Zack Snyder’s Justice League will apparently be rated-R, for some reason

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Yesterday, we got our first look at what Jared Leto's Juggalo-ker will look like in HBO Max's upcoming Justice League: The Snyder Cut, and now the MPAA has officially announced that the movie will be rated-R due to "violence and some language". Which, okay.

Look, I'm no prude. I'm a fan of horror movies, for fuck's sake. Hell, I'm even a huge fan of most R-rated superhero movies – whether it be Deadpool, Birds of Prey, or even Snyder's own Watchmen. But the difference is those other superhero films were either about irreverent anti-heroes or were purposely violent deconstructions (sometimes both!) Even Logan – which I'm not the biggest fan of (unrelated to its rating) – at least justified it by being based on a violent anti-hero who uses claws as his main source of attack.

However, when you're doing a movie about the Justice League, which presumably should targeted to all-ages – if not children – what does making it R-rated accomplish? Do we need a movie that stars Superman and Wonder Woman that involves tons of blood and f-bombs? It just seems twisted for the sake of being twisted, like a superhero movie catering to 4Chan edgelords.

But that's just my impression. I know people are fans of Snyder's dark take on the DC heroes, and that's honestly fine. What's cool about these comic book characters is that they are elastic, with multiple valid flavors of them existing across multiple media. It's why Batman can be both a campy and colorful Adam West who surfs against the Joker and a grim Frank Miller fascist at the same time. And, look, I do happen to think superhero media should cater to multiple kinds of audiences – it's why I love things like The Boys and am looking forward to the R-rated Spawn remake – but I just feel Snyder is missing the point of superheroes that are meant primarily to be inspiring and uplifting. Maybe he should instead make another superhero deconstruction, or focus on a violent comic book anti-hero, and maybe leave earnest superheroes to other people next time? Just a thought. 

Meanwhile, Justice League: The Snyder Cut will premiere on HBO Max March 18th.