IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay
Almost three years have passed since the theatrical cut of Justice League hit cinemas in 2017. The Warner Bros film based on the DC Comic of the league of superheroes saw a big upheaval during its production when director Zack Snyder left the team due to a personal tragedy after the film had entered post-production. With Joss Whedon taking his seat Snyder’s film saw scenes reshot and many cut completely. The film released in November 2017 failed abysmally, being neither a critical nor a commercial success.
The uproar among the fans was real: they started the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement, urging Warner Bros to release the version filmmaker Zack Snyder had intended. Contrary to most predictions fans succeeded in their undertaking and Warner confirmed they’d finance the director’s cut. In March Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on HBO Max in the US and on Sky Cinema and Now TV in the UK. Did the film live up to its fans’ and producers’ hopes and dreams?
Justice League and its group of heroes
Justice League is a group of heroes joining forces to face evil and save the world. The group includes Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller). The team has already been around for a long time with their first comic appearance back in 1960. By now the group is known and popular worldwide with many films and games showing their superpowers. The video game Injustice, for instance, lets players take on the roles of their favourite DC Comic heroes to fight against one another, while the 2006 console game Justice League Heroes lets players team up to fight their enemies.
Meanwhile, the DC Comic heroes have also made their way onto the reels of numerous slot machines, which are available to be played at many online casinos featuring a wide variety of games. Casinos in the UK are regulated and licenced making for a safe gaming environment to soak up the superhero action on slots such as Playtech’s Justice League Online Slot, among others. With the group of DC superheroes being widely popular, it’s no surprise fans were disappointed by the miserable execution of Justice League. Their wish was granted, and Zack Snyder’s cut was released.
A fan victory that will go down in film history
Despite all the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut uproar after 2017’s release of Justice League, it seemed nearly impossible fans would get what they wanted. However, fans were surprised when Warner gave in to the ongoing hashtag campaign and approved the release of the new cut. This was not an easy undertaking, as the production of Snyder’s interpretation of the film cost the studio $70 million with several reshoots. For the fans who have demanded its existence the release of the film is a success that will go down in film history. It’s now been several weeks since the launch of Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max in the US and on Sky Cinema and NOW TV in the UK. Sky released some publicity for the film and called it ‘highly anticipated’ ahead of time. But did it live up to its expectations?
Snyder’s take on Justice League does enjoy better critical reception than the theatrical version. However, in terms of viewing data and overall reception, the film still comes short of what Warner Bros might have expected. In the UK, the film was watched by 954,000 households during the first week after its release as data collated by Samba TV reports. However, only about half of those finished the lengthy film. While the theatrical cut of Justice League is two hours long, Snyder’s take on the film clocks in at four hours. This could have played into its less than anticipated success as watchers didn’t make it to the end of the film. Zack Snyder’s Justice League still did better than Wonder Woman 1984 which was watched by over 200,000 UK households within the first week after launch.
The release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League is certainly a victory for fans who fought for it. While the reception was better than its predecessor’s, the new director’s cut did not quite meet its expectations which has many experts wondering whether it was a pyrrhic one. Nonetheless, everyone who wants to know what Snyder had intended for the DC heroes can watch it on Sky.