As you may have noticed in our mentions any time we criticize 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder fans are really into his vision for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). And so, as the combination Snyder-Whedon cut of Justice League premieres to just-okay reviews, and deleted Snyder footage leaks online, his fans have taken their frustration out of the TMS comments section and onto Change.org.
Roberto Mata has launched a 2,400-word, often-caps-lock’d petition for Warner Bros. to release a “Zack Snyder’s Director’s Cut and Tom Holkenborg’s (Junkie XL) Score for Home Release.” In the petition, Mata asks to see Snyder’s original cut of the film, supposedly aired for Warner Bros. executives before Snyder had to take time off to process the tragic loss of his daughter. (It is unclear, however, whether this cut even exists, and how complete it might be if it does. Given the extensiveness of Whedon’s work, it’s far more likely that a finished, fully Snyder version of Justice League does not currently exist.) Mata also calls for that cut of the film to feature Junkie XL’s score, rather than Danny Elfman’s.
As of this writing, the petition has more than 37,000 signatures.
The petition argues that “fans have been waiting for years” to see the “culmination” of Snyder’s story, and “the 2hr runtime is disrespectful towards Zack Snyder’s vision and towards the fans … fans deserve better [:] the version the director always intended, [rather] than half a film.”
The petition also defends Snyder’s vision, saying, “Zack Snyder is masterclass filmmaker, who infuses his films with thought provoking themes, amazing visuals, allegories, symbolism and metaphors, no other director does that, aside from Darren Aronofsky. if you don’t like films like that, is not the film’s or director’s fault, it’s yours.”
Mata also complains vehemently about the score. Composer Danny Elfman, who famously scored the 1989 Batman and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, was brought in to replace Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) after Whedon took the helm. (My apologies; this whole section is in all-caps.) “[TOM HOLKENBORG] WAS BROUGHT TO SCORE JUSTICE LEAGUE,” wrote Mata, “SINCE HE HELPED HANS ZIMMER MAKE THE SCORE FOR BATMAN V SUPERMAN … HE HAD WORKED ON THE JUSTICE LEAGUE SCORE FOR OVER A YEAR, PROMISING THEMES FOR EACH OF THE CHARACTERS AND A MODERNIZED THEME OF JUSTICE LEAGUE’S THE ANIMATED SERIES, BUT HE WAS REPLACED WITH DANNY ELFMAN … I JUST LISTENED TO DANNY ELFMAN’S JUSTICE LEAGUE SCORE AND IT WAS … GENERIC, LAZY, UNINSPIRING AND VERY UNPROFESSIONAL.”
Given all the reshoots and changes that went into this film, I am genuinely curious to see what Warner Bros. and DC will decide to include on the home release. They have no shortage of options, so these fans may yet get something like their wish?
(Via io9; image via Warner Bros.)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
