew on set Justice League was rude, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable, ”the actor tweeted, adding that producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg“ turned on ”Whedon.

WarnerMedia has since announced an investigation, and Fisher called the decision a “MASSIVE step forward,” tweeting, “I think this investigation will show that Geoff Johns, Joss Whedon, Jon Berg (and others) abused their power. during the uncertainty of AT&T merger with Time Warner. “

Justice League by Zack Snyder will debut on HBO Max in early to mid-2021. It really looks like a different beast from the theatrical release. It remains to be seen how much better Snyder’s version will be.

Listing Image by YouTube / HBO Max