Zack Snyder never watched Joss Whedon's version of Justice League -- but his wife, Deborah Snyder, did.
Whedon was brought in to reshoot much of Justice League after Zack Snyder left the project in May 2017, following a personal tragedy. Later that year, Deborah Snyder -- who serves as a producer on all of her husband's films -- watched Whedon's cut of the film in a screening on the Warner Bros. studio lot, along with the movie's executive producer Christopher Nolan. "It was just... it's a weird experience," Deborah Snyder told Vanity Fair. “I don’t know how many people have that experience. You’ve worked on something for a long time, and then you leave, and then you see what happened to it.”
Following the screening, the pair agreed that Zack Snyder should never watch Whedon's Justice League. "They came and they just said, ‘You can never see that movie,’” Snyder explained. “Because I knew it would break his heart,” his wife added.
Speaking at July 2020's Justice Con, Zack Snyder emphasized his cut of Justice League won't use any footage shot by Whedon. "There would be no chance on Earth that I would use a shot that was made... after I left the movie," Snyder said, adding "There would be no way -- I would rather, I would destroy the movie, I would set it on fire before I would use a single frame that I did not photograph. That is fucking hard fact."
The trailers for Zack Snyder's Justice League have supported those claims, combining footage that Whedon repurposed for his version of the film with material that he left on the cutting room floor. Snyder has also confirmed he only shot two additional scenes for his iteration of the movie, including a new ending featuring a "mind-blowing" cameo and a continuation of Batman v. Superman's Knightmare dream/vision sequence, with Jared Leto reprising his role as the Joker.
Zack Snyder's Justice League 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, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film arrives on HBO Max March 18.
Source: Vanity Fair