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After Wednesday’s titanic news that The Snyder Cut would be released, at least one man was happy.

Indeed, the Justice League cast rallied around the good news, showing evident affection for director Zack Snyder and respect for his vision. It was a respect that executives at Warner Bros. certainly didn’t share back in the day of 2017 — and indeed this wholly unlikely storyline has given us a chance to yet again look at the tortured, muddled history of superhero films at WB — the tortured muddled history of fandom of such films, as Greg Silber wrote this morning. 

Among the compelling storylines I’ve been covering since I started this website, the MCU vs DCEU storyline has got to be the one most deserving of a tell-all book, Barbarians at the Gate style. On the one hand you have a pretty clear narrative with Avi Arad and Kevin Feige and Bob Iger, leading to billions and billions of dollars and millions and millions of Tumblr posts. On the other, you have a messy intergenerational corporate saga that’s part Succession and part Game of Thrones as only Jackie Collins could tell it.

Piecing together the story of The Snyder Cut would be one of the juiciest episodes of this book, for sure.

For instance, yesterday, I wondered if the Justice League stars tweeting about The Snyder Cut was part of a WB marketing campaign, but examining the timeline, it seems to have been these megastars adding their weight to the cries of the fans — on the second anniversary of the film’s release — that made WB head Toby Emmerich realize this was a real thing that could be exploited for a new streaming service.  Indeed, the direct evidence that Gadot, Affleck and Momoa would be willing to stump for the new version must have set visions of marketing campaigns dancing in Emmerich’s head. And given that JLTSC can be fashioned from existing footage, this is, indeed, the perfect project for the socially distanced era.

A leaked image of the”Dark Superman” from the Snyder cut.

But there is another, darker layer to this and I don’t mean Darkseid. The film pundit/cultural commentator sphere has expressed much dismay that this will just embolden obnoxious, intolerant fans with more demands. Abraham Riesman returns to Vulture for an excellent piece, The Snyder Cut: What Does HBO Max’s Release Really Mean? that gives the bird’s eye view of all of this.

No, the dangerous thing at work here is a multibillion-dollar corporation’s concession to its worst online critics. Under Snyder’s guidance, the DC movie universe (unofficially known, thanks to a 2015 joke by an Entertainment Weekly writer, as the DC Extended Universe) was initially envisioned as a tonal counterweight to the far-more-successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that would be weighty, philosophical, and dark — or at least dimly lit. The Snyder-helmed films that launched the effort were critically derided, both on aesthetic grounds (overabundant slo-mo, barely visible set pieces, even-less-comprehensible plots) and thematic ones (Superman, an 80-year-old beacon of humanity’s better angels, is portrayed as kind of a dick). Although the DC movie enterprise was probably doomed from the start — a flagrant attempt at making movies in service of building a commercially viable franchise — and although the general public had already received Man of Steel and Batman v Superman with shrugs, Snyder Cut partisans became convinced that their preferred auteur’s removal from Justice League is where the endeavor went wrong. The finished movie didn’t do justice to Superman’s terrifying grandeur, they say; it hewed too closely to the Marvel/Disney model of superhero movie-making and was thus filled with comedy bits so bad that they’re “an indictment on where we are as a society,” as it’s put on a Change.org petition for the Snyder Cut that drew an alleged 179,260 signatories.

I have to admit, I haven’t paid that much attention to the fervid stacks of web space devoted to Snyder Cut Cultists…but there is a lot of it. And a lot of excellent analysis of it.

Would Releasing The Snyder Cut Just Be Rewarding Bad Behavior? by J.M. Carter (founder of something called The Geek League of America) is an excellent overview:

And they aren’t talking about people who packed cineplexes to revel in the vibrant underwater spectacle of Aquaman or the glitter-dusted girl power of Birds of Prey. No, they’re referring to a particularly hostile group of superhero movie zealots who, in the disastrous aftermath of the release of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, developed the world’s biggest persecution complex when film critics collectively panned the pseudo-sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel as a bleak, dark, ponderous slog — resulting in a dismal aggregate Rotten Tomatoes score of 27%. This perceived slight ultimately led to the near-deification of Zack Snyder and his filmography, with his fan collective displaying all the earmarks of a quasi-religious sect — following him blindly, hinging on his every word, trying desperately to convert others to their ideology, firmly believing Snyder was a cinematic prophet who could do wrong, thus earning them the nickname “The Snyder Cult.”

Among the Snyder Cultists, Geoff Johns, for one shining moment the co-head of an entire film unit called DC Films, is the dark mastermind behind this particular Court of Owls, secretly muddying up everything from Man of Steel to Suicide Squad.  On an obscure website, a long summary called The Troublesome History: Zack Snyder, Geoff Johns, and the Fall of the DCEU lays out all the beats of this theory, but is light on sources. Ironically, one of the foundational texts of the anti-Johns faction is a previous piece by Riesman, DC Is Rethinking Its Cinematic Superhero Universe.

So what accounts for the contrasting reputations? Perhaps part of the problem is that the movies, until recently, had very little influence from the core DC Entertainment team, who had done so well elsewhere. “It took some work for us to earn our stripes, I think, with the rest of the studio and filmmakers,” says the company’s boyish chief creative officer, Geoff Johns, sitting at a long table alongside a clutch of DC executives in a San Diego Marriott on the first day of this July’s San Diego Comic-Con. But in the past 16 months, they’ve gained significantly more influence on the movie operation, and that change is already bearing fruit. “It’s not chaos,” DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson assures me, seated near Johns. “It’s intentional.”

And indeed, the piece did place Johns at the center of the movement to Lighten up the DCEU:

Nelson and Johns faced further cinematic frustration: During the development of Man of Steel, they were marginalized creatively. It was a decidedly gritty take on Superman, and its final battle featured him remorselessly destroying skyscrapers and ultimately executing his foe, General Zod. This didn’t sit right with Johns. “Geoff Johns and Diane were reading scripts, and Geoff Johns, to his credit, was concerned that there was not enough lightness or humor, given who the character is,” recalls one person with knowledge of the making of Man of Steel. “Geoff definitely raised that point, but that current administration didn’t care that much about what Geoff Johns thought.” The movie came out in June 2013 with the DC Entertainment branding, but largely without its fingerprints.

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Warner Bros.

Unspoken in the “silencing” is that perhaps some forgot that an example of Johns’s lightheartedness was the previous bomb, Green Lantern — a movie SO LEADEN that it managed to star two of the funniest, most charming humans on earth (Taika Waititi and Ryan Reynolds) without anyone noticing!

DC Films, a unit assigned to keeping all the DC eggs in one story conference, was announced in 2016, with Johns and John Berg heading it up. The move was spun as a reaction to the dismal critical response to Batman v Superman, and a form of this regime was reportedly behind the reshoots on Suicide Squad. Justice League was to be their triumphant debut.

Well, nobody knows anything. As we now can state, Justice League, another movie starring several of the most charming, lovable humans on earth, was to be deemed a hellacious flopparoonie even though it did make money and DC Films was soon recast, with Walter Hamada taking over all the various projects. Along the way, the Johns/Nelson team-up would also end, and Nelson would leave WB entirely. Johns would move on to his own shingle and Doomsday Clock and Stargirl.

Ironically, even as the initially dour Justice League went through an unsuccessful humor transplant, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam all projects birthed in an atmosphere tolerant of smiles went on to be critical AND box office successes, although not always in a blockbuster-sized manner.

 

Joker
Warner Bros.

But then a big pile of sad like Joker comes along and is the most successful “DC Movie” of them all….so go figure.

Someone explained to me years ago that all of the confusion and uneven quality in WB/DC’s film output could be attributed to the fact that many bigwigs at the studio just didn’t like or understand superheroes and were forced to make the movies by Marvel’s success. If you apply this theory, Occam’s razor style, to things like Superman Returns and Green Lantern, it certainly fits. But even after the arrival of superhero-friendly studio head Kevin Tsijihara, the search for a savior who could make it all work continued. And there just isn’t one.

Here mid-pandemic, with Joker a huge success and people still anxiously (in every sense of the word) awaiting the eventual arrival of Wonder Woman 1984, it’s clear that WB’s instinctive strategy of just letting movie makers make movies they are enthusiastic about, seems to yield better results than trying to set up a “cape czar” at the studio.

cape-czar.pngSome say that Johns’s tenure at DC Films was as controversial within the studio as it was to fan conspiracy theorists; however, his impact on the endless, much liked and good-natured DC television empire seems to be a positive one for all concerned. There’s a happy ending in there somewhere, and Stargirl seems to be the evidence.

In the chaotic, high stakes pre-pandemic world of Hollywood studios vs streaming content, the pressure to make successful films in beloved franchises that can compete with Feige’s MCU led to smart people making bad choices. Exhibit A: pretty much everything Kathleen Kennedy has done for the last decade, I’m sorry to say. Firing directors just never seems to result in a movie that anyone wants to see: Solo, Justice League. (I know that Snyder left the film because of his family tragedy and wasn’t fired, but the effect was the same.) Once again, the surest road to success has been proven time and time again: let people tell the stories that they want to tell — Nolan with Batman, Johns with Stargirl, Jenkins with Wonder Woman. Snyder’s Justice League cut won’t be a great movie/miniseries, but at least it will be the original vision, flaws and all.

And yes, meanwhile, outraged, entitled fandom is taking a victory lap. Kayleigh Donaldson’s excellent Why Does the DCEU Have Such a Toxic Fanbase? lays out the specifics of this particular pocket of nasty.

[Suicide Squad] signalled Warner Bros. having doubts about their Snyder-driven model, and for better or worse, they decided to change paths. That wasn’t an inherently bad idea but it’s seldom advised for studios working with billions of dollars to lay down a new path while the vehicle is hurtling down the highway at a hundred miles an hour. For the fans who loved that style – and there are plenty of them – it felt like Warner Bros. were letting them down. They had lost faith not only in their concept but their guiding force. Snyder was clearly wholeheartedly dedicated to this franchise and for those fans it seemed like Warner Bros. were leaving him on the outskirts, an issue exacerbated by the fact that people seemed to like the director’s cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a lot more than the theatrical cut. All of these threads – the underdog sensation, the support of a seemingly beleaguered visionary, the opposition to a seemingly united critical condemnation, residual geek anger – combined in an explosive way. It wasn’t just that they had to be fans of the DCEU: They had to be defenders to the very end.

or tl:dr

From my bird’s-eye view born of age and experience, I will tell you: fans have ALWAYS been intolerant and demanding. But it was just harder to write a physical letter and mail it off with a death threat to your least favorite editor than to fire off a 280-character tweet. And fan demands unbound from reality are found everywhere. (Sorry, Marvel fans, your well-meaning demands for gay content in the MCU without acknowledging that China will just edit it out ignore a huge part of the story.) Social media’s amplification of humanity’s every bad impulse is the lethal burden we live under every minute of the day and fandom is a big part of it.

I mean, I’m sure there were several people in 1986 who wanted to see the Donner Cut of Superman 2; they just didn’t have Twitter to beat the drum. And guess what — they eventually got their wish. IP wants to be free! Especially in the era of home entertainment/streaming.

At any rate, this story is huge and sloppy and I’m just skimming the highlights. Why does no one talk about Superman Returns in all this? Why does no one talk about Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole? Truly, we’re just getting started.

 

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Zack Snyder made an animated movie about owls wearing helmets, looking kind of like King Leonidas. True story.

 

 

35 COMMENTS

  1. “On the other hand, a lot of horrible, toxic assholes who have abused people for years were rewarded, setting a dangerous precedent.”

    You mean like when Mark Waid “allegedly” got a comic creator blacklisted from the industry because Waid didn’t like that creator’s politics?

    Secondarily, the now common practice of both creators and studios to get into whizzing matches with fans is the real problem here.

    Mike

  2. Warner is spending $20-30M to “restore” the Snyder cut. I’m sure it will be utterly mediocre, like the theatrical cut, but without the humor that Joss Whedon added to that. Snyder is not known for having a sense of humor. But grim and humorless means “serious and adult” to many fanboys.

    Sad to see so much focus on this, instead of anything new and original. It’s all recycling in Hollywood these days — and especially in streaming, with its catering to Millennial nostalgia. But only a few directors (Tarantino, Peele, Nolan, maybe Eastwood) can get a nonfranchise movie financed by a studio.

    Looks like Paramount might pull the plug on Scorsese’s latest, despite Di Caprio and De Niro in the cast. Sigh.

  3. I still believe that a well-made movie with a solid script and cast that holds true to the nature of the characters (especially such longstanding heroes as Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman) can be critical and box office hits. DC’s characters have never really be one-size-fits-all, especially not since the ’70s. Nolan’s Batman was brilliantly conceived as a story told over 3 movies. Wonder Woman soared. Superman was unrecognizable to those of us reading his comics for 4 decades or longer (6 decades for me). And the Joker was the Joker. DC’s movie ‘verse doesn’t need to be different than the MCU; it just needs to be good. In the way the DC TV/Berlanti ‘verse is good. Every one of the Berlanti DC shows suits the main character, just like the comics do. Which makes the crossover so much fun as the various styles clash and/or mesh. It’s fun. It’s exciting. And it works. I wish the DC movie PTB would learn that lesson.

  4. “fans have ALWAYS been intolerant and demanding. But it was just harder to write a physical letter and mail it off with a death threat to your least favorite editor than to fire off a 280-character tweet.”

    Yeah, like the Christopher Nolan fans who send death threats to critics who don’t love all his movies. The female critics get rape threats, too.

    Judging from their online behavior, most Nolan fans and Snyder fans are dicks. Much like the Bryan Singer fans who think BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is a great movie.

  5. Nobody saw it (accept people who liked it). There will be about one hour from theatrical cut in 4 hours movie/tv show. But everobody knows that it will be mediocre at least.
    I don´t understand why all genre sites are now bashing this Warner´s decition. Everybody is demolishing DC fans because they get what they wanted. They are bad, they are sending death tthreats (because only DC fans do it), nobody is seeing Marvel fans regarding Brie Larson f.e. It´s sad.
    This article is bad from first sentence. No, not only one man was happy.

  6. …comparing the superhero fans asking for inclusion to the ones weaving conspiracy theories and sending death threats is some pretty tone-deaf false equivalence, Heidi.

  7. This article… Who cares? Did you see what Disney did to mangle the Star Wars franchise based on fan reactions??? Please. Letting the the fans, director, and original cast get the movie that was actually filmed? And released cuts streaming? Hardly the worst thing ever. Just don’t freaking watch the movie if you don’t want to. Many of us felt the Justice League film was chopped up into goofy nonsense by Joss Whedon and corporate decisions. This is letting something like the original version be told for fans. No one else need dial in or comment on it if it bothers you that much.

  8. And you can just take your fan bashing to someone who cares. The Snyder Cut has nothing to do with ComicsGate, racism, sexism, or anything else. So whatever this garbage about “people who abused for years” is all about, that has no place in this conversation. Utter trash.

  9. “From my bird’s-eye view born of age and experience, I will tell you: fans have ALWAYS been intolerant and demanding.”

    From my elitist tower….

  10. Good joke tweeted by film critic Noel Murray:

    “Film Twitter may scoff at the idea of a four-plus hour version of JUSTICE LEAGUE, but what if I told you the middle two hours is just the team hanging out in the Batcave, watching the fully restored THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS?”

    That’s the only thing that would make me watch it!

  11. Nick, here’s a roundup of the toxic craziness of the “Release the Snyder Cut” movement:

    https://medium.com/@thecarter74/would-releasing-the-snyder-cut-just-be-rewarding-bad-behavior-8654ba580245

    The photoshopped image of Zack Snyder as Jesus Christ, created by his drooling fans, says it all.

    The writer notes that Snyder fans display “all the earmarks of a quasi-religious sect — following him blindly, hinging on his every word, trying desperately to convert others to their ideology, firmly believing Snyder was a cinematic prophet who could do wrong, thus earning them the nickname The Snyder Cult.”

  12. I don’t care about seeing this at all. I was done with Snyder after BVS’ critical lambasting. I’m just glad I have options when it comes to DC movies now. If the only option were movies drenched in the trappings of Zack Snyder‘s filmography? Despite my preference for DC’s characters over the majority of Marvel’s, I’d never go see a DC movie again. I’d say I’m happy the fans are getting this finally, just to be courteous to them, except I’d say a large portion (probably can’t say all) are not worthy of that courtesy.

  13. Enjoyed this, Heidi. Snyder-fans fail to see, the main criticism is, how a lot of Snydercut supporters pursued this quest. And they are just proving the point with angry defensive comments. How about we don’t add to the toxic craziness reigning everywhere.
    I for one loved seeing the DC pantheon together in a fun bash, and I am intrigued seeing a different take (and more) of it.

  14. And of course the real problem is not “toxic” fans or you would have written an article like this about the “toxic” Last Jedi fans or the insane Reylo’s it is that the companies are supposed to listen to the Gatekeepers not the fans.

    I mean you had the same kind of articles when they reworked Sonic and what was “toxic” about that? Nothing. It just set a “bad” precedent that if movie makers listened to the fan the fans would give them their money.

  15. I mostly left social media after marvel’s civil war series. I was never really that into it anyway. But that was when attacks on all social media, from other fans and creators became too much. In some I was frozen out, others the attacks were daily. Wacker once flat out told me never to buy a title he edited and Slott was just as bad. After a while I realized the pointlessness of it all and now I only read the forums Captain Comics, CBR and a few others. Speak out on a subject the wrong way and you will be attacked and mods are like comic book editors: in the modern age toothless. The screaming is still there, but then we live in society of screams. I recently moved and lost the cable news chanels and I’ve come to the conclusion that social media isn’t something to pay too much attention too.
    But I don’t have billions of dollars at stake. In some ways this reminds me of the 1950’s when studio execs lived in fear of the house committee on un-American activities, or Hollywood after the Fatty Arbuckle scandal. Where big money is concerned fear rules and the source of all fear in Hollywood now is social media.

  16. “speak out on a subject the wrong way and you will be attacked”

    Mark, you’ve been doing this shtick for more than 12 years now, first at Captain Comics and now here.

    First, you let everyone know — again and again — how much you dislike Marvel’s current output (which you apparently don’t read). Then, when people suggest you read comics from other companies, you accuse them of trying to shut you up.

    You apparently see yourself as the brave whistle blower, exposing the “evil” that is Marvel Comics, and being attacked on all sides.

  17. George, you’re the perfect example of why I don’t post to much, always waiting to attack and above all to tell me to shut up and go away. Never respond to the substance of the post, always go for the personal attack. Your kind is the reason social media is where it is today. You and your clones are everywhere.

  18. I thought this was a pretty good article with a lot of good points. And it linked to some stuff I want to read.

    I don’t understand the level of vitrol here. Kinda proves the point of the article…

  19. I feel sorry for you, Mark. All you want is to keep reading Marvel superhero comics. But you want the stories and characters to be like they were when you were young. And you want the prices to be like they were decades ago. None of that is going to happen.

    But instead of acknowledging that you’ve outgrown Marvel, and moving on to other entertainment (as I did 20 years ago), you keep on whining and screaming and crying for the Marvel you knew to come back. And now this has led to paranoia (“You and your clones and everywhere”). Sad.

  20. George if you think comics are worth what they are now that’s your opinion. Nor am I whining, but I’m sure in your brown shirted, jack booted, white hood wearing, antifa view point anyone who doesn’t agree with you is ‘whinning.’ What I want is quality stories that are worth it to read or to go see a movie that’s not a product of a committee marketing agenda. It’s been a long time since I’ve found one. Sure I’d like to read marvel, and I can anytime I want. Through hard work and hell I’m solvent again, I can afford comics and movies. Last week when the comic book store opened again I was able to buy or read any marvel comic I wanted. You know what I found in the dollar box? Thor 1, introducing Jane Foster as Thor. At a dollar that’s almost worth it. It’s also a nice commentary on how temporary the big blockbuster stunts are. When I think of the storylines of the past, the ones that held up for more than a year, the ones that really did change things, I am nostalgic, but I’m willing to look at new stories that aren’t more stunt than story and that don’t cater to what ever social group has the biggest voice onllne. That’s what this areticle is about after all, fans driving the creative process and how that is interpreted by the people in charge of the money. Its not all that new after all, Sherlock Holmes was brought back due to fan pressure. The difference now is that the internet makes it a bit easier for disgruntled fans to be heard. In fact it makes it easy for anyone to be heard. Just about everyone who wants one now has access to a megaphone and I’m not sure that Hollywood knows how to handle it.

    But again I doubt you are listening. Any post I make here, those few I do make, are to you invitations to attack. Once I would have tried to reason with you. Once I would have tried to understand where you were coming from, once I believed that reasoned discussions could be made even with someone who disagreed with me. But you’ve proven again that tolerance is a myth and that there is no point is trying to civil with someone with the temperament of a five year old and access to a keyboard. I’ll make this simple for you: when someone in charge of this board tells me I’ve gone too far I’ll listen to them, they are the hosts after all and we’re merely the guests. Until then I’ll say what I wish to say, when I wish to say it and You can ‘whine’ about it all you want. Personally Id rather we both just ignore each others posts. But it’s up to you, because I will post again and I’ll say what I’ve said before and you’re just going to have to live with that because you have zero power to do anything else.

  21. I was actually enjoying the DCEU output from “Man of Steel” to “Wonder Woman”. For me, “Justice League” was the first hiccup in the franchise’s output. I didn’t hate the movie. But I didn’t love it and could easily tell that it nearly collapsed under the weight of the different styles of two directors. “Justice League” was supposed to be Zack Snyder’s film. But Warner Bros., in a movie that still has me shaking my head, used Joss Whedon to nearly butcher the film in order for it to resemble a MCU movie. Look, I don’t have anything personal against the MCU. I have enjoyed a good number of its films. But I’ve also grown to dislike some of its other movies. And I wasn’t happy with the franchise between 2016 and 2017. And “Captain Marvel” proved to be the only 2019 film that I actually enjoyed. And although I enjoyed “Aquaman”, I wasn’t that impressed with “Shazam!”. I don’t expect all of these movies to please me. But I DID NOT want the DCEU to be some copy cat of the MCU. I was happy with the idea of it developing its own “house style”, so to speak.

    I’m glad that Warner Bros has finally saw fit to allow Snyder to convey his own vision of “Justice League”. Will it be great? Will I like it? I honestly don’t know. Mind you, I’m a big fan of “Man of Steel” and “Batman v. Superman”. But I don’t know how his version of “Justice League” will turn out. But I find the media’s hostile and derisive attitude over the film’s upcoming release on HBO Max rather childish. They seemed to convey this image of a bunch of ten year-olds who didn’t get their way. They complain about how the “toxic behavior” of Snyder’s fans led to his movie being given new life. Yet, they seemed to be behaving in a toxic behavior themselves.

  22. To turn this whole story into a complaint that Warner Bros. are now bowing to toxic fan demand is silly. Not all who campaigned for the Snyder Cut are toxic; far from it. They just have bad taste. I hated BvS, but I don’t see any harm in finally letting Snyder finish his JL the way he wanted, when so many fans clearly want to see it. In my view, the only thing that’s really going on here is that we’re getting a Director’s Cut of something. Why should that be particularly controversial? I think the talk about “setting a dangerous precedent for giving in to the demands of toxic fans” is nonsense. It’s coming from people who are too deeply into fandom, and who are under the impression that fan furore is actually important in the world. It’s not. It’s just some nerds having shits and giggles on the interwebs.

  23. Mark Waid didn’t get anyone “blacklisted” lol.

    That’s an absurd reading of what happened.

    And the guy in question can self publish his bigoted crap. He wouldn’t turn a profit for an company agt this point.

  24. Don’t worry! Snowflake and Safespace will save us!

    I’m not a Snyder fan but the bigger worry is that people who might think that the Snyder Cut will be better or 180 to what was released. I still think it will be subpar but you will have a director who will have his version finally come out and be judged for what it is so I think that is fine. Took a long time to get the Welles Cut for Touch of Evil.

  25. All the DC fans did was demand a version of “Justice League” that was true to Snyder’s vision. They didn’t demand any changes in the scripts or anything like that. When shows like “Jericho” and “Chuck” were given extra seasons because of fan campaigns, the media didn’t bitch and moan about them. Yet, they’re bitching and moaning about this – as if the future of the Hollywood system depends upon their complaints.

    And I’m getting tired of people judging this new version of “Justice League” without having seen it. You don’t know if it’s going to be better, worse or the same as the 2017 theatrical release. STOP PRETENDING that you do.

    The media and certain fans are behaving as if the potential success of “Justice League” might prove to be a major threat to society. This behavior is ridiculous.

  26. Not all who campaigned for the Snyder Cut are toxic; far from it. They just have bad taste.

    This is bullshit. All this guy had to do was say that he wasn’t a fan of Snyder’s DC films. But no . . . he had to insult those who didn’t share his tastes like a goddamn child.

  27. I am a Snyder Cut supporter and have never verbally abused or threatened anyone (however, I cannot say that I haven’t received it). If we choose to bring politics into this like some in the media have since HBO Max’s announcement, I consider myself a progressive. I’m also gay, if that matters (which it shouldn’t). I also do not belong to any cults of personality or otherwise. I liked Snyder’s vision in Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman, but I am not a fan of some of his other films. I don’t believe in toxicity on either side and I believe that it has come from BOTH. Sadly, contemporary culture has become “us vs. them” and people dig their heels in even further. Equally as sad is your piece, labeling everyone who has supported Snyder’s original vision for Justic League as “toxic” and “cult members.” I am not quite certain how Snyder’s vision for the League is counter to inclusivity, considering that the team is comprised of an Israeli woman, a Samoan man, an African-American, and a half-Asian man. That’s sounds as equally progressive as any Marvel film: yet, it’s somehow not good enough or pro-Trump??? Additionally, BvS has two billionaires casting judgement on a working-class alien (some toxic types might say an “illegal” one at that), but this is also overlooked. I suppose it depends on perspective, but attempting to cast all Snyder-Cut supporters as toxic is just as bad as any person who labels any group as a nameless, faceless mob of “otherness.” Let people see what Snyder originally envisioned. Whedon’s version is not Snyder’s vision.

  28. Best advice I’ve seen in a while is to enjoy comics and avoid the fans. I’d extend that to all of pop culture.

    Enjoy pop culture but avoid the fans — especially the increasingly toxic superhero and Star Wars fans, who can’t handle different opinions about their love objects. Sad that it’s come to this. Thank you, internet.

  29. Can we please stop the meme that Snyder fans are somehow “toxic” and that “caving into them” sets a “dangerous precedent?” That is some of the most nutty, hyperbolic hysteria I have ever heard. And I believe it comes from the long tradition of snobby film critics who look down their nose at anyone who doesn’t share their “refined” taste in films. Snobby critics don’t just like or dislike movies. They believe their “high-class” taste makes them superior to others who don’t “understand” movies the same way they do. It is these types of people who gave Snyder’s films poor reviews and have subsequently chosen to label Snyder fans as some kind of subhuman scum who are a blight on the art of cinema. EVERY group of people has people in it who’ve said obnoxious or offensive things. It is the new technique in modern propaganda, with an infinite array of source material to work with on social media, to carefully select the worst sound bites coming out of whatever group of people are being targeted with hate and try to smear and discredit the entire group with them. It’s a new technique in the very old warfare practiced by the biased, the bigoted and the hateful, those who have no desire to engage in a free and open dialogue but who only wish to destroy those they perceive as inferior to them.

  30. Snyder didn’t DESERVE to see his vision completed.
    He was hired to do a job. He was bad at doing it and Warner removed him.
    I never get a reward for making mistakes at job. The idea that my boss would allow me to finish my current project as I wanted if I was fu**ing it up is just laughable.
    Get a grip, cutists

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