Justice League is just over a month away from us. Right now, we’re waiting for the final trailer, which will arrive on February 14. Zack Snyder is already running his own little marketing campaign through Vero and Twitter, but this upcoming trailer will begin the final countdown until we get the whole movie on March 18. The JOSStice League wasn’t liked by anyone. But two and a half years later the ardent fans finally got what they always wanted as they managed to get the Snyder Cut greenlit. Now, we’re all excited about it because of the following reasons. Here are 12 major improvements that we’ll see in the film:
The Run Time
I know that just because a movie has a longer run time, doesn’t mean that it will be better. But, the theatrical cut of Justice League set the bar so low that the Snyder Cut won’t even have to make an effort to be better than that. And besides, it has been apparent that Snyder likes making long movies. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition turned out to be a major improvement upon its theatrical release. And now, we are getting a 4 hour long cut of Justice League, which will explore the narrative and its characters in the best way plausible. The theatrical cut only had 60 to 90 minutes of what Snyder shot. The rest was either newly added or altered by Whedon. So the fact that we’re going to get at least 150 minutes of brand new footage excites me a lot!
More Action
To fit the 2-hour mandate, Whedon had to cut short every battle sequence. The Wonder Woman fight was shorter. The ancient battle was slashed and altered as Uxas was removed. The fight when Superman returned was trimmed down. And most importantly, the final battle was reduced to half. So, we can expect to see tons of action sequences in the film involving all the leaguers and even the villains.
R-Rating
The film has officially been rated R for its violence and some strong language. This shows that it won’t hold back on its action sequences and narrative choices. We could get to see a bit of blood, and some intense battle sequences. Oh, and yes, Batman’s going to drop an F-bomb! People who loved the darker tone and aesthetic of BvS are going to be thrilled with Justice League.
Better CGI
An additional budget of around $70 million was allotted to finish the Snyder Cut. So, we’re bound to get better use of CGI in this one no matter what. Honestly, Snyder hasn’t disappointed anyone with visual effects. Every shot is always neatly done. He is a visual effects maestro and we’d surely get some great looking visuals in his cut.
Black Suit Superman
Almost everything that Henry Cavill shot for Snyder was practically removed or replaced with his weird fake baby mouth. The only bits that were probably retained were some of the scenes during his return and his freeze breath scene in the final fight. Rest all we saw was new and altered. Snyder originally intended to have him wear a Black suit, and that’s what we are getting along with all of his original fights and dialogues.
Bad-Ass Batman
One of the characters that Whedon totally sabotaged was the Dark Knight. In the Snyder Cut, we’re not going to have a Batman that complains about bleeding. We won’t have a Caped Crusader that smiles like a little girl when Superman returns. He won’t call for the nightcrawler as soon as the going gets tough. Instead, he’d investigate the Parademon hideout and take on a bunch of them throughout the film. Even after Superman’s return, there will be a bit of residual conflict between him and Superman when it comes to deciding who the leader of the League is. Batfleck will prove to be a formidable leader instead of being a sidelined hero using a gun to take down Parademons.
The Flash, Time Travel
Barry Allen will not just “push some people and run away” throughout the film. We’re going to see his character and speed grow big time. From tripping around while running, he’ll become so fast that he’d tap into the speed force and run back in time to ensure that the League wins after almost losing against Steppenwolf.
Knightmare
Snyder was setting up an “Apokoliptic” future with his Knightmare sequence from BvS. That will be continued in the upcoming cut as Batman will have to unite the leftover heroes and villains to fight against Darkseid. In this future, Superman succumbed to the Anti-Life Equation while Wonder Woman and Aquaman died. So, Batman will lead a resistance alongside the Flash, Cyborg, and possibly even Martian Manhunter. To have a bit of help, he’d set his differences aside and bring the likes of Deathstroke and the Joker into the fold as well. I believe that’s where things will get interesting.
Atlantis
Snyder was asked to remove certain aspects of Atlantis and the Atlanteans because they didn’t go along with what James Wan was planning for Aquaman. For instance, there’s the whole “talking in an air bubble” thing which was not continued in Aquaman. Vulko was removed and Mera’s role was shortened. Steppenwolf will have a vicious battle with the Atlanteans and we expect to see that, along with everything else that Snyder originally had in mind for Atlantis.
A Better Villain
RIP= Rest in Pieces#SnyderCut #ZackSnydersJusticeLeague pic.twitter.com/ThqtGqysgX
— MacKenzie #UsUnited (@RSTSnyderVerse) February 8, 2021
Steppenwolf wasn’t just undone with his character design, but also with his video game level dialogues and everything else that he did in the film. Now I can’t promise you that he’d turn out to be the kind of villain that is on par with Thanos. He may not be even close to that. But what I am sure of is that he will prove to be a formidable bad-ass who will almost defeat the League even after Superman’s return. Just look at the aforementioned video. His spikey-reactive armor, his thunderous axe, and his brute strength will prove to be major improvements. I mean, the guy is throwing multiple horses around for fun. There’s no way that he’d turn out to be just another Doomsday or Ares.
Supporting Characters and New Characters
The likes of Lex Luthor, Martha Kent, Lois Lane, Jim Gordon, and Mera will have more to do than what we saw in the theatrical version. While all the existing characters are going to get more screen time, there are going to be plenty of new characters that will be brought into the mix. I’ve already mentioned Vulko, Joker, Deathstroke, and Martian Manhunter. Besides them, we’ll see Iris West, DeSaad, Ryan Choi, Green Lantern, and most importantly, Darkseid! This film is going to be a true DC event in every sense.
Cyborg is the Heart of the Film
The character that was wronged even more than Batman and Superman was Cyborg. He was supposed to be the heart of the film. With the Snyder Cut, we’re going to learn who Victor Stone was, and what he became after being infused with the Mother Box. The trailer showed us the pain he’d go through after losing his father right in front of his eyes. He is going to do things that we’ve not even imagined. Don’t be surprised if he turns out to be the biggest takeaway from Justice League.
All in all, Zack Snyder’s Justice League has the potential to be a great world-building superhero event film. Let’s just hope that having all of its story elements and characters would improve the narrative and not turn it into The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Anyway, I’m sure that it will at least be much better than what we got in the theatrical cut. So that’s a win. Rest, we’ll have to wait until March 18 to see how things turn out! Make sure that you pay for it as the entire future of the Snyderverse depends upon it.
