A year after it soared to HBO Max, a new report states that studio insiders regret Zack Snyder's Justice League for the consequences it created for studios. Over the many years that Warner Bros. has been making DC movies, the one to get the most attention is the Justice League movie from Snyder. After they kicked off the DC Extended Universe in 2013 with Man of Steel, WB began to build out their own cinematic universe to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe that would lead to the first feature film with the iconic DC team. However, once the studio began interfering with Snyder's picture and resulted in Joss Whedon's Justice League, it began a massive online campaign to release the original cut.
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After many years of campaigning for the release of the "Snyder Cut," the fandom got their wish as the studio premiered the 4-hour version of Justice League on HBO Max, complete with a $70 million budget for visual effects, scoring and some additional photography. While Snyder's film received more critical acclaim and success, there have been debates of whether WB should have released the film due to fan demand, much of which was considered toxic. Following the debut on HBO Max, the studio has not made any plans to continue with any sequels, as his Justice League film was later established to exist in its own continuity, which has been referred to as the Snyderverse.
Since the completed merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, the vision for the DCEU has been a bit unclear, given recent developments including Batgirl's cancellation and multiple release date shifts. However, it appears some sides of the studio may be regretting having ever released Zack Snyder's Justice League. In a new report from Variety, studio insiders "have lamented" that the Snyder Cut should never have happened, instead strongly believing that Warner Bros. should have ignored the online campaign rather than give Snyder's original Justice League movie a platform. At the time of writing, the studio has not made any statements to this report.
What is key to remember is that the studio insiders don't necessarily reflect the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery. Those opinions could merely represent employees that work at the studio, rather than the thoughts of key executive, including new CEO David Zaslav. Whether Zaslav and the new regime agree or disagree about Zack Snyder's Justice League's HBO Max release remains to be seen. Until Zaslav and the higher-ups at Warner Bros. Discovery get asked directly by the press, there is no telling what the current company thinks about it.
When it comes to Zack Snyder's Justice League getting a platform, the commentary has always been about the vocal minority that took extreme measures, which included harassment, death threats and toxic behavior. But that doesn't represent an entire fanbase, as it's worth taking into account that toxicity exists in many major fandoms, most notably Game of Thrones and Star Wars. As much focus as the negative side gets in the media, there is also the positive side of the movement, which raised $500,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of Snyder's late daughter Autumn, who died by suicide during the Justice League production. Audiences can celebrate the film's one-year anniversary with Zack Snyder's Justice League available to stream on HBO Max and purchase on digital platforms, 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray and DVD now.