Zack Snyder continues to get what he wants. According to TheWrap, Warner Bros. will stump up “around $70 million” to finish Zack Snyder’s Justice League. You can interpret this news a variety of ways. Either the Snyder Cut was never finished, or Snyder needs to repair some of the damage done by Joss Whedon, or the four-hour running time and the re-formatting of the Snyder Cut into a limited series just needs additional scenes.
Whatever the reason, the news is either a vote of confidence in Snyder’s vision, or Warners is just in too deep at this point, and need to spend more money to make the Snyder Cut viable. The news comes just days after Snyder announced original cast members will reunite for reshoots. As far as we know, the reshoots will last only a week. But considering the shifting sands under this production that could change too.
What we do know is that the troubled production of Justice League cost Warners $300 million. This additional $70 million is almost 25 percent of the original. With Warners, spending so much money on the Snyder Cut, you have to ask what future direction the DCEU may take? Will the Snyder Cut suddenly become canon, with the director back at the helm for Justice League 2? And with the Batfleck already returning for The Flash movie, does this mean Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader will be reinstated as the DCEU’s Bat?
A company doesn’t inject a massive amount of money expecting nothing in return. Especially an additional $70 million which almost matches the entire budget of Shazam! We’ll have to wait to see the outcome–or fallout–from this when Zack Snyder’s Justice League premieres on HBO Max sometime in 2021.