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Justice League (film)
Attribution Information
Directed by Zack Snyder
Joss Whedon (Uncredited/Reshoots)
Produced by Deborah Snyder
Charles Roven
Geoff Johns
Jon Berg
Christopher Nolan (Exec)
Emma Thomas (Exec)
Jim Rowe (Exec.)
Wesley Coller (Exec.)
Curt Kanemoto (Exec.)
Chris Terrio (Exec.)
Ben Affleck (Exec.)
Written by Story
Zack Snyder
Chris Terrio
Screenplay
Chris Terrio
Joss Whedon
Music by Danny Elfman
Production Information
Distributor DC Films
Warner Bros.
Cruel & Unusual Films
RatPac Entertainment
Budget $300,000,000
Revenue $657,924,295
Release Date November 17, 2017 (Theatrical Cut)
2021(Snyder Cut)
Duration 120 minutes
Chronological Information
Preceded by Wonder Woman
Followed by Aquaman


"There are heroes among us. Not to make us feel smaller, but to remind us of what makes us great."
—Lois Lane

Justice League is a 2017 American superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the Fifth installment in the DC Comics Extended Universe. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, with a screenplay by Chris Terrio and features an ensemble cast including Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds and Jesse Eisenberg. It's produced by RatPac Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. and the film was released on November 17, 2017.

Principal photography for Justice League commenced on April 11, 2016, at Leavesden Studios in London.

An Untitled Justice League film sequel was announced as well. On May 20, 2020, Zack Snyder announced that he will complete his version of Justice League on HBO Max and it will be released in 2021, whether it’s a 4 hour movie or a 6 episode miniseries has yet to be determined. [1]

Synopsis

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of Metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes – Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. – it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

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, mankind, and extraterrestrial beings. After Steppenwolf's army was repelled, the Mother Boxes were separated and hidden in different locations. In the present, mankind is still in mourning two years after Superman's death, which has 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 mankind.

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 mankind. 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 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. In a post-credits scene, Lex Luthor has escaped from Arkham Asylum and recruits Slade Wilson to form their own league.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

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Behind the Scenes

Development

Shortly after filming had finished for Man of Steel, Warner Bros hired Will Beall to script a new Justice League film. Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov explained that Man of Steel would be "setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it's definitely the first step." The film included references to the existence of other superheroes in the DC Universe, and setting the tone for a shared fictional universe of DC Comics characters on film. David S. Goyer stated should Green Lantern appear in a future installment, that it would be a rebooted version of the character and not connected to the 2011 film. With the release of Man of Steel in June 2013, Goyer was hired to write a sequel, as well as a Justice League film, with the Beall draft being scrapped. The sequel was later revealed to be Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a team up film featuring Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, with Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg in minor cameos that would become more significant in leading up to the Justice League film. In April 2014, it was announced that Zack Snyder would also be directing Goyer's Justice League script. Warner Bros. was reportedly courting Chris Terrio to rewrite Justice League the following July, after having been impressed with his rewrite of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. On October 15, 2014, Warner Bros. announced the film would be released in two parts, with Part One releasing on November 17, 2017, and Part Two on June 14, 2019. Snyder will direct both films. In early July 2015, EW revealed that the first draft script for Justice League Part One had been completed by Terrio. Director Zack Snyder outlined the basis of the DCEU, which centered around a five-film arc including Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and a Justice League trilogy focused mainly on Superman with accompanying solo films for the other members. Snyder's original vision was to have Batman v Superman be the darkest in the franchise, and have subsequent films become lighter in tone, but after the movie received criticism for its somber atmosphere, Warner Bros. became much less trusting of Snyder to deliver on this promise. 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.

Filming

In July 2015, it was revealed that filming would begin in spring 2016 after Wonder Woman wrapped principal photography. Principal photography on Justice League commenced on April 11, 2016, with shooting taking place at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, as well as various locations around London, and in Iceland. Snyder's longtime cinematographer Larry Fong was replaced by Fabian Wagner due to scheduling conflicts. Affleck was also revealed to be serving as executive producer.

The Justice League film suffered a difficult production, its script undergoing major 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 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 properly grieve the death of his daughter Autumn, who had committed suicide after struggling with clinical depression for much of her life, stating that the tragedy left him with no energy to deal with the studio anymore. Whedon was hired to finish the film in Snyder's place.[2]

Upon his appointment, Whedon oversaw further rewrites, reshoots and other changes meant to incorporate a brighter tone and more humor, and keep the runtime in accordance with the mandate from Warner Bros. The production process was a turbulent 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 reportedly decided not to push back the release date, 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 result in the incomplete film getting scrapped 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.

Critical Reaction and Reception

The theatrical version of Justice League came out on November 17, 2017 and got mixed to negative reviews, with critics and viewers calling it a "Frankenstein's monster" of a film with an inconsistent tone, weak story, and underdeveloped characters. 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, indicating that Whedon's reshoots were much more extensive than previously let on. It was also a financial disappointment, with WB barely breaking even against the budget, which had gotten inflated by the cost of the reshoots. Producer Deborah Snyder (wife of Zack Snyder and co-manager of their production company The Stone Quarry) was especially vocally displeased with the final product, stating 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 changed from what he'd filmed and she was certain seeing it "would break his heart."[3]

When more details surfaced about the film's troubled production (including allegations of abusive behavior from Whedon towards the cast members) and the state of the film before Snyder stepped down (with even casual observers noticing scenes from the trailers that didn't appear in the theatrical release), some expressed interest in the idea of an alternate cut of the film closer to Snyder's original vision. The circumstances have been compared to those of Superman II, whose initial director was also replaced 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. Thus, the hashtag "#ReleaseTheSnyderCut" was born.

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 drew up petitions and kept the hashtag trending on social media, engaging in acts of fan activism to promote the cause. These included 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 gained support from several cast and crew members, including stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, and Ciarán Hinds, cinematographer Fabian Wagner, original score producer Tom Holkenberg (who left the theatrical project out of respect for the Snyders), Affleck's stunt double Richard Cetrone, and Zack Snyder himself, who revealed he had five hours of footage filmed 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. Ultimately, in February 2020, WarnerMedia decided to move forward with releasing Snyder's original after chairman Toby Emmerich acknowledged the movement and 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 about ten minutes of new footage to the final product. The film was released on HBO Max under the title Zack Snyder's Justice League on March 18, 2021.

Novelization

Trivia

  • Justice League is set to release on the 25th anniversary of The Death of Superman comic, when it was released November 17th, 1992. as well as the 16th anniversary of the Bruce Timm and Paul Dini Justice League Animated Series which premiered it's the first episode back on November 17th, 2001,
  • Junkie XL was originally signed on to compose Justice League, but was replaced with Danny Elfman.

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Zack Snyder

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Zack Snyder

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