Fans begged, pleaded, and campaigned for this, and now it’s finally here: Zack Snyder has shared the first full trailer for the Justice League Director’s Cut at Saturday’s DC Fandome virtual event.
From the jump, the preview makes it clear this is very different from 2018’s Joss Whedon-re-worked theatrical Justice League. It opens with a shot of the DC Extended Universe’s biggest baddie, Darkseid, played by Ray Porter but ultimately excised from the original cut of the film. There’s also new glimpses of the film’s primary antagonist, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), whose look has been updated as more metallic and with a less humanoid face, like he was seen in the infamous Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice deleted scene.
What really stands out here is how much more fleshed out the non-Batman-and-Wonder-Woman characters seem to be. There’s deeper looks at the origins of Cyborg (Ray Fisher), including his time as a college football star and the apparent death of his father (Joe Morton). We get to meet the Flash’s (Ezra Miller) love interest, Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), another character cut from Whedon’s vision. Superman (Henry Cavill) looks dark and glorious in his black suit, and even his periphery relationships (Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Amy Adams as Lois Lane) appear to be getting more of the spotlight. We also get to see a few additional Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) shots as she pieces together the landscape of the oncoming conflict.
The character that seems to be given the least new footage is Aquaman (Jason Momoa), though there will be plenty of opportunity for more of the King of Atlantis. Before debuting the trailer, Snyder revealed that the project will be broken into four one-hour segments, with plans to combine them as a single four-hour movie also in the works. Snyder also promised international fans who don’t have HBO Max that they’re working on ways to secure further distribution.
Soundtracked by Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (get it? Like, “Hallelujah! It’s finally here!” but darker), the Justice League trailer ends with a new bit of dialogue as the team assembles. Flash points out that their opponent has likely defeated “hundreds of thousands of super-beings” across all the planets he’s conquered. “I don’t care how many demons he’s fought in how many hells,” responds Batman (Ben Affleck). “He’s never fought us. Not us united.”
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Justice League: The Snyder Cut, Zack Snyder’s Justice League Director’s Cut, whatever you call it, the project is set to debut on HBO Max next year. Check out the DC Fandome trailer below.
And also get ready for more of Batfleck. After surrendering the role to Robert Pattinson for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Affleck was recently confirmed to be returning as Batman in the upcoming Flash solo movie based on the multiverse-spanning Flashpoint storyline. Michael Keaton will also be reprising his version of the Dark Knight from Tim Burton’s original Batman films.
