What happens if Zack Snyder's Justice League is good?

 

It's still something of a surreal miracle that the online #releasethesnydercut campaign even garnered a response from Warner Brothers, let alone an $80 million cash injection to get the film through post production. 

We're about a week out from finally seeing what Justice League would have looked like had Zack Snyder been in a position to complete the film in 2017. 'Curious' would be the word I think most people would use to describe their enthusiasm about the project. 

By all accounts the production of Justice League was a nightmare. Snyder left production following the tragic death of his daughter and Joss Whedon was brought in by Warner Bros. to finalise some of the shooting and get the film over the finish line.

From the outside looking in the DC Cinematic Universe has been knee capped repeatedly by higher ups second guessing themselves and inserting themselves into the process halfway through production. It sank Suicide Squad (artistically, it actually made a fortune at the box office) and it utterly torpedoed Justice League. Rather than simply 'finish' the film Whedon was given the instruction/permission to rewrite and reshoot huge sections of the film to make it more... well... "Avengery". The result is a film as tonally confused as any I've seen, with Snyder's grounded and gritty aesthetic repeatedly butting heads with Whedon's lighter and quippier voice. The film was rejected by critics and audiences alike earning "just" $658 million against a £300 million budget. Add to that the growing list of grievances currently being levelled at Whedon, led by actor Ray Fisher, and the whole thing is a sorry mess that the studio seems desperate to forget.

So how will Snyder's 'vision' of this team-up fare? How different can it possible be?

My prediction is that it will be.. better. I think it will at least be tonally consistent. That horrible mash up of styles will be gone and the reshot footage of Ben Affect looking more tanned and visibly miserable will have been binned. Steppenwolf looks slightly less like Ivan Ooze and Henry Cavill's terrifying tachless face will be no more. Alright so it's not all good news.

But despite a genuine interest in seeing what Snyder will bring I can't quite understand why some people are getting this wild about it.

Fans has been clamouring for info on what Snyder will be adding or expanding. Some months ago the internet was a flurry of excitement when it was announced that Jared Leto would be reprising his... interesting... take on the Joker. Then Snyder released a trailer featuring Leto in the Knightmare sequence and pants were shat in all corners of the web. This is Leto's Joker. The universally panned portrayal of Batman's arch enemy. In a sequence we know to be a dream. Because we've already seen the movie.

The Ultimate Cut of Batman v Superman provides a bit of optimism. That was another film hacked to pieces in post production and at the very least the directors cut is more coherent. If Justice League is more coherent it will automatically qualify as better.

But what if it's not just better? What if it's really good? What if the scales fall from our eyes and we finally see the genius of Jared Leto's turn. What if Justice League was a masterpiece all along?

Well that might put Warner Brothers in an odd position. Without outright announcing it the studio appears to be steering the ship away from the 'shared universe' model having enjoyed far more success with its standalone films. It blows my mind that Superman and Batman sank this ship and it's apparently up to Wonder Woman, Shazam and Aquaman to rescue it.

So if this film is a runaway success what do Warner Bros. do? Any direct sequels seem a long way off. The Flash has been pushed back so many times my three year old has a shot at directing it. I daresay that WB won't be knocking Ray Fishers door to reprise the role of Cyborg anytime. There's public talk of rebooting Superman and Robert Pattinson is the new Batman (although he seems even less happy about it than Affleck did).

But these are comic book movies, there's always a multiverse or a reality stone or a Motherbox on hand to write yourself out of a corner. The Flash (coming 2047) will apparently feature alternate realities so if they want Affleck back, there's their option (it's been rumored but I'll believe it when I see it). Hell if things get really dicey they can drive a truck full of cash to Christian Bale's and just kickstart the 'Nolan-verse' again. 

With all that said, I stand by my prediction that it will be 'better' maybe even 'fine'. I'm curious, bordering on interested, but I think it will be something to satisfy that curiosity rather than hang a franchise on.

Now if Snyder announces the return of Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy... then that could change things.