Zack Snyder’s Justice League highlights Joss Whedon’s shortcomings as a filmmaker

Zack Snyder’s Justice League was far superior to Joss Whedon’s version.

While the arrival of Zack Snyder’s Justice League has sparked all kinds of debate, there is no denying that the long-awaited DC superhero flick highlights Joss Whedon’s shortcomings.

Whedon, whose biggest claims to fame include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and The Avengers, came on board to fix the hugely anticipated DCEU Justice League film that Snyder left due to a family tragedy back in 2017, and the end result was not ideal, to say the least. The film was a mess from start to finish and disappointed fans so much that they began an unprecedented movement to restore the original filmmaker’s vision of the movie which was a success resulting in a March 18, 2021 release on HBO Max.

After watching the Justice is Gray version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it’s not wild for one to have the first thought that Whedon may not be as good at this whole movie-making thing as everyone once thought. The Snyder Cut is no masterpiece, but it is lightyears better than Whedon’s take.

Zack Snyder’s four-hour superhero epic gets rid of all of the worst scenes from Whedon’s abomination like Steppenwolf’s god-awful design, and the not-even-funny-to-12-years-olds-anymore act of having a male character’s head accidentally ending up on a females character’s chest. And amazingly, it improves on every other part of the film too, including the Amazon fight sequence, Wonder Woman’s scene with the hostages, and the return of Superman – which are all infinitely better than before.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League proves that even Avengers’ success didn’t mean Joss Whedon was right for the League

Snyder’s interpretation of the source material can be completely bonkers at times, and it seems like the man couldn’t make a motion picture under 2 and a half hours to save his life, but at least he is trying to tell a story that hasn’t been told in a unique and intriguing manner.

Even if a good filmmaker swings and misses, there is still a lot to be appreciated by the final product. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is by no means his best work, and despite the confusion with plot and odd sound design choices, there are still a lot of reasons to keep the Oscar-nominated film in the rotation.

Looking back at Whedon’s Justice League, it definitely feels like he was on total autopilot recycling everything from his bag of tricks that many had already become bored of at that point. There also seems to be a lot of merit to Ray Fisher’s claim that the bad experience Whedon had on Avengers: Age of Ultron was a big factor in his poor efforts here as there are times where the bad Justice League film wreaks of misplaced aggression.

Thinking that, just because he directed Avengers, that Justice League would be in good hands may have been a misguided outlook from the start as one could argue his expertise had little to do with the MCU juggernaut’s successful run. Let’s be real, it is really no secret that many directors out there would love to have filmmakers like Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh, and Joe Johnston make several films to set up a mega Marvel mashup destined to dominate the box office. With this in mind, it’s important to remember it really is not fair to say anyone could have directed the 2012 blockbuster, but it also doesn’t mean Whedon should be put on the same level as James Cameron or James Gunn because of it.

DC fans haven’t seen this kind of disparity in film cuts since Superman II, where Richard Donner’s cut eclipses Richard Lester’s odd take in every way imaginable.

People may not remember, but movies like Iron Man were still revered as box office popcorn flix and still somewhat disliked by certain demographics that saw them as a mainstream merchandise-making machines. It wouldn’t be shocking at all to find out that some of the thought-processes behind hiring Joss Whedon for the Avengers, and later Justice League, was to appease a once-thought-to-be unreachable market for this film genre and gain the underground fans they were missing from the solo films that preceded it.

After all, Whedon’s Firefly has become a cult favorite, despite not enough tuning in when it counted most, and his projects like Dr. Horrible are a big hit with those that would rather watch old Dr. Who episodes than a Fast and Furious flick (which it turns out there are a lot of in the world). In the end, Joss Whedon directed The Avengers and the movie was a success. However, the film was set up for success thanks to the fine work of Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, and Louis D’Esposito, so to give Whedon all the credit for that success would be ridiculous.

Even comparing the Russo Brothers’ Avengers titles to Whedon’s isn’t a favorable comparison for the Dollhouse creator – who reportedly struggled with the two films that had a pretty small cast compared to that of Infinity War and Endgame. And to add insult to injury, Age of Ultron failed to perform as well as its predecessor box-office-wise.

Is Joss Whedon really bad at movies?

The one legitimate success Whedon had on his resume was Buffy the Vampire Slayer which has recently become mired in controversy. The one credit that was the last argument his fans and followers could make to solidify his competence is now the subject of a horrifying set of revelations about toxic behavior that is unbecoming of anyone that should even be thought to be considered as an exceptional cinematic auteur.

Sometimes people are just in the right place at the right time and those people at the helm get the credit of a master when they are just one of the guys on the championship team that mistakenly had their name engraved on the MVP trophy. The fact that everyone was so happy that the gamble of franchise evolution had paid off and the cinematic universe’s birth from the success of Avengers was obtained could have very well blinded everyone to the truth of Whedon’s weaknesses in the director’s chair when it came to deciding who should take over Justice League way back when.

Regardless of the success of the first two Avengers movies, Joss Whedon has yet to fully establish himself as a standout director. While there is no definitive answer as to the effectiveness of his movie-making ability, it is fair to be confident in contesting anyone regarding his version in higher regard than the much-better Zack Snyder’s Justice League film.

Joss Whedon’s Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, including the Justice is Gray edition, are available on HBO Max.