As WarnerMedia was preparing to enter the never-ending streaming wars with HBO Max, the studio needed a big splash around debut time. That momentous moment eventually came in the form of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which the streamer ordered right as Hollywood was beginning to shut down at the height of the COVID pandemic. According to Snyder himself, he asked HBO Max executives for a meeting to come in and pitch the project early last year. Shortly after, those same executives went to Snyder’s house to watch the fabled “Snyder Cut.”
The filmmaker says the executives were on board by the time the four-hour behemoth wrapped up.
“I said, ‘Well, can I at least come in and tell you what I think the best version of this would be?’” Snyder recently told Vanity Fair. “And so I went in and just kind of pitched them on finishing the movie correctly and ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ and how we could market it and what it would mean to the fans and all that. And then they came over to my house and watched it—no one had ever seen this version of the movie. They were like, ‘Okay, we’re inclined to do it.’”
HBO Max has yet to unveiled any numbers for subscribers and streams of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, so it’s unclear how beneficial the director’s cut was for the streaming platform. Still, Snyder continues revealing tidbits about the production of his version of the movie, including the recent reveal that Wayne T. Carr was supposed to play John Stewart in the feature.
“That [concept art] was based on the actor who did the scene for us and was a guy named Wayne T. Carr. He’s an amazing actor and an amazingly kind gentleman,” Snyder revealed during a virtual appearance at Justice Con.
He added, “I told him that there was a chance it didn’t make it in the movie as we were shooting it in my driveway and I’m not 100-percent sure he thought it was real. I was talking to him the other day and he was just excited about it — he loved the movie and was super excited for the reception the film has gotten and he’s just completely gracious.”
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is now streaming on HBO Max.
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