I’ve just got to get this out of the way now: the Snyder Cut of Justice League does not “exist,” for lack of a better term. It’s an unfinished, un-rendered, un-reshot piecemeal media slog that, in whatever nebulous form it does physically exist as, would be nigh unwatchable, not unlike the actual finished product audiences actually got more than two years ago now. However, to keep hype up for a piece of vaporware, the beleaguered director has posted some violent concept art on VERO, complete with misspelling.
As he’s wan to do, Snyder occasionally posts stuff stoking the flame under all the dumb #ReleaseTheSnyderCut purists out there. Today, he shared a piece of concept art, fully colored, that shows Wonder Woman beheading Steppenwolf, complete with blood spatter. The caption, as much as it is, says “Now your [sic] getting it,” as if his vision for the movie isn’t already all out there. Those choice of words seem deliberate as well. Too bad your fans ain’t gettin’ sh*t, are they, Zack?
Like, I feel bad for the man. I really do. He experienced tragedy on a level not often seen. Warner Brothers then leveraged that grief as an opportunity to unceremoniously dump him from the project. Now, though, two years out, instead of focusing on pushing his new work, like that Army of the Dead flick that’s supposed to come out on Netflix at some point, he keeps pushing for a movie that will never see the light of day.
Yeah, sure, there are those rumors going around that HBO Max may release a version of Justice League that’s closer to Snyder’s vision, but, again: IT IS UNFINISHED. WB ain’t looking to dump any more money into a project that lost them $60 million at the box office. At this point, it almost seems cruel to himself, like he’s wallowing in misery. I can’t imagine he had fun making the movie, either. Especially not when fans were pissed, execs were pissed and even the actors were pissed. It can’t remind him of good times or memories. Maybe there’s a family connection there that I’m not seeing. It obviously means a lot to him, but it seems…just unhealthy at this stage.
Besides, Snyder lacks the resources and capacity to finish the film in any sort of satisfactory way. Do fans even really want to see a three-hour workprint, interspersed with wireframes, animations, still photos, bad takes, unfinished assets like the clip above, etc.? Do you really want that?
The only comparable thing I can think of is the Donner Cut of Superman II, which, if I’m remembering correctly, came out like 20-30 years after the fact. And that movie benefited from being shot back-to-back with the original Superman. How could a Snyder Cut even be finished? How? It can’t be! Just read his original script for Justice League if you can find it and imagine the movie. You’ll have a better time and a better, less desperate look. Creators and media owe you nothing, guys.