(This photo is not mine, it is from superman homepage.com)
Superheroes are iconic across the world. Anywhere that you look in popular culture, you will think of superhero comics, movies and video games. Characters from Batman to Superman and even villains like the Joker are some of the most well-known names in popular culture. These movies also have had some of the best actors put on iconic performances, Christian Bale as Batman, Christopher Reeve as Superman and Heath Ledger as the Joker.
The Justice League, created by DC Comics in 1960, is one of the most popular and famous Superhero groups of all time. Despite being such a famous group, featuring characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, no Justice League movies were ever made until 2017. Warner Brothers released Justice League to the public on November 17, 2017, directed by Zack Snyder, starring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavil as Superman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Justice League was universally panned by critics and fans alike. Many pointed to the constantly changing tones, poor character portrayals and creative differences between Snyder, WB and Joss Whedon who was brought in after Snyder left the project. After this, DCs future was a mess, Ben Affleck quit the Batman role, there was reported abuse of Cyborg actor Ray Fisher on set and Henry Cavil’s future as Superman is still in question.
From 2018 through 2019, there was a worldwide internet campaign called “Release the Snyder Cut” which gained millions of followers. Actors from the movie, including Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot even tweeted this hashtag on their personal twitters endorsing the idea of releasing Zack Snyder’s original Justice League movie, with no studio interference.
In May of 2020, it was announced that Zack Snyder’s Justice League would finally be released on HBO Max for 2021. Snyder would finally be able to tell his story that Warner Brothers promised him. Every actor that was in the film would be able to reshoot their scenes to complete the movie.
On March 18th of 2021, only a week from now, Zack Snyder’s Justice League will finally be released in six chapters, with the first being “Don’t Count on it, Batman.” The Snyder Cut will include nearly three more hours of extended time in the movie.