Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Ezra Miller und Ray Fisher in Zack Snyder’s Justice League © 2020 HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures
Swell: Zack Snyder, Entertainment Weekly
It is curious that one of the most anticipated films in 2021 is a film that is actually three years under its belt. More or less. We are of course talking about Zack Snyder’s Director’s Cut of Justice League, also known as Zack Snyder’s Justice League, or, for die-hard fans, simply as the legendary Snyder Cut. After more than two years of tireless fan campaigns, Warner gave Snyder the green light to finalize his vision earlier last year, and in May he has the film released on the streaming platform HBO Max officially announced.
The keyword here is film, because contrary to the announcement at the DC FanDome in August, Zack Snyder’s Justice League apparently not as a four-part miniseries with one-hour episodes, but as a closed four-hour film. Snyder shared this on his preferred social media platform Vero at the request of a fan:
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a movie
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a movie
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a movie
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a movie pic.twitter.com/8LO8WRiPuP— Geralt of Rivia #RestoreTheSnyderVerse (@Itssan17) January 17, 2021
In addition, Snyder promised that the official poster of the new version would come soon. The first teaser trailer has already been released (then taken offline again after a dispute over song rights and later re-released, slightly modified).
When Zack Snyder’s Justice League was first announced, Snyder initially left open whether the new version, which will be twice as long as the theatrical version, would come as a film or a series. A few months later they were aiming for a mini-series, but now a film. Jacket and pants, if you ask me, because in the long run the fans will watch the version one way or another.
But when and where will you actually be able to see it? While there is no official release date yet, Snyder announced in late 2020 that the film would be released in March. According to a rumor, the 4K home theater release could also be very timely. However, all of this only applies to the USA. There are international HBO Max not yet, so the question remains where we can see the film in this country. As a cooperation partner of HBO, Sky would of course be the most obvious option. According to Snyder, it will also run parallel to HBO-Max-Publication of a theatrical release planned: (from English)
I’m a huge fan and supporter of the cinema experience, and we’re already talking about Justice League being able to run in theaters alongside HBO Max.
Who my criticism of the theatrical version of Justice League knows that while I didn’t hate the film, I found it incredibly average and interchangeable. I don’t know if Snyder’s version is really going to be any better, but I’m definitely curious enough to find out, especially since Snyder promises to be a whole new experience. He even shot some brand new scenes for them last year, including with Jared Leto as Joker, who wasn’t there when the film was originally shot.
What could also appeal to the new version is that it could come with an adult R-Rating (US age rating from 17 years). Snyder stated:
The movie is insane and so epic and presumably R-rated – I think that’s going to happen, that it will surely be R-rated. We haven’t heard of the MPAA yet, but that’s my gut feeling. […] There’s a scene where Batman says the F word. Cyborg isn’t happy about what is happening in his life before he meets the Justice League, and he is open about what he thinks. And Steppenwolf more or less chops people in half. So the R rating would be because of the expletive language and the violence, presumably both.
This development would not be unprecedented for Snyder’s DCEU films. The longer Ultimate Cut from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice also received an R rating in the USA. In this country, however, it remained with the release from 12. Strong expressions are relatively irrelevant for the German FSK, but a higher level of violence could Justice League actually bring age rating from 16 years. We’ll find out whenever the film really comes to Germany. With or without an R-Rating, the curiosity among fans of comic book adaptations should be very high.
–
