Zack Snyder’s Original Plans for “Justice League”

Director Zack Snyder held a special 3-day event called “The Director’s Cuts”, featuring special screenings of three of his movies this week. A panel discussion with Snyder took place after the Sunday, March 24 “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” Ultimate Edition screening, where he spoke about his original plans for the “Justice League” movie.

“The original Justice League that Chris [Terrio] and I wrote, we didn’t even shoot,” explained Snyder. “The actual idea, the hard, hard idea, the scary idea, we never filmed because the studio was like ‘That’s crazy’.”

With the way “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” was received, Snyder felt that the studio started getting cold feet, and a fear of losing had taken root within the “vocal minority”.

“It’s a long story,” he continued. “The truth is that, the ‘Knightmare’ sequence in this movie was always my idea [and] that all of that would eventually be explained… and that we would end up in the distant future, where Darkseid has taken over Earth and where Superman has succumbed to the Anti-Life [Equation] … There were a few members of the Justice League that had survived in that world, that they were fighting. Batman broke a pact with Cyborg because something happened… They were working on an equation to jump Flash back to tell Bruce.”

We see in “Batman v Superman” the sequence in which The Flash warns Batman about Lois being the “key”. Snyder revealed that a post-credit scene would have shown that the team’s battle against Darkseid wasn’t over just yet.

“The Justice League teaser that wasn’t in the movie, apparently, I guess, where Wonder Woman says, it’s this line where Bruce says ‘I was right here when Barry Allen came to me and he said Lois Lane is the key,’ and she says ‘She is, to Superman. Every heart has one.’ And he goes, ‘I think it’s something more, something darker.'”

Snyder then explained to an eager crowd that if Lois had died, Superman would have fallen to the Anti-Life Equation.

“If Superman knew that somehow it was Bruce’s responsibility to protect Lois, he would have been mad at him in [Batman v Superman]. So that’s why he says ‘She was my world, and you took her from me.'”

You can watch the complete panel discussion at Vero.co, with Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” comments starting at the one hour, nineteen minute mark.

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sundevil82
sundevil82
March 25, 2019 5:31 pm

Oh for gods sake can we move on??? Can Zack move on?? I’m honestly sick of having to hear about this constantly. Yes Zack, they screwed you over. It happens all the time in Hollywood. At the same time you didn’t make the universe compelling enough for them to continue with you at the helm. End. Of. Story. In other news, Shazam looks to be another step in the right direction and will further make way for more stand alone features. Maybe, just maybe the powers that be will step up and give us another Superman movie with Henry now… Read more »

redcape
redcape
March 25, 2019 9:13 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

Well he still didn’t say much about the JL we got but if that’s where he was going in the second part it probably would have been too intense for the average movie goer. But I like getting more info from him. Just wish there had been enough of “his” JL to be seen as a completed movie.

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 25, 2019 9:43 pm
Reply to  redcape

I’m not against an evil Superman storyline, thats my favorite part of part 3, but I wanted him established as the Superman we all know and love before they went down that route. MOS was his first day on the job and we should have had a sequel to flesh him out more after that. Did I like the direction they went after MOS? No, but I think they should have delayed it after his tragedy and just let him finish it out. That was all Tsujihara and I’m glad that dude is gone. JL to me is like an… Read more »

superhero
superhero
March 25, 2019 5:33 pm

i like snyder, and generally enjoy his work. but…i’m glad that this initial plan didn’t work out. still love mos and like bvs. cavill and affleck were perfect casting too. love me some gal too!

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 25, 2019 5:46 pm
Reply to  superhero

I enjoyed 300, Dawn of the Dead is one of my favorite modern horror flicks and I really liked Man of Steel. I’ll give Snyder credit where it’s due, but I feel like him and the company went in the absolute wrong direction with BvS. I don’t think it’s a terrible movie and I applaud its ambition, but it was not what it should have been. It felt to me like his Watchmen adapatation… not bad, but the good will I give it comes more from my love of the source material than what was presented.

superhero
superhero
March 25, 2019 6:25 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

i think i’m on the same page as you sundevil82. i have issues with bvs, but the fight scene where batman is saving martha was glorious. his batmobile resembled wylie coyote (look it up, lol) and i didn’t love the forced fighting between the two bigs. but i still gotta kick out of it though. watchmen…i’m torn over. i don’t know the source material very well, but it was a heavy somber movie and i left the theater with an impression that i’d never seen a movie like that before, much less a comic book movie.

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 25, 2019 6:41 pm
Reply to  superhero

I too thought that scene was cool, but only without context. Within the frame of the movie it doesn’t make any sense. Why did HE have to save Martha? Only to showcase that fight. The whole movie was just a bunch of cool scenes very poorly put together as a film. And that fight, as cool as it is, makes Superman a sidekick. It’s always been my thought that the movie would have been more successful with more of a focus on Superman and having Batman as an ambiguous secondary character. When Affleck came on it was obvious he brought… Read more »

Superman2878
March 25, 2019 7:28 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

Between what we got in the theater and what Snyder described for his version of the Justice League movie, I’m glad that we got the theatrical one. The Evil Superman plot is so old and overdone. There’s been enough of that in the injustice games. Superman is the good guy, not the bad guy. The hero that people look up to, not someone that they should fear.So no thank you to that idea.

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 25, 2019 8:22 pm
Reply to  Superman2878

Right. And besides, I don’t want another version of JL, I want another Superman movie.

redcape
redcape
March 25, 2019 9:07 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

You know in some regards Superman was a second in BvS. Even Henry had said before BvS was released that it was more of an introduction of Batman than a actual sequel to MoS. So it wasn’t a surprise that they wanted to show case Batman to an extent. For the most part I thought ZS did that well. I for one still think that BenA’s version has been the best to date. And I base that solely on the action. I didn’t find it to be quite the convoluted mess you did. But as I have said I wasn’t… Read more »

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 25, 2019 9:39 pm
Reply to  redcape

I don’t disagree that Ben was a great Batman(at least in BvS… he was a cartoon character in JL) but I think he probably should have got his own movie to introduce him instead of overstuffing BvS… there was a lot I was intrigued about but didn’t get with his character… I wanted to know his history and why he was so jaded. I wanted to see what happened with Robin. A red hood inspired Batman movie prior to a Batman vs Superman movie would have been a great buildup along with a second stand alone Superman film. Again, I… Read more »

car2nst
car2nst
March 25, 2019 7:29 pm

Snyder Cut confirmed (but up tp WB to release it)
https://twitter.com/Woke_master/status/1110270110084665344

Superman2878
March 25, 2019 8:24 pm
Reply to  car2nst

So does this mean that this version will be released ? Or does this mean that they are just confirming the existence of this version?

redcape
redcape
March 25, 2019 9:20 pm
Reply to  car2nst

There’s a heck of a lot of back ground noise but if you turn the volume down you can hear him answer what sounded like to me, that it’s done!! Thanks for posting that!!

approuty
approuty
March 25, 2019 8:41 pm

I think MOS was alright. I think Superman learning how to fly for the frist time is the best part of the movie. However Superman was too angry and brooding in that movie, it doesn’t match the image of Superman which most people are acostumed to – confident, a beam of hope and joy. Superman did mentioned his “S” on his chest stood for hope but the movie didn’t show much hope, plus the destruction and death toll was way too high. I like Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman much better. Also CW’s Supergirl’s battles with villians are much better – mininum… Read more »

redcape
redcape
March 25, 2019 9:24 pm
Reply to  approuty

For ME……I do not agree with ONE THING your saying. NOTHING!
The very last thing I would ever want to see is Superman in the light of what’s going to be a very light and adolescent Shazam.

March 25, 2019 9:36 pm
Reply to  redcape

Really? You don’t agree with ANYTHING he said?
You prefer Superman and Batman fighting?
You like an evil Superman?

approuty
approuty
March 26, 2019 6:07 am
Reply to  redcape

I don’t say Superman should act like a adolescent. The colorful tone fits Superman pretty well. Like I said, I want a Superman who is happy to be a hero and helps others rather than brood around and doing things on his terms.

redcape
redcape
March 26, 2019 1:16 pm
Reply to  approuty

And that is why trying to establish this character might just be up against the wall in this day and age. But in what they(WB) may do, IF EVER, I’m almost believing that there’s no story line that’s going to satisfy any majority. It’s becoming painfully obvious that for the most part, if the movie critics don’t leave movie premiers in a state of mood from humor then the film is considered not worthy and their going to put that right up front in their chicken-s reviews. Since Superman Returns and the re-boot with ZS, there hasn’t been one aspect… Read more »

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 26, 2019 4:28 pm
Reply to  redcape

Superman Returns got decent reviews from critics, it was the fans who didn’t respond as well. It wasn’t ripped apart by critics in fact I think it holds a 76% on RT. I have to disagree that Superman being established in this day and age is up against the wall. Captain America has been well received and he’s a similar type of character. I just think that THIS particular take hasn’t been working and I say that because, while man of steel was a good start, they failed (Snyder and goyer) to move the character forward at all in BvS.… Read more »

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 26, 2019 8:11 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

Also I will add that both Civil War and Infinity War both ended with the bad guys wining and are still considered to be good movies. Movies can end on a somber note, but the problem with Zacks movies are that you don’t really feel any connection with the characters in his films. I only feel a connection to Batman and Superman because I have a pre existing love of the characters but if I went in without that? I would think they were very bland and in Batman’s case kind of unlikable. I felt the same after watching Watchmen…… Read more »

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 3:45 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

Correct regarding SR. The critics basically gave it a C+. RT at that time wasn’t the end all it is now. It was once again the WB management that should have picked itself up by the boot straps, and gone on with their scheduled sequels to SR.

And regarding continuing with Henry, IF……that’s possible AT ALL!

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 27, 2019 4:47 pm
Reply to  redcape

76% was a good score. Especially for that era. WB was never going to make a sequel… SR really underperformed. It’s budget was 270 and it only made 200 back domestically. Plus it left audiences lukewarm because it was more of a love story and kind of boring. At the time I enjoyed it, but I find as time goes on that other than the plane sequence, I don’t really care to watch it at all for many reasons. Yes, singer did promise to go all ‘wrath of khan’ on it, but the problem with him and the approach with… Read more »

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 8:21 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

Well SR didn’t have the one element that apparently everyone expects and that was a massive villain for him to face off with. I didn’t mind that as he had after all been gone for 5 years. I though there was enough excitement through out as Singer did do a great job of show casing his powers. But again he went off the wall with certain events at various times. And they turned people off. As for Nolan’s Batman. It was more exciting just to see Batman and ignore the fact that not only didn’t he do anything but there… Read more »

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 27, 2019 5:20 pm
Reply to  redcape

Also… yes I hope that it’s possible with Henry. I hope WB does what you say and pull themselves up by their boot straps and figure it out! Because there is still a whole lot of potential with this Superman! I’m tired of bashing on Snyder and his films. I really am. I would much rather talk about the next possible Superman movie and speculate on director, writer and possible storylines! My final word on it (and I promise I’m going to try and stop talking about it from now on) is that I do applaud his ambition and I… Read more »

March 25, 2019 8:43 pm

I KNEW IT!!!! I FRIGGIN KNEW IT!!!
Even in Justice League there were clues! I KNEW the entire point was to setup Superman as an eventual villain just to make Batman look good and do a bulls**t INJUSTICE style movie!

bhof
bhof
March 25, 2019 11:26 pm

I’m not totally sure how I feel about this. I’m not crazy about the idea of Superman breaking bad. I wouldn’t say it’s an invalid take on the character, but I prefer a Supes that would hold on to his ideals even in the face of a tragedy like Lois’ death. The marketing campaign would have had to have been very clear that this was part of a longer story. That being said, I really did enjoy what Snyder did with MoS and BvS overall. For all the things I really appreciate, I think my favorite is when Supes turns… Read more »

Kal-Elvis
March 26, 2019 8:51 am

Wow, we dodged a bullet there. Very happy he’s gone from anything having to do with Superman. And hopefully all this cinematic bungling doesn’t cost us Henry getting to really enjoy the role or make WB wait 10+ years for another try at Superman.

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 26, 2019 3:05 pm
Reply to  Kal-Elvis

Right. And if you read more of his quotes from the event he proves himself to not even be really right for the entire genre. He made quotes justifying how Batman and Superman should kill and that fans are naive to think that they don’t. We’re ‘living in a dream world’ according to him. He’s such an adolescent minded person. He compares our heroes to real life people who cheat and steal and are disgraced but he doesn’t get that it’s escapism and that these are fictional characters. I feel bad for his tragedy and the way he was let… Read more »

Hollywood
March 26, 2019 11:36 am

Guys…

Let.
It.
Go.

redcape
redcape
March 26, 2019 12:38 pm
Reply to  Hollywood

You know Hollywood this is new information coming right from ZS. And the fact is,.. it’s taken this long for him to divulge any of the material he had planned. And because it’s something new to chew on regarding Superman as well, I think is worth a few comments. (no big deal either way)

Hollywood
March 26, 2019 4:41 pm
Reply to  redcape

I’m commenting more on Zack and crew than anything else. He/they/whoever else was involved should just start devoting their efforts to other projects and move on.

Or reporters/fans/etc. should stop pestering Zack and crew about it and go watch other movies.

Either way, this dead horse has been beaten to a pulp.

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 26, 2019 5:04 pm
Reply to  Hollywood

In this case Zack is the one stoking the flames. He’s definitely stirring the pot on this snyder cut. Why else would he be having a ‘directors cut’ event right in the midst of all this? He’s been hinting at it for along time on his social media…only to play coy when he’s asked about it. He wants people to ask him about it.. perhaps to create a buzz? Who knows. I’m tired of hearing about it though. I just want another Superman movie. What’s done is done for me regarding Justice League.

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 3:49 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

“What’s done is done for me regarding Justice League.” Yes…. and that’s a damn shame.

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 3:48 pm
Reply to  Hollywood

Come now…there’s a little pulp left!!

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 26, 2019 3:13 pm

After reading more of Snyder’s quotes from this event, especially his incredibly adolescent and misguided thoughts on heroes killing, I’m glad he’s off these movies and to be honest, he shouldn’t be allowed around another superhero property again. I’m not saying there aren’t instances where heroes can kill, but he just threw it in there just for the sake of doing it and shock value. Especially evident when Batman was just killing guys with the batmobile for no particular reason other than it looked cool to him.

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 7:48 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

On another topic, and I’m bringing it up here because I’m hoping to get your and other peoples opinions as well. I just saw Aquaman. I’ve got to say that it ranks up there with the top superhero movies I’ve ever seen. Maybe..the top. From the very beginning to the end, fantastic! The story, the visuals, the sound, all the actors, absolutely first class. You’ll never leave your seat once it’s starts. And fantastic director as well. All the movies from WB/DC as well as anything from Marvel should ALL be bowing to Aquaman. It was incredible!! If any superhero… Read more »

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 27, 2019 8:12 pm
Reply to  redcape

I really liked Aquaman too, but I must say that I’m a little surprised and shocked that you enjoyed it as much as you did! It had a lot of elements I thought you didn’t care for in comic book films like the marvel type humor. I myself thought the octopus playing drums was cool, but people found it silly. The part I found cheesy was the scoreboard being shown during the fight. I’ve heard people compare tit to a phase 1 marvel film. I’m glad you enjoyed it though! Anyways I thought the acting was great, I’m glad they… Read more »

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 9:11 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

Can’t argue with your last paragraph. I can do with a little well placed levity. And I’m sure if I see it again, and I will, I might notice a few things. But I as well thought the octopus scene was clever, well put together and with so many things going on certainly not distracting in any negative way. But its hard to argue that the movie didn’t have every element in it that makes one of these a first class must see. Oh…and you’re right as far as me liking it as much as I did. Very surprised and… Read more »

JasEl
JasEl
March 26, 2019 9:14 pm

Literally, every new piece of news I hear about his version just makes me that much more glad that it was never made.

redcape
redcape
March 27, 2019 3:52 pm
Reply to  JasEl

Well maybe…BUT there’s no saying that it wouldn’t have come together in an epic part 2 of the JL that was originally planned.

JasEl
JasEl
March 27, 2019 7:45 pm
Reply to  redcape

He clearly doesn’t understand these characters and by all accounts he was just going further and further away from who they should be, and if he really did have a 5 movie plan JL2 wasn’t the end of that run. So in all likelihood JL2 would have just been another plothole filled character assassination before some halfassed resolve in whatever was supposed to come after it.

sundevil82
sundevil82
March 27, 2019 8:05 pm
Reply to  JasEl

I personally don’t believe there was ever any intention of creating a ‘5 story arc’ for Superman. If anything he was making it up as he went along. His character did not move forward at all in BvS, in fact it regressed. JL was only going to use him as a deus ex machina before turning him evil in part 2. Yeah no thanks. That’s not an ‘arc’ I’m hearing clips of Snyder comparing himself to Alan Moore. He is no Alan Moore. Snyder lacks subtlety and nuance and can not articulate his stories well without relying on the viewer… Read more »

JasEl
JasEl
March 29, 2019 9:22 pm
Reply to  sundevil82

oh absolutely, but story was never his strong suit, unfortunately he seems unaware that that is a weakness of his

The_News_Editor
The_News_Editor
April 1, 2019 6:16 am

It still does sound like a good story.