Justice League was supposed to be Warner Bros. and DC Films' answer to Marvel Studios' Avengers, but it didn't quite succeed. To be honest, the film seemed somewhat doomed as soon as production troubles starting hitting it, particularly when Zack Snyder had to step down months into filming. Due to personal circumstances, the director of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had to abandon the third movie in what he saw as a trilogy, leaving Avengers director Joss Whedon to step up and bring it home.

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Whedon had already been brought onto the project to help lighten the tone, a move the studio mandated in light of criticisms leveled towards MoS and BvS and the subsequent success found by Wonder Woman. That Whedon had helmed two installments of the franchise Justice League was directly aiming to emulate was an obvious plus; unfortunately, things went downhill from there. Fans and critics alike felt the final cut was a mismatch of tones, resulting in a film marred by two distinct and clashing visions.

Disappointed fans began pining and campaigning for a "Snyder Cut" of the movie -- a version of the film that was solely Snyder's. Fans have signed online petitions and rallied outside of Warner Bros.' studios in hopes that this cut does indeed exist, and will in fact see the light of day. This belief was further fueled by a German Amazon listing that seemingly confirms that an Extended Cut not only exists, but is expected to arrive alongside the movie's home video release.

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If Justice League is released with an extra 15 minutes, it wouldn't be the first movie within the DCEU to received an Extended Cut. Two of the other biggest disappointments in the shared universe, Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman, both received a longer run time when they became available on home video, and we're sure the studio noticed that a lot of fans marked these version as improvements on the theatrical cuts. That said, Warner Bros. can't expect to just add in previously-deleted scenes and expect fans to fall in love with the slightly-altered product. Surely, most people won't be interested in watching an even longer version of a film they already actively disliked.

Warner Bros.' only unequivocal DCEU success is with Wonder Woman, a film that reportedly didn't have a single deleted scene of consequence. The studio left the movie's fate in the hands of director Patty Jenkins, mandating neither a secific run time or tone, and it surprised everybody, grossing well over $800 million dollars worldwide. The movie didn't receive an Extended Cut because the majority of what Jenkins filmed was there, in the theatrical release, which audiences were perfectly happy with.

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We know of a couple of scenes, at least, that didn't make Justice League's final cut. There was a scene in Central City where The Flash saves Iris West, who we all know ends up romantically involved with the speedster. This would, likely, have been the first time that the pair had met and could have led to a touching moment that fleshed out Barry's arc a little further. Willem Dafoe's supporting character, Vulko, also never saw the light of day, so fans will presumably meet Aquaman's confidante for the first time in the upcoming solo movie. Perhaps an Extended Cut would introduce the character to further explore the underwater world.

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One deleted scene has found its way online, featuring Bruce Wayne attempting to bribe Aquaman with money to join the League. This version of Aquaman's recruitment plays out very differently from the one that made the movie, so it's questionable how and if it would work if added to the film.

A huge portion of Cyborg's origin story was cut to presumably trim time off the movie, and the final product definitely suffered from it. It's hard to invest in a character if you don't know much about them, so why would it matter to casual fans if he was killed off while battling the villainous Steppenwolf and his legion of Parademons? It probably wouldn't. If the rumored Extended Cut included these scenes, it could have resulted in making Cyborg a more well-rounded character without reshaping the entire narrative of the film.

Ultimately, Warner Bros. likely won't commit to releasing the "Snyder Cut," if it even exists, and it shouldn't. Rather than releasing what could be an even worse-received version of the film, the studio should instead listen to audience feedback, process the reasonable critiques from the not-so-reasonable, and focus on improving the DCEU's offerings moving forward.


Justice League is expected for digital release on January 30. The film stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.