The existence of a Zack Snyder cut of Justice League is still up in the air. Fans are petitioning to see it, but reports indicate that it doesn’t exist or likely will never be in a finished product. That hasn’t stopped numerous leaks, unverified reports, and Kevin Smith from talking about it. Smith brought up the topic on his Fat Man On Batman podcast, following a thread shared on Reddit and other unverified avenues detailing a cut of Justice League that was screened for test audiences.
While the story itself is not sourced on the podcast, SyFy Wire notes that a member of Smith’s audience verified what he is reading and it also falls in line with the details shared in The Wrap’s extensive look at Justice League‘s production and release. For Smith, he’s hoping Warner would at least put out the film as some sort of extra according to SyFy Wire:
“On his “Fat Man on Batman” podcast, Smith says that he feels like it is “ridiculous” for Warner Bros. to not release the Snyder cut. “Like show the movie, sell the version of the movie that people are familiar with theatrically, wait six months and then f****** hit ’em with the Snyder vision. What’s the worst that can happen? Like, “You f***** up!” and Warner Bros. is like, “Yeah, I guess” and it’s in their rear view. They’re working on something else, so it’s just another stream of revenue for them…
“I think this public is educated enough to know that it is not a finished film,” he rants. “They can even put in storyboard frames if they have to. Let people see that version! Clearly the dude had a vision.””
Some of the details cited by Smith include an extended look into Cyborg’s background and the accident that forced his father to experiment with the Mother Box, Deathstroke breaking Lex Luthor out of prison (something that could be connected to the scene shared by Ben Affleck on Twitter), and the introduction of Darkseid into the DCEU at the close of the film. Darkseid was hinted at once during the film and this was originally meant to be part one of a two-part story before Snyder left the film and Joss Whedon stepped in to take over.
Whedon’s involvement brought some changes and also swapped out the original ending for what we saw on screen — this also reportedly extended into the post-credits scenes we saw.
As The Wrap pointed out, Zack Snyder is likely done with his involvement in the DC Comics films outside of producing. Also, most of the films from here on will feature the more direct involvement of Chief Creative Officer and longtime writer Geoff Johns, possibly steering them in a different direction than we’ve seen so far. Throw in the topsy-turvy plans for the DCEU, the potential that Warner Bros. isn’t fully committed to copying the Marvel method, and the rumors swirling around Ben Affleck’s future as Batman, it’s pretty clear that there is some work to do with the DC superhero films.