Zack Snyder’s Justice League: The Snyder Cut vs the Theatrical Cut
By Mike McNulty
The Trinity
As far as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and their supporting characters, what’s really surprising is that the Snyder cut streamlines their story arcs. If anything, it’s the theatrical cut which added more material involving the big three, particularly Bruce and Diana.
Batman v Superman hinted towards some possible romantic chemistry between Bruce and Diana, and the Snyder cut has a scene suggesting this as well. But for the theatrical cut, Whedon filmed additional dialogue scenes between Bruce and Diana that underscores this even further. There’s also moment in which Diana argues against bringing Superman back, to which Bruce counters that she’d be in favor of this if it were Steve Trevor. The theatrical cut also adds an additional reason for Bruce forming the Justice League, in that because he’s no longer in his prime, he’s passing the torch of leadership off to Wonder Woman.
As none of this is in the Snyder cut, Batman’s motives for forming the League and bringing back Superman are more clear cut. In addition, it allows Diana to have more interactions with the other members, particularly Cyborg and Aquaman. There’s a different dialogue scene between her and Alfred (Jeremy Irons) than the one from the theatrical cut, which also shows just how fussy Bruce’s British butler is about making the perfect cup of tea. Diana also doesn’t have foreknowledge about Apokolips’ previous invasion of Earth as she does in the theatrical cut. Instead, she learns about this history from a secret Grecian mural hidden under the Temple of Artemis – the same temple that Queen Hippolyta shoots the flaming arrow at to warn Diana about the impending invasion.
As for Clark Kent/Superman, there’s no uncanny valley lips, as the theatrical cut had to digitally remove Henry Cavill’s mustache as he was also on set for Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018). But the Snyder cut still did some CGI manipulation when it came to Superman’s suit. That’s because in this version, Clark dons an all black costume after his return, a clear nod towards the Death of Superman storyline from the original comics. There’s also a moment which echoes his first flight from Man of Steel, complete with voice overs from Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner).
The real changes when it comes to Superman all involve Lois Lane (Amy Adams). The Snyder cut shows that Lois is incapable of moving on from Clark’s death to the point that she’s stopped working at the Daily Planet. This also means we get a different scene between Lois and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) which is more heartfelt and, thankfully, doesn’t have an awkward “thirsty” joke. But there’s also a twist to the scene which, depending on your point of view, may be a cool Easter Egg or completely unnecessary. There’s also a hint Lois might actually be pregnant, which may tie into what Zack Snyder originally planned for future Justice League movies.