Jason Lethert of Hero Journalism breaks down the real issues behind "The Snyder Cut" of the Justice League movie, and why next year's planned release on HBO Max is not only good news for fans, but for film.
Justice League is a 2017 sequel to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It assembles DC Comics' flagship superhero team on the big screen for the first time.
Following the events of Batman v Superman, the man of steel (Henry Cavill) is believed dead, while Bruce Wayne realizes an other-worldly threat is coming that will need a powerful response. With the help of Diana (Gal Gadot) he learns that that the villain Steppenwolf is on Earth searching for three lost, powerful artifacts of Apokalips called Mother Boxes. Batman recruits Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) to the cause, while Wonder Woman tracks down Cyborg (Ray Fisher) who himself is now empowered by a Mother Box. Finally, Batman hatches a scheme to revive Superman using the alien technology, thus forming the core group.
The movie was directed by Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon. The movie suffered from a mixed reception by fans and critics, who lamented the uneven pacing, dark tone and uninspired villain of the movie. It did not fair well at the box office, failing to achieve the tentpole status Warner Bros expected.
As the third DC Extended Universe movie from Snyder to get a lukewarm reaction from audiences, the studio pumped the brakes on a Justice League 2. Instead fans enjoyed the well-received Wonder Woman and Aquaman spinoffs, while an all-new take on Batman is in production.
