All good things must come to an end. For Zack Snyder, that meant his magnum opus in the form of the Justice League trilogy would never become a reality. The Snyder’s Cut had to bear a 4-year hiatus before being released and although met with thorough praise, acclaim, and appreciation, it still wasn’t enough to restore the Snyderverse.
With unparalleled ingenuity, Snyder’s quality was often met with criticism, censorship, and creative difference within the war room where films are cut up and redacted to suit the director’s notion of what’s preferable before releasing them to the audience. Unfortunately, Joss Whedon’s (highly) watered-down version of Justice League was not what suited the taste of the DC fandom.
Related article: 5 Reasons Why the SnyderVerse Should Be Restored In The DCEU
Zack Snyder’s Justice League: A Vision Realized
The completion of Snyder’s trilogy could only be met by the larger vision of the one who modeled the projects over a three-movie plan — Snyder himself. But watching the 2021 Snyder’s cut against the 2017 theatrical release, it becomes clear why the studio was hesitant to go through with the original version. Snyder didn’t shy away from the terrifying aspects of the narrative and neither did his audience.
Also read: 10 Times The Snyder Cut Was More Inclusive Than Whedon’s
Steppenwolf was rediscovered in his originally envisioned armor rather than Whedon’s version which was closer to a sphynx cat or a boiled potato. The villain was given a better directive and impetus for his actions. Darkseid entered the universe as the main player and the master puppeteer. And unlike the theatrical cut, Themyscira and Atlanta did not give up without a fight that would be hailed for generations to come.
What Came Next in Snyderverse?
When the studio announced the heralding of Joss Whedon to take over DCEU Justice League after Zack Snyder left the project, it was perhaps based partly on the former’s success and newfound fame directing the MCU superhero film, The Avengers in 2012. But the foundation of DCEU was entirely the blood and sweat of Snyder himself, starting with Man of Steel (2013) followed by Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
Also read: WB’s Pathetic Attempts At Burying the SnyderVerse Gives It Enough Free Publicity To Be Restored
What however is not common news is that the three movies that are now known as the Snyder trilogy did not end with JusticeLeague (2017/2021). There was a movie meant to take place chronologically after the events of Justice League where Darkseid would return and decimate the earth, Superman would fulfill Batman’s Knightmare timeline visions shown in Dawn of Justice and in conclusion, only a glimpse of this horror to come had been shown in the Snyder’s Cut post-credits.
Also read: Zack Snyder: DCEU Heroes a Class Apart From MCU Heroes
Warner Bros. Wages War Against Justice League Snyder Cut
In recent reports released by Rolling Stone and spurred by the Warner Bros. studio, the online campaign leading up to the release of Snyder’s Cut was shown to have had a 13% density in bot activity and fake accounts. The usual percentage of automated radicalization does not surpass 3-5% in any of the social media platforms, including Twitter. The report claims:
“After researching online conversations about the Snyder Cut of the Justice League’s release, specifically the hashtags ‘ReleaseTheSnyderCut’ and ‘RestoreTheSnyderVerse’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, [the analysts] detected an increase in negative activity created by both real and fake authors.
One identified community was made up of real and fake authors that spread negative content about WarnerMedia for not restoring the ‘SnyderVerse.’ Additionally, three main leaders were identified within the authors scanned on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — one leader on each platform. These leaders received the highest amount of engagement and have many followers, which gives them the ability to influence public opinion.”
Related article: Fans Continue SnyderVerse Campaign After Disappointing Presentation By WB
This uptake in the automated influencing of the public has not been received kindly by the DC fandom who have been the subservient fans of Zack Snyder and his works. Most call it a smear campaign to reduce the impact of the director and his hold over the DCEU storyline.
Bots or not, it was 1000 times better than the original bin fire.
— Tim (@tsween25) July 19, 2022
Big shout out to them for fixing the mess that was the first release
— J Noseworthy (@knowsworthJ) July 19, 2022
Don’t care. Got a movie I liked out of it.
— Luca Brasi's Farts (@DonQuixoteFace) July 19, 2022
True I’m one of the bots.
My programming really wanted to see it— Phoq 🌊 (@PhoqueToute) July 19, 2022
This is obviously a hit job from Warner.
— Phoq 🌊 (@PhoqueToute) July 19, 2022
It was still great
— Jon (@jonsmack220) July 19, 2022
Also read: Zack Snyder Reveals John Stewart Green Lantern’s First Official Look
Whatever the case, the public speaks to the mass sentiment and the decision is final: Snyder’s Cut was better than the Justice League theatrical cut and not even the bots can sway or refute that statement. Whatever the intentions are for Warner Bros. to publicly drag the issue out remains a thing to be scrutinized further, however, for the time being, fans are only looking for one objective, and that is to #RestoretheSnyderVerse.
Source: Rolling Stone
