After years of campaigning, fans will finally get to see Zack Snyder’s Justice League in just a few weeks. However, avid DC fans will be disappointed to hear that the much-awaited film will end with a “massive cliffhanger.” The news was confirmed by Snyder himself during the IGN Fan Fest, along with a reminder of the fact that there will most likely be no sequel.
The film, with a runtime of four hours and two minutes, is Snyder’s version of the first movie in the Justice League franchise. The director has confirmed that it will not include any material that would have been covered in the sequels. “I'd plant the seeds as I had wanted to of what would come in the later films,” Snyder said during a virtual appearance at the fest. While the film’s release is a victory for fans who asked Warner Bros. to "#ReleaseTheSnyderCut," this information might leave fans asking for more.
When Snyder was first brought on board, his plans included three movies for the Justice League franchise. The first movie would just set up events for what’s to come in the DC Extended Universe. However, those plans went off track when Snyder had to leave the project during post-production following the death of his daughter, which meant the fate of the sequels that the director had planned were left hanging by a thread.
Joss Whedon’s edited version of Justice League was released in 2017, with Whedon making a lot of changes to Snyder's vision of events and even eliminating certain characters entirely. Scenes of one of the film’s most important characters, Darkseid, were scrapped, even though Snyder planned for him to be the sequel’s main villain. Steppenwolf, the villain of Whedon’s Justice League, was meant to carry out Darkseid’s orders. But, his backstory and Darkseid’s influence were overlooked entirely. While Darkseid will have a larger role in the Snyder Cut, the depth of his evil plans will remain unknown.
Warner Bros. has invested more than $70 million to let Snyder complete his version of Justice League. But, Snyder has confirmed in past interviews that the media conglomerate has no interest in producing a sequel. DC Films has also stated that Snyder is not part of the franchise’s future, which means the possibility of Snyder’s version of the story continuing are minimal.
However, it doesn’t necessarily mean all is lost. Snyder never expected his version of the movie to come to fruition, but WarnerMedia finally approved its production following years of campaigning by DC fans. Additionally, fans have already started a campaign urging Warner Bros. to "#RestoreTheSnyderVerse," which would mean introducing Snyder’s version of Justice League as a part of the DCEU canon. Whether fans will once again succeed remains to be seen, but the cliffhanger will not stop them from voting for Snyder’s version of the DCEU.
Zack Snyder's Justice League is set to release on HBO Max on March 18, 2021.
Source: IGN