Zack Snyder’s Justice League: The Justice League That Should Have Been

Dante Nahai / Staff Writer 

Courtesy of HBO Max 

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a complete departure from the 2017 Justice League film. With more character development and less cringe worthy humor, it’s no wonder why fans pushed for the elusive Snyder Cut of the film.

Regardless of you being a fan of Snyder’s films like Man of Steel, 300, and Watchmen or not, there is no denying the past four years have been strange and eventful.

During those four years there were doubts of their being an actual Snyder Cut of Justice League, but  with time the rightful version of this film came true. 

Having watched both versions of this film, I firmly believe that this “Snyder Cut” is what should have been originally. 

While slow at times, the four hour and two minute film gives enough background and character development that will leave the viewer with a better understanding of this a wider screen since the film itself takes about 3/4ths of the screen horizontally. 

There are some scenes that drag, and some that have an unnecessary amount of slow motion but it is still worth the watch. 

This film picks right up where Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice left off. Superman is dead and it’s up to Batman to forge a team of beings to fight the coming threat of Steppenwolf. 

With Snyder’s we see a more menacing and much more interesting version of Steppenwolf. In the 2017 version he just seemed like another grunt working for a bigger bad that will later show up in a sequel film. 

While he is basically set up for Darkseid, he is still a much better character than his previous iteration. 

Another plus to the film is viewers are treated to more character development in characters like Cyborg and The Flash. 

When I first watched the 2017 Justice League Cyborg was a forgettable character. There was nothing that really impacted me on his character. 

But in this new cut of the film it almost feels like the main character is Cyborg. We get to see a glimpse of his life, of what he was before he became who he is now. 

Ray Fisher who plays Cyborg did an amazing job as the character, and I was happy to see his character get the respect he deserved. 

The Flash, another character who got the short of end of the stick felt more fleshed out in this film. We see a more personal side of Barry Allen and the struggles he goes through. 

Batman does not feel like a complete pushover compared to his 2017 counterpart. As a huge Batman fanatic I was thrilled to see justice brought back to his character. 

Aquaman still maintained the same energy and his story has a clear transition to what would be  his solo film in 2018. 

Wonder Woman has a few more scenes–even had some of the best action sequences in the film. 

And, we can’t forget Superman who’s story came to a satisfactory end that spanned all the way back in 2013 when Man of Steel came out. 

Zack Snyder’s Justice League has a lot of heart and is worth the watch. While I and many other fans have no idea if we will see this plot threads continue in other films at least we were able to see the real version of this film. 

Exploring the expansive lore of the DC universe, and doing right to these characters it’s worth the watch. The film is available on HBO Max.