Zack Snyder’s Justice League has been getting its due appreciation and excitement even before the official announcement of the release date. No one is able to stay calm about the intensity of this particular project and is eagerly looking forward to it. Jared Leto will be coming back again as the Joker in Snyder’s Justice League. People that enjoyed Leto’s extremely maniacal delivery of the Clown Prince of Crime are looking forward to it, and are even ready to see what changes will Snyder and Leto make to the character.
Now, Snyder is set to release the whole movie in black and white. Zack Snyder took to Twitter to officially confirm that a black and white cut of Zack Snyder’s Justice League would be coming to HBO Max. The project is titled Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Justice is Gray. No date was given other than the project would be coming soon and would be released in addition to the current cut the streaming service has already released. Along with the announcement, a clip from the movie featuring Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jeremy Irons’ Alfred was also released. Check it out, below:
Zack Snyder's Justice League: Justice is Gray coming soon to @HBOMax. #SnyderCut pic.twitter.com/tT4GGngktI
— Zack Snyder's Justice League (@snydercut) March 21, 2021
Zack Snyder isn’t done retooling the film, though, and a third cut of the movie is on the way, similar to how he released Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut after Watchmen: The Director’s Cut. During the promotional cycle for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Snyder himself would release promotional images in black and white. When it was time to release posters for the film, to contrast with the high colors of the theatrical cut, the Snyder Cut used black and white character posters to keep the somber tone Snyder had established in Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Snyder has previously hinted that the black and white cut of Justice League would be different from the current release on HBO Max aside from just a monochrome finish. He revealed that it would contain an alternate scene of Jared Leto’s Joker.
Zack Snyder has also stated that the combination of the black and white with the 4:3 aspect ratio is his favorite version of the film and his ideal way of viewing it, making the Justice is Gray edition the definitive cut of his movie. Black and white recut of blockbuster films have become more commonplace. In 2016, George Miller released a black and white cut of Mad Max: Fury Road titled Mad Max: Blood and Chrome. In 2017, with the home video release of Logan, James Mangold released a black and white version of that film titled Logan: Noir. Snyder himself saw Justice League in black and white for two years on his laptop, so it makes a certain amount of sense he would want the fans to see the film as he has.
There are three versions of Snyder’s Justice League script. Snyder first worked with Chris Terrio to finish the original version before Batman v Superman even hit theaters, but that was workshopped in accordance with the response to his previous DCEU movie. The third incarnation of the story is the one that will play out on HBO Max; aside from additional work with previously-confirmed characters for it, this will also feature Jared Leto’s Joker. Snyder already had a history devised in his head.
Outside of Snyder’s work, there’s Whedon’s work which was what Justice League’s theatrical cut was based on. Snyder didn’t say when this particular plot point was removed, but chances are that this was already gone before they filmed the project. Had this played out on the screen, it’s curious what the reaction from the public would have been. Snyder’s take on these DC characters has always been unorthodox, and this particular element is no different. If anything, the planned romance between Batman and Lois be too obscure even for some fans. Irrational to be precise. Nevertheless, it may be for the best that this element of Justice League was removed; its story is already complicated enough, and adding this might make it too much convoluted.
Minor reshoots for Zack Snyder’s Justice League were conducted after the project was officially picked up, but while those reshoots added some notable new elements like an appearance from Jared Leto’s Joker, they won’t contribute that many extra minutes to the film. Most of the new content consists of scenes shot during the theatrical production that was later cut after Snyder left the project. Through that lens, of course, it makes sense that the film would end on a bit of a cliffhanger for the sequel that was never produced.
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