Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of Justice League‘s release, and while the movie was trending for the majority of the day, it had absolutely nothing to do with the version that hit theaters.
Instead, #RestoreTheSnyderVerse was one of Twitter’s hottest topics, as the long-running fan campaign to try and have Zack Snyder reinstalled as the architect of the DCEU continued. Obviously, Warner Bros. have shown absolutely no interest in having it happen, while the filmmaker is plenty busy with a slew of Netflix projects in development, but you have to admire their dedication to the cause.
One of the many improvements in HBO Max’s four-hour version of the comic book blockbuster is both the appearance and characterization of Steppenwolf, voiced by Ciaran Hinds. In an interview with ComicBook to promote Kenneth Branagh’s awards season contender Belfast, the actor was asked which cut of Justice League he preferred, and his answer might surprise some people.
“I can’t be honest to this because I haven’t seen Zack’s version, but I should imagine Zack’s version by far because that is the story that he meant, that’s the one he planned for. He meant to have all that tangential stuff moving in so that you could understand the movement. So, when it was cut to a very short film overall, it didn’t, a lot of it didn’t make sense, but I believe I’ve heard that the people who saw Zack’s version enjoyed it a lot.”
Obviously, not everyone is obligated to watch their own film and television credits back once they’ve been released, but you’d have thought that perhaps Hinds would have checked out Zack Snyder’s Justice League out of curiosity, especially when Whedon’s version of Steppenwolf gave the big beige turd the unwanted distinction of being one of the superhero genre’s weakest and most forgettable villains.