| Justice League (film) | |
 | |
| Released | November 17, 2017 |
| Directed by | Zack Snyder Joss Whedon (post-production) |
| Written by | Chris Terrio Joss Whedon |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Budget | $300 million |
| Revenue | $657.9 million |
Justice League is a superhero film and an adaptation of the Justice League, the iconic DC Comics super team. The film was initially directed by Zack Snyder, with additional post-production material written and directed by Joss Whedon following Snyder's departure from the project. It is the fifth film set in the DC Extended Universe, released in November 2017.
Cast[]
- Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
- Amy Adams as Lois Lane
- Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
- Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
- Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
- Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
- Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
- Diane Lane as Martha Kent
- Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta
- J. K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon
- Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf
- Amber Heard as Mera
- Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
Plot[]
Thousands of years ago, Steppenwolf and his legions of Parademons had attempted to take over the Earth using the combined energies of the three Mother Boxes. The attempt was foiled by a unified alliance including the Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, humanity, and extraterrestrial beings. After Steppenwolf's army was repelled, the Mother Boxes were separated and hidden in different locations. In the present, humanity is still in mourning two years after Superman's death, which triggered the Mother Boxes' reactivation and Steppenwolf's return to Earth. Steppenwolf aims to regain favor with his master Darkseid by gathering the boxes to form "The Unity", which will destroy Earth's ecology and terraform it in the image of Steppenwolf's homeworld.
Steppenwolf retrieves one Mother Box from Themyscira, prompting Queen Hippolyta to warn her daughter Diana. Diana joins Bruce Wayne in an attempt to unite other metahumans to their cause: Wayne goes after Arthur Curry and Barry Allen, while Diana locates Victor Stone. Wayne fails to persuade Curry but finds Allen enthusiastic to join the team. Although Diana fails to persuade Stone to join, he agrees to help them locate the threat. Stone later joins after his father Silas and several other S.T.A.R. Labs employees are kidnapped by Steppenwolf, who is seeking the Mother Box protected by humanity.
Steppenwolf attacks an Atlantean outpost to retrieve the next Mother Box, forcing Curry into action. The team receives intel from Commissioner James Gordon, leading them to Steppenwolf's army in an abandoned facility under Gotham Harbor. Although the group rescues the kidnapped employees, the facility is flooded during combat, which traps the team until Curry helps delay the flood so they can escape. Stone retrieves the last Mother Box, which he had hidden, for the group to analyze. Stone reveals that his father used the Mother Box to rebuild Stone's body after an accident almost cost him his life. Wayne decides to use the Mother Box to resurrect Superman, not only to help them fight off Steppenwolf's invasion but also to restore hope to humanity. Diana and Curry are hesitant about the idea, but Wayne promises a secret contingency plan in case Superman returns as a hostile.
Clark Kent's body is exhumed by Cyborg and placed in the amniotic fluid of the genesis chamber in the Kryptonian scout ship, along with the Mother Box which Flash activates, successfully resurrecting Superman. However, Superman's memories have not returned, and he attacks the group after Stone accidentally launches an attack at him. On the verge of being killed, Batman enacts his contingency plan: Lois Lane. Superman calms down and leaves with Lane to his family home in Smallville, where he reflects, and his memories slowly come back. In the turmoil, the last Mother Box is left unguarded, allowing Steppenwolf to retrieve it. Without Superman to aid them, the five heroes travel to a village in Russia where Steppenwolf aims to unite the Mother Boxes once again to remake Earth. The team fights their way through the Parademons to reach Steppenwolf, but are unable to distract him enough for Stone to separate the Mother Boxes. Superman arrives and assists Allen in evacuating the city, as well as Stone in separating the Mother Boxes. The team defeats Steppenwolf, who, overcome with fear, is attacked by his own Parademons before they all teleport away.
After the battle, Bruce and Diana agree to set up a base of operations for the team, with room for more members. As the team establishes, Diana steps back into the public spotlight as a heroine; Barry acquires a job in Central City's police department, impressing his father; Victor continues to explore and enhance his abilities with his father in S.T.A.R. Labs; Arthur embraces his Atlantean heritage and continues protecting people on the seas; Superman resumes his life as reporter Clark Kent and as protector of Earth; and Bruce gets the Kents' house back from the bank. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor has escaped from Arkham Asylum and recruits Slade Wilson to form their own league.
Trailer[]
Gallery[]
Production[]
The theatrical cut of Justice League suffered a deeply troubled production process which included a change in directors. This resulted in the theatrical release of a movie that was markedly different from how it had been conceived of during pre-production and principal photography.
Most of the changes were driven by the negative reception to the previous installments of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, the former in particular for its dark and somber atmosphere. As a result, Warner Bros. became much less trusting of Snyder to deliver on his promise that the movies following Batman v Superman would be lighter in tone. There were clashes over whether or not Snyder should've stayed on at all, as a number of WB executives blamed him for Batman v Superman's disappointing reception and feared that his directorial efforts would tarnish the DC brand. This extended all the way to Time Warner, WB's parent company, who were frustrated at WB for continuing to employ Snyder even after the disastrous critical reaction to Batman v Superman. The studio executives also disagreed with Snyder's decision to use Steppenwolf, a fairly low-tier villain, as the main antagonist of their landmark crossover film. Ultimately, Snyder was kept onboard, as higher-ups including Kevin Tsujihara were worried that firing the director would be seen as a sign of weakness and send the message that the franchise was in trouble. Warner hired Jon Berg and Geoff Johns to oversee the DCEU, with their first task being to help with Justice League rewrites to make the film more hopeful and optimistic.
The production was a turbulent period, with the script undergoing multiple changes before and during production between 2016 and 2017. Snyder was also mandated to keep the runtime at two hours long to allow for more screenings despite his insistence that it would be almost impossible as the film would be introducing three new characters (Aquaman, Cyborg, and Flash) on top of establishing the villains. While principle photography was underway, Johns and Berg kept a close eye on Snyder with little tension. Snyder eventually turned in an early rough cut of the film, and while the studio felt it was a step in the right direction, they ultimately thought it was still too dark and too similar to its predecessor. Joss Whedon, who had previously directed Marvel's The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) to massive success, was hired to write new scenes designed to bring a greater sense of fun and levity to Justice League. Then, in May 2017, shortly after post-production began, Snyder announced in a public statement that he was stepping down from the movie to spend time with his family and properly grieve his daughter Autumn's death, who had committed suicide after a lifelong struggle with clinical depression. Whedon took over at that point, completing the film as an uncredited co-director.
Upon his appointment, Whedon oversaw further script rewrites, reshoots and other changes that added a brighter tone and more humor to the film, and cut the runtime down to 120 minutes in accordance with a mandate from Warner Bros. Pictures. The reshoots were an especially difficult period as three of the cast members were simultaneously working on other projects (Henry Cavill with Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Ezra Miller with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Jason Momoa with Aquaman). Complicating matters was that Cavill was contractually obligated by Paramount Studios to have facial hair for his role and was not allowed to shave it, forcing the special effects team to digitally erase and remake half of his face. The film company also refused to push back the November release date despite requests from Whedon himself, partly so that executives could keep their annual bonuses, and partly because they were concerned that AT&T might dissolve the studio after a then-upcoming merger and scrap the incomplete film altogether. After an extensive editing process combining Snyder's original footage with that from the reshoots, Whedon and the studio eventually came up with a cut they felt struck the right balance between dramatic and fun.
The theatrical release of Justice League was met with a mixed-to-negative reception from critics and audiences, who disparaged the inconsistent tone, weak story, and underdeveloped characters, leading Warner Bros. to re-evaluate the future of the DCEU. It was also a financial disappointment, with WB barely breaking even against the budget, which had been inflated by the cost of the reshoots. The special effects done on Superman's face were a subject of widespread mockery in particular, and was present in nearly every scene of Superman in the film, serving as the first indication that the film was much more extensively reworked than previously let on. Producer Deborah Snyder (wife of Zack Snyder and co-manager of their production company The Stone Quarry) was especially displeased with the final product to the point that she and executive producer Christopher Nolan (a good friend of the Snyders) told her husband not to watch the theatrical cut, as it was radically different from what he'd filmed and she was certain seeing how much of it was changed "would break his heart."[1]
When more information came to light about the problems going on behind the scenes (including allegations from cast and crew members describing enduring abusive behavior from Whedon during his tenure as the replacement director) and the state of the film before Snyder's departure (with multiple observers pointing out scenes from the trailers that did not show up in the theatrical release), fans expressed interest in the idea of releasing an alternate cut that would be more faithful to Snyder's vision for the film. The circumstances have been compared to those of Superman II, whose initial director was also replaced during production by one who made substantial changes. (Richard Donner was able to complete his envisioned Superman II cut in 2006). Some assumed an alternate cut of Justice League was inevitable because some of Snyder's films (such as Watchmen and Batman v Superman) had been re-released in extended cuts for home media, which some critics considered superior to their theatrical versions. Fans campaigned through the hashtag "#ReleaseTheSnyderCut" in petitions calling for the release of this alternate cut of Justice League.
Despite denials such a cut existed and Warner Bros. stating they wouldn't release the film and were taking the DC Extended Universe into a different direction, fans continued to keep the hashtag trending on social media, engaging in acts of fan activism to promote the cause. These included sending letters and calls to the studio and fundraising campaigns to purchase billboards and airplane banner ads during the New York and San Diego Comic Cons in 2019 calling for the release of the "Snyder Cut", with half of the collected proceeds being donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which has been supported by Zack and Deborah Snyder since Autumn's passing. Despite concerns of "toxic" elements within the campaign due to some members engaging in harassment and bullying, the movement continued to gain more supporters, including stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, and Ciarán Hinds, cinematographer Fabian Wagner, storyboard artist Jay Oliva, and Zack Snyder himself, who revealed he had filmed five hours of footage before his exit and whet fans' appetites with screenshots from unused scenes and storyboards of plot points not included in the theatrical release on his Vero account. AT&T took notice of the movement's calls and in February 2020, WarnerMedia decided to move forward with releasing Snyder's original after WB chairman Toby Emmerich reached out to Snyder. After refusing to air the rough cut of his footage unfinished, Snyder was granted $70 million by the studio to add on the special effects and do extra reshoots, adding in new footage to the final product. The film was released on HBO Max on March 18, 2021 under the title Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Trivia[]
- At the same time the reshoots under Joss Whedon were underway, Henry Cavill was filming Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018). His role required him to have facial hair, which he wasn't allowed to shave, necessitating CGI to cover it up. The results were criticized as obvious and odd looking. The facial hair became a de facto symbol for the movie's troubled production.