Not one, but two versions of an epic superhero blockbuster are now streaming on Amazon Prime. But you can safely skip one of them.
For years, Zack Snyder worked as a DC director on an epic blockbuster event that would bring together well-known heroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in a team film similar to Marvel’s Avengers. The result, titled Justice League, was released in theaters in 2017, but had almost nothing to do with Snyder’s vision.
The release of this version was preceded by an extremely turbulent production history. Years later, however, the director got the chance to complete a kind of director’s cut, which is known as the legendary Snyder Cut. You can now stream both versions of Justice League on Amazon Prime. But you should ignore one of them.
Two versions of Justice League are streaming on Prime, but only the Synder Cut is worth it
The story of the two very different Justice League versions would easily fill an entire article. So here’s the summary: From the very beginning, the studio Warner Bros. is said to have been dissatisfied with Snyder’s very dark vision for the film and demanded more humor.
Due to a death in his family, the director then withdrew from post-production. Joss Whedon, who directed the first Avengers movie, was hired to do the re-shoots. In the end, a large part of Snyder’s original scenes were completely replaced. This makes the 2017 version of Justice League more of an unfinished patchwork that can never decide between the visions of the two directors.
Meanwhile, numerous Snyder fans gathered online to loudly demand the original version of the DC blockbuster. And they didn’t just use legal means to do so. In 2021, the director actually received a budget from Warner to realize his Snyder Cut for the streaming service HBO Max (now just Max). In the same year, the Snyder Cut was finally released.
The Snyder Cut of Justice League is an epic superhero climax
The heavily revised, epic 4-hour Snyder Cut of Justice League is a completely different movie from the 2017 version. In addition to directorial changes, including a different aspect ratio, a new score and a different color scheme, individual characters in the Snyder Cut of Justice League seem like different characters.
Ray Fisher’s Cyborg becomes a fully-fledged, much more developed character and at the same time the emotional centerpiece of the plot. Villain Steppenwolf, whose design was heavily criticized in the first version, has also been integrated with a modified look.
Otherwise, the XXL version of Justice League is above all a Zack Snyder film through and through. With bombastic shots that pelt you with visually stunning and over-stylized images, the blockbuster develops a completely new rhythm. The perfect Justice League version will probably never exist, but this version comes very close to the director’s enormous ambition.
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