A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN - JUSTICE LEAGUE

RETURNS FOR ANOTHER ROUND - BUT NOT AS YOU’VE SEEN IT BEFORE. IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, DIRECTOR ZACK SNYDER TELL TOTAL FILM HOW HIS VERSION OF THE SUPERHERO TEAM-UP GOT AN UNLIKELY REPRIEVE.

- RICHARD EDWARDS

Not seen the theatrical cut of 2017’s Justice League yet? Don’t worry – neither has the man credited as its director. Although Zack Snyder worked on DC’s superhero team-up from its inception, he’d left the movie long before it hit cinemas. He hasn’t felt obliged to watch it since.

Justice League was supposed to be Snyder’s answer to Marvel’s Avengers, an epic crossover bringing together Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and DC’s other biggest capes to fight off extra-terrestrial bad guy Steppenwolf. It was also the continuation of a story Snyder had started with Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

But a combination of family tragedy and creative differences with studio Warner Bros prompted Snyder’s departure. The movie was shepherded to release by replacement helmer Joss Whedon, and subsequently very different to the one the 300 and Watchmen director had originally conceived.

Snyder’s version seemed set to remain one of Hollywood’s great ‘what ifs’, something to file alongside Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man, and Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fans refused to let it go, however, and the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag started to gain traction on social media.

Eventually, the fan movement was strong enough to persuade Warner Bros to put out the alternative – original? – version of the movie on its new HBO Max streaming service. This four-hour behemoth would dwarf Whedon’s 120-minute cut.