“The original script was much darker and weirder”: DC Fans Can Only Wish They Could Have Seen Zack Snyder’s Original Plans For Justice League on Screen
2017’s superhero movie Justice League followed the events of 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Batman and Wonder Woman recruit The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg to save the world from the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf. Initially directed by Zack Snyder, who had to step down from the position following the death of his daughter, the movie’s post-production process was taken over by Joss Whedon.
Regarded as one of the most expensive movies, Justice League was a box-office bomb, unlike what the studios expected it to be. The movie received mixed responses from the audience and the critics, with the critics pointing out the plot pace, direction, and more. Zack Snyder in an interview shared the original script for the movie and it’s not something fans would have expected.
Zack Snyder recalls plans for the Justice League while making Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Filmmaker Zack Snyder appeared on the YouTube series Pizza Film School, created and hosted by the Russo Brothers, where he details his process of working on 2017’s Justice League. He shared,
After Batman vs. Superman, we talked about what the Justice League would be. We kind of know it’s called Dawn of Justice, and so the studio wanted the Justice League to know where we were going. We always had our eye on the Justice League as a concept as we were working on it, and we had an outline for the Justice League while we were writing Batman vs. Superman.
Snyder added that they wanted to be sure that they were supporting the long look with what they were writing for Batman vs. Superman. He pointed out certain peculiarities in the 2016 film that would eventually appear in the 2017 version, and he emphasized the importance of post-apocalyptic elements. The filmmaker shared with the Russo Brothers that they started working on Justice League when Batman vs. Superman was in the editing process and went on to explain,
To be honest, what happened with Justice League was that we had a very, the original script was much darker and weirder, and then when Batman vs. Superman came out, the studio was like, ‘It’s not funny enough. People want funnier movies. They want funny stiff in it’, we did go back and lighten the movie overall.
He revealed that the original script had Lois Lane and Batman get together briefly, and everyone told him that he could not do that. But he noted that Superman was dead, and he thought Lois was an amazing person, adding that the idea of her getting with Batman would have brought her into the story in a way that was complex, and she had a surprising part in Justice League.
The highly anticipated 2016 Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was met with a lot of criticism, with its numbers dropping in the second week of its debut. However, it managed to perform commercially and became one of the top-grossing movies of 2016, but the studios weren’t happy with the response.
Zack Snyder addresses if he would like to finish his Justice League trilogy
During his interview with Empire Magazine (via ScreenRant), Snyder was asked if he’d ever be interested in returning to DC Studios to finish his trilogy in animation, to which he replied,
Yeah, absolutely. That’d be fun. That’d be cool.
Fans were disappointed when Henry Cavill, who played Superman in DCEU, shared he’d be no longer returning to play the superhero despite plans. Zack Snyder, in his interview with GQ, mentioned how he planned on ending Superman’s arc.
He was going to have to succumb to the anti-life, be destroyed, turn the clock back, and then get his chance for battle against Darkseid. If you will, that would have finished his trilogy of becoming this guardian and sort of returned him to his humanity.
In James Gunn’s DCU, actor David Corenswet is portraying Superman, which is scheduled for release in July 2025. Fans can stream Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max.
