The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign paid off, but will #RestoreTheSnyderVerse have the same success? Following the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max last week, many fans are certainly hoping so, but it sounds a lot like WarnerMedia is now looking to move on from this era of storytelling once and for all.
Talking to Variety, WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff was asked for her reaction to that new fan campaign.
"I appreciate that they love Zack’s work and we are very thankful for his many contributions to DC," she started. "We’re just so happy that he could bring his cut of the 'Justice League' to life because that wasn’t in the plan until about a year ago. With that comes the completion of his trilogy. We’re very happy we’ve done this, but we’re very excited about the plans we have for all the multi-dimensional DC characters that are being developed right now."
Well, that's about as non-committal as you can get, but it certainly sounds like Snyder's comments about Warner Bros. having zero interest in making more DC movies with him were accurate.
Something Sarnoff was a little more definitive on was whether we'll see David Ayer's original vision for Suicide Squad. That movie underwent huge changes in post-production, while reshoots even saw the ending completely changed. Asked if an "Ayer Cut" could be on the horizon, the CEO responded: "We won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut."
As for the future of the DC Extended Universe, it seems the plan is to simply move on from the past... and that doesn't appear to include Snyder's vision for how these characters should be portrayed on screen.
"We’re always going to listen to our fans, but we are in service of the broadest fanbase and we owe them an integrated, holistic strategy. We are the shepherds of the franchise and hopefully when the fans see what we’ve got in store they’ll know that DC is in good hands across many different platforms with many different creators," Sarnoff explains. "We want different voices in the mix. For certain fans that want singular voices, they may be disappointed, but we would ask them to be patient and see what we’ve got in store because perhaps the newer voices in the mix will have just as compelling stories to tell."
Short of Zack Snyder's Justice League doing the best numbers HBO Max has ever seen and bringing in more subscribers than ever before, it seems we shouldn't bank on a live-action sequel after all.