Ben Affleck Confirms What Snyder Cut Fans Have Been Saying All Along
The 2017 superhero film Justice League seems to have generally disappointed all fans.
Following Zack Snyder's departure from the project, the movie was practically reshot and completed at the very last moment, leading to its failure at the box office and a barrage of criticism from the audience and critics.
Three years later, however, Snyder was able to present his original idea by getting AT&T (now Warner Bros. Discovery) to release his own director's version. After viewing the Snyder cut, the majority of the fandom agreed that his take on the movie was far superior to what was released in 2017.
Ben Affleck, who portrayed Batman, also seems to support that sentiment.
Talking about his recent career achievements and future prospects in an interview, Affleck shared what it was like to work on Justice League: "You could teach a seminar on all the reasons why this is how not to do it. Ranging from production to bad decisions to horrible personal tragedy, and just ending with the most monstrous taste in my mouth."
Due to a horrible personal tragedy, Snyder left Justice League in May 2017, while it was in the post-production stage. Joss Whedon, the project's co-screenwriter, stepped into the director's chair and drastically changed the overall tone of the film. In his 2017 version, Superman's resurrection was shrouded in mystery, which caused a lot of speculation at the time, and there was much more MCU-style humor and vivid visuals. However, many viewers thought that the script was rather weak, and the abundance of CGI also left fans scratching their heads.
People had been pleading with WB to release the official cut for three years, and finally, Zack Snyder agreed to finish the film according to his own vision. Snyder's Justice League came in at a whopping 240 minutes and was released on HBO Max in March 2021.
Despite its long running time, which even surpassed Martin Scorsese's notoriously lengthy movies, Snyder's version of the film received warm acclaim from fans and critics. Viewers appreciated the movie for its unique directorial approach, screenwriting decisions, and its greater emphasis on acting, which allowed for an in-depth look into each character.
"I've never had one that went from nadir to pinnacle," Ben Affleck said, commenting on Justice League's production and reception.
The actor believes the director has done an outstanding job of giving a new life to his movie — so it looks like the fans begging for its release were right all along!