It was Nov. 17, 2017. We had seen plenty of Marvel movies, including two Avenger films, but this day was special. It was the release date for the first live action “Justice League” movie with all of the most iconic DC heroes in one film.
I took my younger brother because he was just as excited. He tends to mirror my interest which just means he has good taste. This gave us one thing in common: our entire lives were filled with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and a myriad of other brightly colored, vibrant superheroes.
I used to want to be just like Bruce Wayne- driving flashy cars, spending billions of dollars on whatever I want and fighting crime in the dead of night. Honestly, that desire never left. I remember dressing up as Batman when I was little and never wanting to take off the mask. Justice never slept, so neither did I, or at least not until 9 p.m. because that was bedtime.
The movie began, and our excitement levels were somewhere around a 10. Something weird happened as the movie progressed though. The excitement began to decline. By the end of the movie, we were around a six. It didn’t make sense. I had waited for this movie my entire 19-year-old life, and it fell short on so many levels. The flopped film was attributed to the late transition from Zack Snyder to Joss Whedon, director of the first two “Avengers” films (both great movies).
We left the theater almost feeling like we took a two-hour beating from the very heroes we had admired for so long. There were so many flaws, from the scene where they terribly edited out a mustache to the lack of character arcs.
As more DC movies were released, I didn’t even bother with seeing them in theatres. I did see “Aquaman,” but that’s only because I made someone else pay for my ticket. It wasn’t really a boycott. I just didn’t see the point.
Fast forward to the year 2020. Like most others, I can’t look back at that year fondly, but I do have a few highlights. I rose from another 2020 night to tackle another 2020 day, but this day stood out. There were announcements all over my feed. HBO and Zack Snyder signed a deal to produce his version of “Justice League” that he began years ago. It was rumored that he filmed hours of footage that was never used in the final cut before he had to leave for family matters. I was instantly taken back to the day before “Justice League” originally released, the day right before my dream of watching a good live action “Justice League” film was shattered into a million 19-year-old pieces. It was almost like Snyder himself walked into my subconscious and intricately placed every piece back into place.
The hype continued and didn’t slow down until the movie was released to stream on HBO Max. They would tease with little details and trailers. With every new detail I knew, I felt more and more like I didn’t lose so much time four years ago preparing and watching the original cut. The best piece of news we received was that the movie was a whopping four hours long -four hours of Snyder-inspired cape-wearing justice.
The day was now March 18, 2021. Release day. I was able to share this moment with a fellow DC fan. There needed to be a running dialogue between us to keep our emotions grounded. The rumors were true. Hours of unused film were used to create the true vision for Snyder’s cut, and every single one of them was glorious.
This moment spoke to something more than just a killer movie. This was a visual representation of how much Snyder and so many others cared about the lives that were inspired by the very characters used in this movie. He reached far beyond just the modern-day fans and was able to target the lifelong fans. I was beyond satisfied with the movie. I have hope for DC again. I think I might buy HBO Max just to watch it over spring break again. I owe my younger brother a redo on the movie anyway.
