The road to Zack Snyder's Justice League is long and winding, of that, there is no doubt. At one time, Snyder was more than ready to present fans with his third film for the DCEU, but alas, it was not meant to be. You see, in the middle of the film's production, Snyder exited the production due to a family tragedy. Shortly thereafter, Joss Whedon was brought on board to finish the film. In time, Whedon has changed much about Snyder's film. With several key elements to Snyder's vision left on the cutting room floor and Whedon left to change the movie into something of a tonal Frankenstein, Justice League arrived as perhaps the most divisive superhero movie on the market. Hence, the Release the Snyder Cut campaign, a plea to let Snyder remake the film in his original vision, was born. Since that time, a lot of stories about why Snyder left the production of Justice League have been shared. Now, the fan-favorite filmmaker is looking to set the record straight thanks to a new book that chronicles the entire Snyder Cut odyssey.
"I just was kind of done with it," Snyder explained to CinemaBlend writer Sean O'Connell in his new book, titled Release the Snyder Cut. "I was in this place of [knowing] my family needs me more than this bullshit, and I just need to honor them and do the best I can to heal that world. I had no energy to fight [the studio], and fight for [the movie]. Literally, zero energy for that. I really think that’s the main thing. I think there’s a different world where I stayed and kind of tried. And I’m sure I could have . . . because every movie is a fight, right? I was used to that. But I just did not have the [energy]. There was no fight in me. I had been beaten by what was going on in my life and I just didn’t want to, I didn’t care to . . . that was kind of where I was."
While many had surmised that Snyder left the film for very personal reasons, it's another thing entirely to hear the explanation from the man himself. I don't know a single soul who would fault Snyder for walking away from the project unless you're a monster who tweets from underneath a bridge, of course. The loss of a loved one can be devastating, and taking proper steps toward self-care is paramount to the healing process for all involved. Had he remained on the film, there's no telling what manner of mental, physical, and emotional repercussions might have occurred.
Thankfully, Snyder has been given another shot at presenting the version of Justice League he'd originally intended to share with fans. The 4-hour epic is coming to HBO Max in March and plenty of people are excited to see what it's all about. I hope that sharing Justice League on HBO Max will provide Snyder (and his rabid fanbase) with some much closure. Let the healing vibes ring out!
O'Connell's upcoming book detailing the journey of Zack Snyder's Justice League will be available in stores and online on March 1, from Applause Books.