Justice League: Everybody knows about the intro … or do they?
Let’s look into the song the Justice League movie used at the start.
Recently, a TV Critic by the name of Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker tweeted the lyrics to Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows.” Director Joss Whedon responded, stating “I stuck it in JL [Justice League] too”. This song is used in the intro for Justice League, except it was a cover by Sigrid. I cannot but truly question if Whedon is telling the truth.
The possibility this was Snyder
Some think the opening invokes a familiar introduction in Watchmen. A montage of the origin of the Minute Men is showing while Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin'” is playing. Another case is Emily Browning’s “Sweet Dreams” playing over the opening scene in Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. Snyder is an exquisitely visual storyteller and he employs music to help tell his story. Instead of falling back on dialogue and exposition, he uses music to emphasize the feelings and tensions within a scene.
The scene in Justice League has all the familiar Snyder trademarks of his shooting style and slow-mo. It is hard to imagine this director shot this without any music in mind. If you go back to Watchmen, Snyder has two songs from Leonard Cohen. “First We Take Manhattan” plays during the credits. The other Cohen track is the classic “Hallelujah” which is playing during the infamous sex scene. Hence, it is safe to say Snyder is a huge Cohen fan. Therefore, it was his plan to include this track.
Everybody knows this isn’t Snyder’s Justice League
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It is true that Justice League is hardly Snyder’s film. The movie has a different composer, numerous re-shot scenes and numerous jokes. In the end, the film is a bit of a Frankenstein. It is possible that Snyder shot this sequence. However, it’s possible editing of the scene came from Whedon. It was also Whedon who fit this track in possibly. He may be aware of Snyder being a Cohen fan and fit this track in as an homage to him. The song does feel like something Snyder would use. Simultaneously, it does not sync up as well with the scene unlike prior examples of silent scenes set to lyrical music.
Recently, Whedon received some fire for liking a tweet that criticized Steppenwolf. The tweet spoke rather low of the film’s villain, which has been something of a common complaint amongst fans and critics. Is it possible Whedon tweeted his involvement in the opening credits, given that they received better acclaim? At least better acclaim than Steppenwolf? This is not to accuse Whedon if he truly did not insert the song. Instead, he may be looking just to get back into good graces with the fans.
Why this song?
Regardless of who was the one to pick this song, some are wondering “why this song?” The song paints a bleak and pessimistic world. Notice the lyrics continuously states “Everybody knows” and never follows with “but” or any resolve.
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The song is simply a list of cynical statements of people in society. We all know people are not faithful, the rich are greedy and the poor continue to suffer. Yet, no one does anything about it. The good guys lost and the truth still evades us. People are aware and live in content with this bleakness. It is truly a world without heroes, without justice. A world without Superman.