While Comic-Con@Home is this week’s biggest gathering-of-the-nerds story, there is another fan convention happening at the same time called Justice Con, centered around 2017’s “Justice League.” During the “Spotlight on Zack Snyder” the divisive director went on offense and had harsh words about the footage Joss Whedon shot for the movie.
“There would be no chance on earth that I would use a shot that was made prior, er, after I left the movie. I’d destroy the movie, I would set it on fire before I would use a single frame that I did not photograph,” Snyder when asked about the possibility during his Justice Con panel. “That is a f—ing hard fact.”
“I literally would blow that f—ing thing up if I thought for a second,” Snyder added. “Anything you see in this movie which reminds you of the other theatrical release, which again famously I have not, I literally have never seen, would be because that was a thing I had done, and he borrowed for whatever that monster [was] that you guys saw in the theater.”
Watch the whole clip above. Snyder’s comments about the Whedon version of “Justice League” happen about 35 minutes in. And for those of you who want to see a glimpse of the upcoming film, skip to about the 31-minute mark.
Whedon took over “Justice League” from its credited director, Zack Snyder, who abruptly left the film in May 2017, several months into post production. Whedon was hired to ‘finish’ the movie, but he had more than just post production work on his hands. His job was to rework it into a movie that didn’t have to set up a direct sequel, and to do so while still hitting the film’s planned November, 2017 release date. That included spending millions on additional scenes with actors who hilariously, clearly had already moved on to other roles, then combining that with repurposed Snyder footage.
Whedon essentially did half of a new movie in less than 5 months and the result is about what you’d expect.
“Justice League” had the worst opening for a DC Comics-based movie in years, coming in well below studio expectations at $96 million domestic. The film grossed $658 million worldwide. Following that debacle Snyder’s fans started demanding that Warner Bros. release a film that reflected his original plan using the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. The campaign was eventually endorsed by the film’s stars, which seems to have won Warner Bros. over. In May it was announced that Snyder would return to oversee the release of what they’re calling “The Snyder Cut” on HBO Max in 2021; but whether that movie will be essentially what he filmed or something new remains to be seen.
Since then, people associated with the much-maligned Whedon version of “Justice League” have publicly spoken out against it, most notably Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the film. Earlier this month he publicly accused Whedon of unprofessional and abusive behavior during filming. He reiterated those accusations and even publicly dared
Whedon is best known as the creator of “Buffy the Vampire” and its spinoff “Angel,” as well as the series “Firefly,” “Dollhouse” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” He directed both “The Avengers” and its sequel “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Whedon is currently working on Laura Donnelly-led Victorian sci-fi series “The Nevers” for HBO.
Zack Snyder’s cut of “Justice League” will be released on HBO Max in 2021.