Regardless of your personal thoughts on 2017’s Justice League or the overall directorial catalog of Zack Snyder, which also includes divisive entries like Sucker Punch and Watchmen, it’s nearly impossible to not be compelled by the years-long Snyder Cut journey that comes to a close later this week.
Clocking in at just over fours in length, Zack Snyder’s Justice League—dedicated to Zack and producer/partner Deborah Snyder’s late daughter Autumn—will be available on HBO Max starting March 18.
Ahead of the fan-fueled release, more information has been made public about the 2017 iteration’s notoriously troubled production, including damning comments about the work of Joss Whedon—who took the reins when Snyder stepped down to grieve Autumn with his family—straight from those directly involved.
With mere days to go before the general public gets their shot at a Snyder cut viewing, an assortment of critics have started weighing in with their thoughts on the experience of seeeing Zack Snyder’s Justice League as the director originally intended. And if these early takes hold true for the average viewer, fans can certainly expect a number of improvements.
While several film reporters and critics—including the Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez and RogerEbert.com’s Matt Zoller Seitz—have shared largely positive assessments of the Snyder Cut, others have criticisms centered on the extended running time and the build of the new cut as being—per Uproxx’s Mike Ryan—a “more coherent version” of the same story found in the derided Whedon botching that amounts to a “competently made, interesting misfire.”
All that to say, it really doesn’t matter where the overall critical consensus ultimately lands with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, nor does it matter whether everyday viewers are wholly pleased. The Snyder Cut, at the very least, will always stand as a unique example of a creator being able to redeem a project that’s personal to them after it was arguably snatched from their hands and butchered.
At any rate, here’s a selection of early takes ahead of the HBO Max drop later this week:
