Zack Snyder Will Release the Mythic Justice League ‘Snyder Cut’ on HBO Max

DCEU fanboy dreams are about to come true. Despite years of denial from DC and Warner Bros., the Justice League “Snyder Cut” does actually exist, and the film is going to be released next year on HBO Max, Warner Media’s fledgling streaming service. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut is actually happening, Snyder revealed on a live Q&A today.

holy fuck it’s real pic.twitter.com/Qt3EY5NEiM

— Cade Onder (@Cade_Onder) May 20, 2020

The film will reportedly release either as a 4-hour movie or a six-part miniseries. Snyder is reassembling his same postproduction crew that worked on the film originally and will be re-scoring, cutting, and updating/adding special effects to the film. There is even talk of bringing the actors back to record new dialogue. THR is reporting a budget of between $20 and $30 million for this work to be done, which seems like a lot if you don’t consider what a win this is for HBO Max’s IP power.

“It will be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that movie,” Snyder said. “You probably saw one-fourth of what I did.”

For those who watched Justice League and then promptly forgot about it, the “Snyder Cut” is the cut of the film that Zack Snyder would have released if he had been able to complete the movie. Back in 2016, when Justice League was in production, Snyder had shot most of the film but had to step aside due to a family tragedy. Joss Whedon then came in and did rewrites and reshoots on the film, leading to a version of the film that was reportedly far less dark than Snyder’s vision. That version went on to release, without a mustache, and promptly got torn apart by critics and fans.

WB considered the film a letdown as it pulled in “only” $650 million worldwide on a $300 million budget. It led the studio to completely rethink its strategy with the DC comics properties, killing off most of its connected universe and focusing on individual film efforts like Joker.

This led fans, desperate for something good out of the DCEU after Wonder Woman showed DC could make good movies, to begin a grassroots campaign to release the cut that Zack Snyder would have made. Now, putting the film on HBO Max is a major IP win and could pull in a lot of subscribers — at least for one month.

It’s not entirely known what changes the “Snyder Cut” includes, though the internet is full of rumors. However, THR says that Darkseid will appear.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will come to HBO Max in 2021.