Everything You Need to Know About Justice League Snyder Cut

Justice League Snyder Cut is, finally, nearly here. It feels almost unreal that a film which once existed as a mythical thing in the minds of DC fans and in an unfinished state on Zack Snyder’s laptop will soon premiere online around the world. Of course, a lot has happened in between. Warner Bros. and HBO Max gave Snyder $70 million (about Rs. 510 crores) to finish the raw footage that he shot during the original Justice League production. Most of this footage was never used, as Snyder’s replacement Joss Whedon decided to do major rewrites and did reshoots that raised the DC film’s budget to $300 million (about Rs. 2,188 crores). It failed both critically and commercially — and sent shockwaves through Warner Bros., which has since largely ditched the shared universe idea that it borrowed from Marvel, and opted for more independent stories.

But Snyder fans never gave up. They believed Snyder would’ve done better with Justice League and slowly built a largely social media campaign under #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. It got big enough to a point that even those involved in Justice League began addressing it. In March 2019, Snyder revealed that a director’s cut existed, but that it was up to Warner Bros. to release it. But the studio didn’t have any financial incentive to do so, given the reception to the original version — and how Snyder’s previous entries, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had been received. That changed when its parent company WarnerMedia started looking for ways to make its fledgling streaming service HBO Max a success. In May last year, HBO Max announced that Justice League Snyder Cut was official.

And here we are. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is just days away. Unless you were lucky enough to play Tom & Jerry on HBO Max on March 8 — when the platform accidentally leaked the film — in which case you’re slightly ahead of others. Here’s everything you need to know about Justice League Snyder Cut, including when it’s out, where you can watch it, how much you’ll have to pay, how long is it, who’s in it, what it’s about, and whether you should expect a sequel. And oh, there’s a couple of trailers too.

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Justice League Snyder Cut release date

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is out March 18 worldwide, including India, the US, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

It will be available in June 2021 in Latin America when HBO Max launches there. HBO Max is currently exclusive to the US.

Release dates have not been finalised for some major markets, including Germany, the UK, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The full list of territories and release dates is available on the official Justice League Snyder Cut website.

Justice League Snyder Cut release time

In India, Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be available at 1:31pm IST on BookMyShow Stream. Other platforms have yet to reveal those details.

HBO Max has yet to provide a release time for Justice League Snyder Cut in the US.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League on BookMyShow Stream
Photo Credit: BookMyShow

Where can I watch Justice League Snyder Cut online?

The DC superhero movie is exclusive to HBO Max in the US. It’s available on HBO Go in several Asian (including the Philippines) and Eastern European markets, and HBO services in the rest of Europe.

In Australia, you can watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League on Binge or Foxtel. And in neighbouring New Zealand, it will be out on Neon.

Canadians will need Crave for Justice League Snyder Cut, as it’s the home to everything HBO Max.

In France, Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be on video-on-demand, including iTunes & Apple TV, Amazon, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox, Rakuten TV, and Orange.

This is also true for Nigeria, where Justice League Snyder Cut comes to DStv BoxOffice, SelecTV, Apple TV and iTunes Movies, beIN, and OSN.

How can I watch Justice League Snyder Cut in India?

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be available on all major video-on-demand platforms in India. That includes Apple TV (formerly iTunes Movies), BookMyShow Stream, Google Play, Hungama Play, Tata Sky, and YouTube.

Pre-orders on BookMyShow Stream have been live since Saturday, March 6. All other platforms are yet to list the movie. We will update as we know more.

Justice League Snyder Cut price in India

Most platforms will allow you to either buy or rent the DC film. If you rent, most platforms will need you to watch within the next 30 days, and finish watching once you begin in 48 hours.

Here’s the pricing structure for Zack Snyder’s Justice League in India. We will update as we know more.

Justice League Snyder Cut trailer

At DC FanDome in August last year, we got the first teaser trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where the director also revealed that it would be four hours long.

Due to music copyright issues, it had to be pulled down later. Hence in November, it was reuploaded with proper clearances alongside a black-and-white version of that same teaser trailer — save for a few different shots.

And then in mid-February, we got the final official trailer that came with a bunch of new footage, including from the October 2020 limited reshoots Snyder undertook.

Justice League Snyder Cut runtime / duration

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is 4 hours and 2 minutes long. Snyder had originally planned to release it as a four-hour movie and a miniseries, but the latter plans have since been scrapped. The plan for a black-and-white “Justice Is Gray” edition is still in place, Snyder said, and it will be available later in 2021 on HBO Max.

Justice League Snyder Cut chapter titles

The four-hour director’s cut of Justice League will be split into six chapters. In a Twitter thread earlier in March, we got the titles to six chapters.

Part 1: “Don’t Count on It, Batman”
Part 2: The Age of Heroes
Part 3: Beloved Mother, Beloved Son
Part 4: “Change Machine”
Part 5: All the King’s Horses
Part 6: “Something Darker”

Justice League Snyder Cut cast

Everyone involved in 2017’s Justice League will naturally return. That includes Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/ Batman (at times colloquially called Batfleck). This won’t be the last time we’ll see him — yes, Robert Pattinson is the new Batman but his film The Batman is actually outside the DC Extended Universe — as Batfleck is also officially part of The Flash standalone movie.

Then there’s Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/ Superman, who will don the black Superman suit in Justice League Snyder Cut after he’s resurrected. That’s technically a spoiler but Justice League is over three years old now. Cavill has expressed interest in returning to the role, with reports last May saying as much. But it’s unclear if that will happen as DC is rebooting Superman with J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates, and is said to be looking for a new actor.

Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman is also back. Gadot has already secured her Wonder Woman future, having signed on for Wonder Woman 3 shortly after the release of Wonder Woman 1984 back in December.

Add to that Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/ Aquaman, who is also signed on for a sequel in Aquaman 2, dated for December 2022.

We also have Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/ Cyborg who has a much more expanded role in Justice League Snyder Cut, per Snyder.

That leaves Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/ The Flash. Miller will get his first solo eponymous film in November 2022 that will adapt the Flashpoint comic book arc, and will involve both Batfleck and Michael Keaton’s Batman.

The Justice League Snyder Cut supporting cast is made up of Amy Adams as Superman’s love interest Lois Lane, Willem Dafoe as Aquaman’s vizier Nuidis Vulko, Jeremy Irons as Batman’s butler Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Superman’s mom Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta, Joe Morton and Karen Bryson as Cyborg’s parents Silas Stone and Elinore Stone, Amber Heard as Aquaman’s love interest Mera, and Kiersey Clemons as The Flash’s love interest Iris West.

There’s also room for J.K. Simmons as Gotham City commissioner James Gordon, Harry Lennix as Calvin Swanwick / Martin Manhunter, and Zheng Kai as Ryan Choi (who becomes the superhero Atom in DC Domics).

Joe Manganiello’s anti-hero Slade Wilson / Deathstroke has struck an unlikely alliance with Batman, Snyder revealed. He’s a few steps removed from the villains in Jesse Eisenberg as Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf who’s looking for the all-powerful Mother Boxes, Ray Porter as Steppenwolf’s master Darkseid, and Peter Guinness as Darkseid’s master torturer DeSaad. An unidentified actress plays Granny Goodness.

Jared Leto as Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Photo Credit: Zack Snyder/Warner Bros.

And last of all, Jared Leto returns as Joker, though it’s not the one you remember from 2016’s Suicide Squad.

Leto was part of very limited reshoots that Snyder undertook in October last year, alongside Affleck, Miller, Fisher, Manganiello, Heard, and Lennix.

Actually, we might not be done. An unnamed actor has a hero cameo in the ending that will “blow hard-core fans’ minds”, according to a report that spoke with the director extensively. It’s not Ryan Reynolds’ Hal Jordan/ Green Lantern, as he has already ruled himself out.

What is Joker doing in Justice League Snyder Cut?

Snyder has revealed that Leto’s Joker will be restricted to a “Knightmare” sequence in Justice League Snyder Cut — that’s a continuation of Batman’s post-apocalyptic nightmare from 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Here, Batman sees a devastated Earth thanks to Darkseid’s actions and the failure of the titular squad: Justice League.

Snyder noted that the scene between Leto’s Joker and Affleck’s Batman will also explain the Joker references in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that hinted Joker was responsible for the death of Batman’s sidekick Robin. In that film, we only see Robin’s armour spray painted with the words “Ha ha, joke’s on you, Batman”.

“I’d always wanted to explore the death of Robin,” Snyder added. “And if there ever was going to be a next movie, which, of course, there probably won’t be, I wanted to do a thing where in flashbacks we learn how Robin died, how Joker killed him and burned down Wayne Manor, and that whole thing that happened between he and Bruce.”

In February, Snyder gave us our first look at Jared Leto’s new Joker avatar, and that was followed shortly by a brief appearance in the Justice League Snyder Cut trailer.

Justice League Snyder Cut synopsis

Batman and Wonder Woman enlist a team capable of protecting the world from the impending threat of Steppenwolf and his Parademon army, who are scouring the universe for three hidden Mother Boxes that would enable Steppenwolf to transcend worlds, lay waste to all enemies, and restore his good standing with his master, Darkseid. Though most of Batman and Wonder Woman’s initial efforts are met with resistance, they ultimately recruit Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash. But in order to help preserve the future of mankind, first they must each overcome their own demons.

After Steppenwolf secures two of the boxes buried deep within Themyscira and Atlantis, the superheroes are forced to take advantage of Cyborg’s unique connection to the one remaining. Harnessing the box’s capabilities to resurrect a final team member, they inadvertently provide Steppenwolf with an opportunity to obtain it – setting him up for imminent domination. With DeSaad and Darkseid waiting in the wings and posing catastrophic threats of their own, can this unique band of heroes dismantle the Mother Boxes before Steppenwolf’s synchronisation is complete?

An epic, unabridged, and wildly different cut that will more than satisfy the fans who championed its release, Zack Snyder’s Justice League offers a bounty of extended fight scenes; deeper dives into character history – including a brand-new backstory for Victor Stone, his father, and Star Labs, which ties directly into one of the Mother Boxes’; expanded roles for Steppenwolf, Lois Lane, and Martha Kent; two additional forces of evil; and so much more.

Justice League Snyder Cut review

Reviews for Zack Snyder’s Justice League should be available in the week of release. An exact review embargo date and time is not known.

Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Zack Snyder on the sets of Justice League
Photo Credit: Clay Enos/Warner Bros.

Will there ever be a Justice League 2?

Snyder has said a lot about this over the years in varying fashions, so I’m going to stick to his latest comments. Back when he was actively involved in the DCEU, Snyder had envisioned Justice League as a trilogy.

“Well, it was meant to be two more movies,” Snyder said. “[Zack Snyder’s Justice League] doesn’t really encompass any of the additional movies other than little… It hints, as you would, at a potential other world. I would plant the seeds as I had wanted to of what would come in the later films. That’s in there, but as far as those stories, that would be to come if ever that happened — which it does not look like it would.”

2017’s Justice League was meant to be the first. But the film’s production was far from smooth, as we all know, and following a family tragedy Snyder decided to step down because he didn’t have it in him anymore to keep fighting Warner Bros. on what they wanted him to do.

That effectively poured water on Snyder’s plans as he didn’t think he would ever revisit the DC universe. But following the critical and commercial failure of Justice League, fans began wondering what the film might have looked life if Snyder had stayed.

Their efforts coalesced under #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, and two years later, HBO Max announced that it was officially sanctioning Justice League Snyder Cut. That allowed Snyder to make Justice League the film he desired, and he has used the opportunity to leave the door open.

In an interview, Snyder revealed that his director’s cut ends on a “massive cliffhanger”, which essentially sets up a Justice League sequel. Except Snyder doesn’t think it will ever happen: “[Justice League 2 is] very hypothetical. I think that I would say, I would believe it when I see it, and happy to cross that bridge when I see it approaching.”

Three years ago, no one would’ve believed that we might get Justice League Snyder Cut. And yet, here we are. Should Warner Bros. decide it wants Justice League 2 sometime in the future, Snyder already has the big picture in mind.

“I’m a huge fan of [the post-apocalyptic world] and, really, the idea was that as the [Justice League] movies progressed, the next movie — if there ever was one, and it doesn’t seem like there ever will be, but if there was — it would exist primarily in that world with them trying to set it right,” Snyder said. “[The ‘Knightmare’ sequence in Justice League Snyder Cut with Batman and Joker] doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it definitely does what I needed it to do for the story and for us. Beyond that, I think it’s a spoiler.”