The Snyder cut of Justice League, now officially known as Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be a very different movie than the theatrical cut. After Snyder left the project, Joss Whedon engaged in massive reshoots. A rough estimate is that 25% of the theatrical version is Snyder’s original and the other 75% is Whedon (and it’s pretty easy to figure out which is which). This means that the bulk of Snyder’s work was left on the cutting room floor.
We know some of what’s due to be restored, but one element that set fans’ tongues wagging was the revelation last year that Harry J. Lennix’s General Swanwick had secretly been the Martian Manhunter all along. It would be a particularly big twist as Swanwick played a major part in Man of Steel, and would indicate that J’onn J’onzz had been secretly observing the DCEU Earth this whole time. Snyder later confirmed this as his plan when he released a set of storyboards showing Lennix morphing into his more familiar Martian green-skinned look.
So, is this going to be restored in the Snyder Cut? Well, all signs point to yes. Lennix himself posted a tweet about the announcement, captioning a picture of Swanwick with:
“Re: Justice League and the Snyder cut… Things don’t Just happen– things happen Just.”
Now, Snyder has responded on Vero, quoting his tweet and adding: “watching over them all.” This seems as good as confirmation that the Martian Manhunter reveal is going to be a part of the Snyder Cut and that the CGI for the scene will indeed be completed. Developments like this are more than DCEU and Snyder Cut campaigners could have hoped for, as up until last week it seemed that these scenes would only ever be released as storyboards. And if Martian Manhunter makes it in, let’s hope we get a decent appearance from Darkseid. Fingers crossed!