In 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released in theaters and filmmaker Zack Snyder was hard at work shooting Justice League.
It's a little hard to believe that was a decade ago, and as a reminder, it was a year that also saw Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Deadpool, and X-Men: Apocalypse hit the big screen.
When Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad opened to largely negative reviews, Warner Bros. panicked and enlisted The Avengers director Joss Whedon to write—and eventually helm—extensive Justice League reshoots. Those didn't exactly go to plan, and DC fans spent years campaigning for Snyder's true vision to be seen
With Zack Snyder's Justice League in 2021, that's exactly what happened. However, it left fans eager for more, and the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement ended up evolving into calls to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse.
Snyder has taken to Instagram today to share a handful of his favourite photos from 2016, including a couple of Justice League 2 breakdowns. Photos of these briefly showed up online a few years ago (Warner Bros. pulled them down quickly), but the filmmaker has now provided some much clearer shots. With any luck, he'll eventually share the rest of them.
Some of the highlights here include the death of Lex Luthor at the hands of the Darkseid-controlled Superman, details on a Lord of the Rings-inspired final battle for Earth, and a look at the sketches created by Jim Lee, imagining Snyder's vision for the DCEU.
Fans remain divided on whether Warner Bros. made the right decision to pull the plug on this Justice League trilogy. Still, it is arguably a shame that Snyder's plans haven't at least been adapted into a comic book or animated movie.
In Zack Snyder's Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.
The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes.
Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.
The movie's screenplay is by Chris Terrio, story by Chris Terrio & Zack Snyder and Will Beall, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film’s producers are Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, with executive producers Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Wesley Coller, Jim Rowe, Curtis Kanemoto, Chris Terrio and Ben Affleck.
Zack Snyder's Justice League is available to watch on Max, Digital, and physical media platforms.