5 Attachment(s)
WB's Attempts To Bury The Snyderverse Make It More Likely To Be Restored
Despite Warner Bros. saying they had no plans to move forward with further SnyderVerse projects after the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, the way the studio has gone about it is arguably making it more likely to be restored. Earlier this year, the movie made superhero movie history after a long push by fans to see Snyder's original (albeit unedited) version of the film. Considering the failure of the radically altered Justice League 2017 theatrical cut and persistent denials of the very existence of the Snyder Cut for the better part of two and half years, the reality of a post-Snyder Cut world is something many never expected to see.
The release of the Snyder Cut has also prompted major interest from his hardcore fanbase in the remaining two films in Snyder's intended five-part arc. A general overview of what they were to entail was also revealed close to the film's release, with the basic story mapped out on a collection of whiteboards (though Snyder has made clear that later behind-the-scenes rewrites have tweaked numerous aspects of that plan). Together, these have prompted the new campaign for Snyder's Justice League 2 and 3 to be revived with the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse hashtag, along with Suicide Squad seeing a new wave for the release of David Ayer's director's cut. Despite this, Warner Bros. has shut the door on both.
Indeed, the studio began sending signals of their stance on the matter in the months before the Snyder Cut's release, reportedly declaring the film a "storytelling cul-de-sac." However, several months after the Snyder Cut's debut, it's now clear that Warner Bros. has not only failed to stop to push from the SnyderVerse's restoration from gaining steam, but everything they've done so far to accomplish that has simply poured gasoline on that fire.
WB Doesn't Want To Restore The SnyderVerse
WB's adamance that the SnyderVerse continue no further than the Snyder Cut's release was made clear within days of the film hitting HBO Max. In an interview with Variety, Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff declared the Snyder Cut to be, from the studio's perspective, the conclusion of Snyder's Justice League trilogy. Sarnoff also stated that WB would not be moving ahead with David Ayer's cut of Suicide Squad.
In the months since that interview, WB has sent numerous signals, some subtle, others overt, of the Snyder Cut being the end of the line for the SnyderVerse. This has included re-uploading the "Heroes" trailer of the theatrical cut to the studio's YouTube channel, and leaving a Snyder Cut home media release trailer for the movie's recent U.S. home video release set as unlisted (and therefore, much more difficult to find on YouTube.) Additionally, there's still no definitive picture of the Snyder Cut's streaming numbers, either. For example, on the surface, its 3.7 million viewers in its first 39 days is impressive, but digging down shows that other movies such as Wonder Woman 1984, Mortal Kombat and Godzilla vs. Kong beat or almost beat that number in their opening weekends alone. It's virtually impossible to gauge the true performance of streaming movies as every studio has a different metric. Regardless, if it weren't clear before, it should be by now - Warner Bros. has no desire to restore the SnyderVerse.
Everything WB Is Doing To Stop It Is Just Adding Fuel To The Fire
Though Warner Bros. may be ready to move on from the SnyderVerse, closing the book on it is proving a tough task for the studio. What's more, every attempt the studio has thus far made to that end has had the opposite effect. The aforementioned Ann Sarnoff interview ended up triggering #ReleaseTheAyerCut and #RestoreTheSnyderVerse to trend on Twitter. Numerous social media trending events have also taken place for the Ayer Cut and SnyderVerse since then, including with one such #RestoretheSnyderVerse campaign reaching 1.5 million tweets. Furthermore, the unlisted Snyder Cut home media trailer is now making the rounds online, and despite remaining unlisted, has amassed over 115,000 views as of this writing.
Looking at what's happened since the Snyder Cut hit HBO Max, it's becoming increasingly evident that the studio's attempts to declare an end to the SnyderVerse have simply made the SnyderVerse push that much stronger - and, with the media coverage it continues to receive, that much more public. Though it has to be said, giving the fanbase what it wanted - the release of the Snyder Cut - only served to enhance fans' expectations, as well. Six months on from the debut of Zack Snyder's Justice League, the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse campaign shows no signs of withering out. What's also really interesting is that it's reflecting the Snyder Cut campaign itself.
WB Also Tried To Downplay The Snyder Cut's Existence
While calls for the Snyder Cut swiftly followed Justice League's theatrical release in November of 2017, the film's actual existence proved to be the most debated thing about it. As the months wore on into 2018, that began to change as Zack Snyder started dropping images and storyboards from the movie on social media, but many still remained unconvinced. That summer, Warner Bros. finally broke their silence on the matter in a Wall Street Journal article, with the studio officially declaring the Snyder Cut non-existent and that no release was forthcoming.
Needless to say, that didn't stop calls for the Snyder Cut's release, with Snyder continuing to share images from the film and Jason Momoa emphatically responding to a question about it on the Aquaman press tour with "Yeah, f--k yeah, I want to see it!" In March of 2019, Snyder himself gave an on-camera confirmation of the existence of an assembly cut of Justice League, and by the movie's two-year anniversary, a massive social media campaign (which included support from many celebrities, including cast members Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Ray Fisher) made the Snyder Cut impossible for Warner Bros. to ignore any longer, and they finally greenlit it last year, thanks in large part to needing content for its HBO Max platform during the coronavirus pandemic.
One doesn't have to look too far into the situation to see that the denials of the Snyder Cut's existence, contrasted with known information on the film presented by Snyder and others like storyboard artist Jay Oliva, evolved the assembly Snyder Cut into something of a mythical relic. The same pattern is now visibly playing out with the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse campaign, with the key difference of several big hurdles the Snyder Cut had to get past now no longer being a factor.
The SnyderVerse Is A New Ball Game From The Snyder Cut
To some extent, the Snyder Cut and SnyderVerse campaigns are an apples and oranges comparison. The former was an ask for an unseen cut of a movie to be finished up and released to the public (which is the same for the Ayer Cut), while the latter is asking for the rest of Snyder's planned arc to be greenlit from scratch. Interest in the Deathstroke origin film and Ben Affleck's Batman movie have also grown alongside the general SnyderVerse, with Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello having provided significant information on both. What's different now is not only that the Snyder Cut has been released after being declared a myth for so long, but also the impact that it's had since then.
In comparison to the polarized reception of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder's Justice League has enjoyed an overall positive reception, particularly in comparison to the theatrical cut. It arguably even triggered a re-examination of its two predecessors by many who didn't initially enjoy them. Interest in where Snyder intended to take the story has also been fueled by the ending of Zack Snyder's Justice League, which teases Darkseid's coming invasion and the Knightmare future first shown in Batman v Superman. Though Snyder ended up having to swap Wayne T. Carr's Green Lantern for Harry Lennix's Martian Manhunter in the final scene, the promise of the former finally being seen in the Justice League sequels has also kept the push for the SnyderVerse strong for those curious to see what his full vision would have entailed. Essentially, #RestoreTheSnyderVerse has become #ReleaseTheSnyderCut 2.0.
Of course, none of this means that Justice League 2 and 3 would or even could happen overnight. Snyder's Netflix first-look deal is going to keep him occupied with his next film Rebel Moon and his unfolding Army of the Dead zombie universe, which includes a direct sequel and multiple prequels. There are also the factors of cast members needing to be re-signed along with scheduling and budgeting that would need to be worked out, along with Warner Bros. getting its ducks in a row for their new merger with Discovery. While the Snyder Cut was already mostly shot and partially assembled, it still cost WB a hefty estimated $70 million for some reshoots and VFX. Snyder's Justice League sequels would be even more cost-prohibitive as they still have to be made from the ground up. Nevertheless, Warner Bros. having acquiesced to fan pressure once before has only fueled the fire. Now that the basic outline of Zack Snyder's Justice League sequel plans have been made public, the idea of Snyder's five-movie arc being finished isn't going to recede into the ether any more than the Snyder Cut campaign did.
The Batman (2022)
Release Date: Mar 04, 2022
DC League Of Super-Pets (2022)
Release Date: May 20, 2022
Black Adam (2022)
Release Date: Jul 29, 2022
The Flash (2022)
Release Date: Nov 04, 2022
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (2022)
Release Date: Dec 16, 2022
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (2023)
Release Date: Jun 02, 2023
