Dating back to the fall of 2017, two films based on comic book superheroes have had a long-delayed and complicated history in coming to fruition. One was based on a spinoff of Marvel's X-Men franchise--a horror-focused piece called The New Mutants. The other was based on a DC comics team.
Back in March of this year, director Zack Snyder held an online "watch party" for his "ultimate edition" of the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as one in May for his 2013 Superman origin story Man of Steel, giving fans an insight into the filmmaking and creative process of both adaptations of iconic DC characters, and answering some of the biggest questions behind some of the key issues or themes in both heavily-divisive flicks.
At the end of the latter, Snyder answered, agreeably, the biggest question diehard devotees had been asking (and petitioning for) for the last two-and-a-half years: When will the famed "Snyder Cut" (er, the nickname for the director's cut) of Justice League be released? Said fans (as well as the media) were surprised when Snyder announced that that long-anticipated version of the film (thought by many to be a mere pipe-dream) would finally see the light of day in 2021, on the newly-released HBO Max streaming service.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a . . . Superhuman Debate
It's ironic how certain filmmakers are criticized and celebrated simultaneously, contradicting critical acclaim and fanboy devotion, not to mention poor reviews (we're looking at you, Rotten Tomatoes) as opposed to commercial response. Snyder is the kind of filmmaker who, in many ways, triggers both reactions. In fact, when he made Batman v Superman, the former music video director stated he "made the movie as much as [he] could on [the] aesthetic [of a comic book] . . . so it is what it is."
To be fair, Snyder isn't not so much interested in bubble-gum, popcorn thrills often associated with such movies (Marvel, anybody?) as he is with deep, mythological stories and character arcs that take inspiration from the likes of writer Joseph Campbell and artist Frank Miller, to name a few.
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| Zack Snyder |
What makes Snyder's films in this canon (and his own career) transcendent, iconoclastic, and auteur are how they challenge the norms of what comic books movies and superheroes can do and can be. They may be bleak, grim and violent. But they also have strong thematic subtexts, along with distinctive visual aesthetics (traits evident in Snyder's filmography since his 2007 adaptation of Miller's graphic novel 300 and his 2009 take on Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' Watchmen), such as slow-motion action and striking color palettes. While not merely "entertaining," there is still a sense of thrill, spectacle, and mind-blowing action. And there is humanity as there is darkness.
Man of Steel, at its core, represents the hope of what said humanity--and the world and future, for that matter--could be, despite the failures of an old civilization (i.e., the planet Krypton) and the adversities and controversies of the present world (i.e., earth and its politics, the villianous General Zod's army trying to maintain the old Krypton). This was primarily reflected in Batman v Superman (BvS), which followed what Kal-El/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) inadvertently brought to earth when battling Zod and his army, even though Clark was believed to be "the bridge between both worlds," and how Bruce Wayne (a surprising, hulking Ben Affleck) perceives him as a global threat, in spite of his own frailties and choices as an older, more bruising Batman. The effects of his actions on the world even open doors to the idea and existence of other "metahumans" (beings from other worlds, or with extraordinary abilities or powers, like Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, exclusively in that order).
When producer Christopher Nolan (who redefined Batman when directing the Dark Knight trilogy) co-conceived the idea of reviving Superman with co-writer David Goyer, they decided to treat it as a "first contact" story. If superheroes or superhumans did exist in the real world (or had never existed before), this is what could actually, physically and consequentially, happen. Consider the post-9/11 imagery of destruction (i.e., Superman and Zod's climactic fight in Man of Steel, or Bruce Wayne running into the rubble of Metroplis in the BvS opening sequence), along with themes and parallels (a criticism many of these films, whether DC or Marvel or any other, of the 21st Century shared in turn, regarding the belief or misconception that they had to be dark and serious in order to be successful).
Make no mistake, Man of Steel and especially BvS are polarizing. The music by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL give each film a haunting, almost ghost-like, atmosphere. (Vangelis's score for Blade Runner is a good comparison.) Plus, the latter's interpretation of Lex Luthor (reportedly mirroring modern-day entrepreneurs) has a warped, twisted view on religion, spirituality, and God. Some elements of the BvS extended version could've been left on the cutting room floor (i.e., bloody violence, sexual content). In spite of these content problems, I do consider this version of the film to be superior as opposed to the theatrical cut, specifically in how it fills in story plot holes and expand certain character arcs (fans have said the same thing about Snyder's director's cuts of Watchmen and Sucker Punch), particularly characters (i.e., Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince) emerging from a dark and broken world and towards something better, and with time to turn things around and/or make things right. (You can read my piece on the subject here.)
Men Are Still Good
As film history has shown many times before, retrospective takes on these movies seem to be shifting, even if in the slightest. (One YouTube channel, titled "Twin Perfect," did thorough, in-depth analyses on BvS's interpretations of Batman, Superman, and Lex Luthor. WARNING: These videos contain significant plot spoilers!) The irony that many filmgoers demanded Snyder be cut from directing future DC films after BvS, and later admitting they wanted to see his original cut of Justice League after the version shown in theaters wasn't well-received, is a testament to how certain films hold up in time, even if they're still being debated and discussed. I was one of those filmgoers who eventually reevaluated these films and only then began to understand what Snyder and company were trying to do thematically, artistically, and visually. I also agreed with numerous fans and online campaigners on what is now, reportedly, the most famous hashtag for an unreleased film.
Snyder himself had, hinted on numerous occasions, the existence of the famed cut on his Twitter and Vero accounts on social media. He had initially wrapped the film in the fall of 2016, but left during post-production in early 2017 due to a family tragedy (his daughter, Autumn, had committed suicide), and was replaced by Marvel veteran Joss Whedon, who contributed to additional script material and directed new footage.
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| "Shall we?" (Left to right) Jason Mamoa, Gal Gadot, and Ray Fisher |
With the direction the DC Extended Universe has taken since Wonder Woman and Aquaman were released to wide popular acclaim in 2017 and 2018, respectfully, it may or may not be surprising to see which routes the decades-long powerhouse will go on the big and small screens after next year. After all, Snyder was successful in helping to bring several lesser-known or seldom-seen characters in the comics and reinterpreting them as strong and dynamic forces of nature in their own right. Whether his cut of Justice League takes the form of a four-hour feature film or a six-part miniseries, fans may be in for a darker take (at least based on a "first look" reel involving Wonder Woman and the sinister villain Darkseid, released two weeks ago), as well as expanded backstories of Arthur Curry (Jason Mamoa's Aquaman), Barry Allen (Ezra Miller's The Flash, who could potentially have an encounter with former Batman Michael Keaton in the not-too-distant future), and especially Victor Stone (Ray Fisher's Cyborg), the latter of whom Snyder described as "the heart of the story". Not to mention the fact that many fans and cast and crew members will be able to make peace with the fact that audiences will finally be able to see Snyder's intended vision, much the same way they got to see Ridley Scott's for 1982's Blade Runner and Richard Donner's for 1981's Superman II.
Watching both Man of Steel and BvS back-to-back (which I did recently, while in quarantine) makes the experience leading up to next year's "event" all the more understanding, emotionally-affecting, and thought-provoking. The same goes for BvS's scene-stealing moments for Batman and Wonder Woman, as the Dark Knight (more intimidating and imposing than ever) takes on several guards in an explosive warehouse brawl and the ancient Amazon warrior makes a spectacular entrance (guitar-stringed theme music and all). Plus (no disrespect to Marvel), fans won't have to watch several movies to understand the cinematic universe leading up to next year's team up. As Cyborg would say, "Boo-yah."
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