Zack Snyder gained major influence through especially his work on the DC Extended Universe. From working with Henry Cavill in Man of Steel (2013) to assembling DC superheroes in Justice League (2017), he cemented a strong fanbase that continues to want more from the SynderVerse.
Also Read: Could Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Go the Way of Marvel’s Avengers?
However, George Miller’s version of Justice League would have been wildly different from Synder’s had it not been canceled. Many might be surprised to know that Miller was initially set to direct the DC movie but his plans were eventually scrapped.
Before Zack Snyder, George Miller Almost Directed the Justice League Movie
The 78-year-old director was announced to helm a Justice League movie titled, Justice League: Mortal in 2007 for a 2009 release. Unlike the cast featured in Zack Snyder‘s Justice League, George Miller’s project would have assembled a completely new cast. Back in 2015, D.J. Cotrona, who was set to play Superman in Justice League: Mortal spilled the tea on the scrapped movie.
He told Slash Film that the world would have seen a completely different cinematic spectacle through Miller’s vision which unfortunately never happened.
“The best way I can describe it is: George Miller’s mind is so operatic and big and expansive, it’s a shame that the world didn’t get to see what he would do with superheroes.”
He continued,
“It was allegorical, like a story of Greek Gods almost. He was doing things with the Superman character and Batman character, and all the iconic favorites, that’s never been done before. Watch Fury Road and you can only imagine what he would do with those iconic characters.”
Had the movie gone to production, the other cast would have included Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash, Common as Green Lantern, and Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman.
Why George Miller’s Movie Was Scrapped?
While the director and cast looked quite promising, several factors led to the collapse of Miller’s creation. The first and foremost was the 2007-2008 Writer’s Guild of America strike, which put a kibosh on screenplay. Not just the screenplay, filming was also halted due to the disputes between the Australian Film Commission and Warner Bros. Initially, there were plans that the filming would begin in the first half of 2008 but it eventually was scrapped. Miller’s live-action work further added uncertainty to that project given that audiences were unfamiliar with the genre. From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series actor shared,
“It was a giant tentpole superhero movie before that really became the norm. I think at the time, it had been a while since George had a movie out and the fan base for those types of properties hadn’t really seen the types of films George makes recently, so there was a lot of questions. Ultimately it was a two-year process. There was a strike and there were some financing issues. It ultimately fell apart.”
Not just that, the tremendous success of The Dark Knight further led to further push the movie. Many couldn’t help but wonder how would the studio release a separate project starring a different actor portraying Batman. All these factors contributed to the studio eventually scrapping the project. It was Zack Snyder who brought the project back in 2017 and later on, a director’s cut was released in 2021.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is streaming on HBO Max .
