With box office numbers for
Justice League falling short of expectations, a good number of DC fans are taking to Change.org to petition Warner Bros. to release Zack Snyder's unaltered version of the film.
Snyder was the original director of
Justice League, but
stepped down during reshoots and post-production following the tragic death of his daughter.
The Avengers director Joss Whedon was eventually brought on board, and though there's
mixed reports on how much he actually contributed to the final film, some DC fans think even just a little is too much. Those fans are now petitioning for Warner Bros. to release the version of
Justice League with Snyder's director's cuts and Tom Holkenborg's score.
In a fairly lengthy statement from Roberto Mata of San Juan, Puerto Reico, he writes:
“We the undersigned make this petition, because during the last few months, the film Justice League underwent a few changes in terms of composer and runtime. Zack Snyder, director of the film, screened Justice League to Warner Bros. executives earlier this year, they where happy with the film, but the director himself felt the film needed something more, he contacted Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, to write a few additional scenes with plans to shoot them over the summer, but an unfortunate tragedy in his family happened and he understandably had to step down, Warner Bros. following Snyder’s departure, released a statement saying that Justice League will be finished as Zack Snyder’s vision, but a week after that statement, composer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) was replaced with Danny Elfman, much to the dismay of fans, who were concerned about the thematic compositional elements from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman being changed, due to the change in composer.
In early October cinemas confirmed that the runtime for Justice League will be 2hrs long, much to the shock of fans, who were asking themselves: “how will a film that has 6 main characters, their supporting players, a story that revolves around an alien invasion, the terraforming of earth and the return of a familiar face, would fit in a 2hr runtime?”, Many film critics, websites and journalists started comparing the runtime to Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, stating that the sci-fi/fantasy film dealt with 5 characters, the introduction of a mythology and an intergalactic war, but the difference between Justice League and Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope is very simple: Justice League as mentioned earlier, revolves around a plot to terraform earth, an alien invasion, 4 new characters, their backstories and their motivations, the development of 2 other characters from previous entries in the DC Extended Universe and the return of a familiar face that need development and I will explain myself.
The DC Extended Universe is based on DC comics, a brand of comic books that writes superheroes, villains and other characters from different backgrounds with different backstories and motivations, that are relatable to the reader with themes that mirror the real world, for example, Man of Steel was the first entry in the the DC Extended Universe, the film revolved around an alien trying to find his place in the world, while dealing with his past, alien origins, superhuman abilities and a plot that revolved around first contact with an alien civilization, while the sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice revolved around the existence of an alien and his purpose in the world, how humanity reacted to him, how they were divided and ultimately united, because ofnhim, the different philosophies, ideologies and motivations of a man coming to gripes with his past, the reality of aliens living amongst humans and the realization that such alien could be dangerous, a man with a childhood trauma, who wants to get rid of abusive figures and who realizes that power is not innocent and the perception of humans towards the alien in question. Justice League is the culmination of the alien’s story and the beginning of a new chapter in the DC Extended Universe. Fans have been waiting for years, while others have waited decades for the film to finally arrive on the silver screen. The 2hr runtime is disrespectful towards Zack Snyder’s vision and towards the fans who have waited for more than a year to see the alien’s story come to an end.”
The rest of the petition, which you can read here, goes into incredible depth on the importance of the film's score. To be clear, fans aren't petitioning for Warner Bros. to remove the current version from theaters, but only asking that the studio release the Zack Snyder version with its original score by Tom Holkenborg on home release.
So far the petition has attracted over 28,000 signatures, with that number rapidly rising.
Justice League has received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, and while some of that could be attributed to different visions from its two directors, it's unclear if Snyder's cut would've made things better or worse for the team-up film.
Would you like to see Zach Sndyer's version of Justice League released, or were you satisfied with the final theatrical cut?