The main discrepancies between the Snyder Cut and Justice League.
Are you able to identify the differences?
That is the fundamental and unavoidable issue at the heart of Zack Snyder's Justice League, also known as the Snyder Cut. For practical purposes, the answer is clearly and categorically “yes.” Snyder's film is four hours long, while the original 2017 film was just two. Some scenes, such as Themyscira's Amazon security, are extended. There are also several new scenes, including one in which Aquaman reunites with an Atlantean.
Snyder, on the other hand, makes some major narrative shifts that completely change the plot of the 2017 film. He adds new characters, changes the final ending, and presents certain characters' origin stories in new ways. The end result is a more powerful film.
Here are the five most important and exciting variations between the Snyder Cut and the original.
It's Darkseid, not Steppenwolf, who is invading.
The redesign of Justice League's villain is what makes the Snyder Cut work — and what makes the greatest difference overall. Steppenwolf wants to conquer Earth in the first film, and he needs the Mother Boxes to do so. But, aside from trying to transform Earth into a burning ruin, the film doesn't really explain why Steppenwolf wants to do so.
What is Steppenwolf's motivation for destroying a perfect world? Why doesn't he want to be in charge? Isn't a planet populated by people more important than a hellscape? The original Justice League doesn't know what to do.
Steppenwolf is merely a henchman, a herald of a larger villain called Darkseid, according to The Snyder Cut. With this shift, Steppenwolf is destroying worlds at will, without much thought or reasoning. He has no interest in enslaving. Steppenwolf is a tragic figure because all he wants to do is make his boss happy and gain his confidence. Since it is Darkseid's will, he is destroying worlds.
And if you have concerns with Steppenwolf's downfall, as the Justice Leaguers do, you'll have to speak to the boss about it, which the team is getting ready to do at the end of the Snyder Cut, in preparation for a potential clash with Darkseid.
Please welcome the shape-shifting Martian Manhunter to the stage.
Superman's mother, Martha Kent, has a heart-to-heart with Lois Lane midway through the Snyder Cut, just as she did in the original. Ma Kent is attempting to talk Lois out of her grief, as she hasn't gone to work or done anything since Clark's death.
Lois's greatest love has always been journalism, and the fact that she isn't writing stories shows how much she misses it. Although the conversation does not motivate Lois to return to work (she is writing fluff pieces in the original film but not at all in the Snyder Cut), it does raise her spirits.
The only thing that has changed is who is really taking part in it.
Martha Kent is J'onn J'onzz, the shapeshifting character also known as Martian Manhunter, in the Snyder Cut. The effect on Lois is similar, but discovering that J'onn is impersonating Martha gives us new insight into the character, and how he's been working behind the scenes all this time gives us new insight into the character.
His presence and intervention suggest that he's been watching Martha and Lois for some reason and that he either regards Lois as significant or has platonic feelings for her.
We don't see much of J'onn in the rest of the film, so we're left guessing about his motives. We have no idea why he refused to assist the others in their fight against Steppenwolf, nor do we know what he's capable of or what he's seen. We also don't see him use any of his other skills, such as telepathy.
His only other presence is at the film's climax when he tells Bruce Wayne that he wants to join the Justice League, but we don't know what he's thinking.
Cyborg is given a compelling story to tell.
Cyborg and how much deeper the new movie goes into Cyborg's story with his father is my favorite Snyder Cut deviation, and one worth the extra runtime. In both versions, Cyborg and his father have a tense relationship, which is complicated further when Dr. Silas Stone converts his son Victor into Cyborg in order to save Victor's life.
Whereas the original film barely touched on the consequences of Silas' decision, the Snyder Cut significantly extends Cyborg's arc, demonstrating not just how Silas often chose his job over helping Victor, but also how Silas attempted to regain Victor's confidence. It's a sad tale about a father who believed he was doing the right thing for his child and a son who never felt loved by his father.
Silas seeks to convince Victor that converting him into a superhuman was a matter of life and death. He didn't want to see his son die, even selfishly. Silas also seeks to instill in his son that, as a Cyborg, he now has the power to change the world — and that he must behave morally and responsibly in his new abilities.
Victor retains a great deal of anger toward his father, with whom he already had difficulty communicating, for turning him into this creature. Silas sacrifices his life by superheating one of the Mother Boxes, allowing Victor, who can now track said box, to save the world at the end of Snyder Cut's second act.
Victor ses saving the world as a way of avenging his late father and coming to terms with their flawed relationship. And understanding that gives the character so much more complexity than we saw in the first Justice League film.
The Knightmare goes on.
Zack Snyder has a long history of portraying Batman's anxiety and fears in a recurring dream known as the "Knightmare." It first appeared in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. In that film, Batman has a vision of a dirty, post-apocalyptic world in which Superman is a dictator. His idea of the dystopia is what motivates him to battle the superhero in the hopes of preventing the fateful future.
In the Snyder Cut, The Knightmare makes a second appearance as the epilogue.
In what appears to be the same dry and dusty dystopian universe that Batman previously dreamed of, Batman, Mera, Cyborg, Deathstroke, and the Joker are all on the run. They come face to face with a threatening and evil Superman after some bickering and monologues among themselves. The assumption is that they did not do anything to avoid a disastrous future.
Lois Lane, and possibly her death, is central to both visions.
Snyder's potential plans for the DC Extended Universe seem to include Batman's now-recurring Knightmare. The hypothetical sequel to Justice League will ostensibly show Batman responding to this new vision and trying to alter the present.
These visions are also one of Batman's few moments of interiority since he is written opaquely in both versions. We don't see the persuasive connective tissue when he does and says stuff.
The Knightmare scene in the Snyder Cut isn't a silver bullet, as there are still some holes with Batman as a character — in fact, I'd say that the Snyder Cut lacks antagonism and distrust toward Superman.
The final fight in the Snyder Cut teases a Flashpoint-style scenario.
In the Snyder Cut, the Justice League's final fight with Steppenwolf is completely reimagined. And I'm not a huge fan of it all.
The Flash, on the other hand, discovers this and defies his own laws by going faster than light speed. He breaks the speed of light and flies back in time, effectively undoing the Justice League's failure.
Whew.
The original film simply concluded with our heroes beating Steppenwolf and Steppenwolf's parademons devouring him.
Snyder's intention, it seems, was to set up potential movies, or at the very least, to prime the Flash for time travel storylines, by changing this war. The Snyder Cut's drastically altered conclusion, in particular, lays the groundwork for what is known as Flashpoint in DC comic books. It also has a connection to the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, which was released in 2013.
The definition is straightforward: since the Flash can essentially travel backward in time, he can avoid negative things from happening, such as his mother's death.
0 Comments