Zack Snyder ‘Worried’ Warner Bros. Would Sue and ‘Silence Me’ for Supporting Snyder Cut Fans

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Zack Snyder told The Sunday Times in a recent interview that he was originally scared of what Warner Bros. might do if he publicly supported the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. Snyder exited “Justice League” during post-production due to a family tragedy, and the studio brought in Joss Whedon to oversee reshoots and change the entire tone of the comic book tentpole. Snyder was eventually invited back in 2020 to restore his version of the film, which led to the release of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” on HBO Max in March.

“I was more worried the studio would sue me. Do something to silence me,” Snyder said about his decision to lend vocal support to the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut fans. The community has become a poster child in the media for toxic fandom, but Snyder stays focused on its activism above all else.

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“Here’s the reality,” Snyder said. “That fandom raised $750,000 for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. They’ve saved lives. That’s a fact. But on the other hand, was it fun to provoke them? For a clickable thing? Yes. And they were an easy target. But they continue to raise money. There are not a lot of fan communities whose primary objective, other than seeing work of a guy they like, realized their other main thing was to bring awareness to mental health and suicide prevention. For me, it’s kind of hard to be mad at them.”

“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is the last Warner Bros. movie Snyder will make for the time being. The director is jumping to Netflix for his zombie movie “Army of the Dead,” which is designed to launch a new franchise for the streamer. Snyder has full creative control of “Army of the Dead” in a way he did not on “Justice League.” The director told The Sunday Times that he’s not cut out to direct films where the studio has input.

“Where it gets difficult is when you take a director with a personal point of view and ask him to participate in a thing that is not asking for that,” Snyder said. “The journeyman film-maker? There are a lot of them, and they’re good. I just happen to have a specific point of view. The lesson I’ve learnt is it’s much easier for me, as a film-maker, to create a world and invite you into it. As opposed to me saying, ‘Let me put my cog in your wheel.’ Like, I would love to make a Star Wars movie, I know a lot about it — but I don’t think I would survive that.”

Head to The Sunday Times’ website to read more from Snyder’s interview.

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