Fans petition for “Zack Snyder Cut” of Justice League

JUSTICE LEAGUE is officially in theaters now, and like some feared, the movie was not met with overwhelming praise akin to WONDER WOMAN, and its 39% Rotten Tomatoes score is closer to that of BATMAN V. SUPERMAN and SUICIDE SQUAD. However, major audiences and comic book fans seem to enjoy it as it has pretty good audience scores so far. Even if some comic book fans are enjoying it, they think it could’ve been even better, and one fan, in particular, believes we have a right to see a final cut from the film’s director, Zack Snyder.

The petition on Change.org from Roberto Mata in Puerto Rico demands that Warner Bros. release an unaltered cut from Snyder, (along with Junkie XL's score) who had to drop out of finishing the film after a family tragedy. Joss Whedon came on to finish the film and Mata believes the final version he supervised, and that we’ve seen, is a disgrace compared to what could’ve bee. Read petition’s winded mission statement below:

“We the undersigned make this petition,because during the last few months, the film Justice League underwent a few changes in terms of composer and runtime. Zack Snyder, director of the film, screened Justice League to Warner Bros. executives earlier this year, they where happy with the film, but the director himself felt the film needed something more, he contacted Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, to write a few additional scenes with plans to shoot them over the summer, but an unfortunate tragedy in his family happened and he understandably had to step down, Warner Bros. following Snyder's departure, released a statement saying that Justice League will be finished as Zack Snyder's vision, but a week after that statement, composer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) was replaced with Danny Elfman, much to the dismay of fans, who were concerned about the thematic compositional elements from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman being changed, due to the change in composer.

In early October cinemas confirmed that the runtime for Justice League will be 2hrs long, much to the shock of fans, who were asking themselves: "how will a film that has 6 main characters, their supporting players, a story that revolves around an alien invasion, the terraforming of earth and the return of a familiar face, would fit in a 2hr runtime?", Many film critics, websites and journalists started comparing the runtime to Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, stating that the sci-fi/fantasy film dealt with 5 characters, the introduction of a mythology and an intergalactic war, but the difference between Justice League and Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope is very simple: Justice League as mentioned earlier, revolves around a plot to terraform earth, an alien invasion, 4 new characters, their backstories and their motivations, the development of 2 other characters from previous entries in the DC Extended Universe and the return of a familiar face that need development and I will explain myself.

The DC Extended Universe is based on DC comics, a brand of comic books that writes superheroes, villains and other characters from different backgrounds with different backstories and motivations, that are relatable to the reader with themes that mirror the real world, for example, Man of Steel was the first entry in the the DC Extended Universe, the film revolved around an alien trying to find his place in the world, while dealing with his past, alien origins, superhuman abilities and a plot that revolved around first contact with an alien civilization, while the sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice revolved around the existence of an alien and his purpose in the world, how humanity reacted to him, how they were divided and ultimately united, because ofnhim, the different philosophies, ideologies and motivations of a man coming to gripes with his past, the reality of aliens living amongst humans and the realization that such alien could be dangerous, a man with a childhood trauma, who wants to get rid of abusive figures and who realizes that power is not innocent and the perception of humans towards the alien in question. Justice League is the culmination of the alien's story and the beginning of a new chapter in the DC Extended Universe. Fans have been waiting for years, while others have waited decades for the film to finally arrive on the silver screen. The 2hr runtime is disrespectful towards Zack Snyder's vision and towards the fans who have waited for more than a year to see the alien's story come to an end.”

The petition has already amassed 43,000 signatures and states that aspects of the movie, including the score and runtime, were affected for the worse under Whedon’s guiding hand. Chances are slim WB will respond to the petition, let alone give us what it’s asking for. This is not just because the studio isn’t likely to pay much attention to it, but because even if they did, a Snyder cut would probably be impossible to deliver.

Though Snyder handled all of the principal photography, he was absent for the reshoots and final touches that made the film what is. In order for there to be a coherent Director’s Cut, he would’ve had to have some completed vision for the movie that was cut down before it was released – which he clearly did not. The man hasn’t even seen the movie since it was released, so lord know what he would even do differently with his cut.

Now, there may be hope for some sort of Extended Edition (much like the BVS Ultimate Edition) with more footage put in that was done before, and even during, reshoots. But that hardly would make it a Director’s Cut, and Snyder may not even want to do that. I wasn’t a fan of the movie myself, even if it was more entertaining than BVS or SS. Just adding in more scenes doesn’t mean the movie would be better, especially if those added scenes don’t add up too much. Snyder seems to have washed his hands of the movie since leaving it, so hoping for a Snyder Cut seems like a waste of brain energy

JUSTICE LEAGUE is in theaters now.