On April 25th the Academy Awards was live on television, and as the golden trophies were being handed out to people who deserved it, the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse fan campaign was in full swing on Twitter. By the end of the day, the total number of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse tweets almost made it to half a million, and as of today, the number is still growing. If the campaign succeeds, and Zack Snyder is given the opportunity to finish his original vision for the Justice League Trilogy, it will forever change the film industry. Studios might as well start listening to the growing voice of its audience. It wouldn’t actually be the first time. Remember how Sonic The Hedgehog’s CGI design changed after the release of that film’s original trailer?
I have seen Zack Snyder’s Justice League three times now: the color version twice; and the “Justice is Gray” black-and-white version. Though the film is not perfect — or even close to being considered a masterpiece — it is the version we were all meant to see. The original Theatrical version was total rubbish; I’ve only seen it once, and by the end of it, I almost felt like gagging. For the past four years I’ve been pretending it doesn’t exist, and convincing myself the experience of watching it just a bad dream.
One of the things about Zack Snyder’s Justice League is that it achieved the consistency that flowed from the previous Snyder films: Man of Steel and Batman V Superman — as well with the first Wonder Woman movie directed by Patty Jenkins. I bring up the word “consistency,” because it’s one of the most important ingredients for a franchise to be successful, even if the success is slow in gaining any ground with the intended audience. The success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is the fact that it retains consistency with its own storytelling style in every film entry of the Marvel franchise. If one binge-watches all the Marvel films, they’ll see the smooth flow of proper rhythmic exposition of great storytelling.
I myself obviously contributed to the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Twitter campaign. I want Zack Snyder to finish his story. Come on, Warner Bros. and DC entertainment, let the Knightmare storyline come to fruition. Bring back Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Ray Fisher. And especially Jared Leto’s Joker, who’s performance in that short scene at the end had me wanting more.
It’s actually true what Alfred Hitchcock said about the three most important things one needs to make a great film: “The script. The script. And the script.”
Unlike Joss Whedon’s Justice League, Zack Snyder had what was important.
Here’s “Song to the Siren” by Rose Betts, featured in the film:
