Tin Foil Hat Corner: Does a Zack Snyder Cut of ‘Justice League’ Actually Exist?

Welcome to Tin Foil Hat Corner where we take a look at conspiracy theories with all the sensitivity and nuance the name of the segment might suggest.

Today, we're examining whether or not Zack Snyder ever completed a feature length cut of Justice League, and all of the various rumors as to its existence. As soon as Joss Whedon took over directorial duties on the film, rumors began to swirl that Snyder didn't step down but was actually fired.

The reason Snyder was fired, allegedly, was because his cut of the film was too dark, too much of a mess, and moved further in the direction Man of Steel and Batman v Superman established. They wanted Whedon to come in and take what was there and fix it. That obviously didn't happen.

DC and Warner Brother consistently dismissed the notion that a Zack Snyder cut of the film existed, even when a group of well-intentioned fans decided to protest outside their offices. Warner Brothers has relented in the past—when a buck was to be made—releasing things like Richard Donner's cut of Superman II, so it's not without precedent. A Zack Snyder cut of the film just doesn't exist, they said.

Then Forbes contributor Mark Hughes argued on Twitter that as far as he knew, there was no complete or nearly complete version of Zack Snyder's Justice League. Director and storyboard artist Jay Oliva, who worked on Man of Steel and BvS, responded to this tweet with a whole series of tweets confirming that Snyder's version was not only shot, it was 99% complete when he left the project...

Other than incomplete vfx and maybe some reshoots for hook ups everything was shot that was storyboarded. Zack isn’t the kind of director who creates the film in the edit bay. It’s all planned out meticulously from beginning to end. That’s how MoS and BvS was done.

— Jay Oliva (@jayoliva1) June 16, 2018

What I meant with 99% is that all of the scenes Zack envisioned was shot and exists in one form or another. Of course there are still vfx that is unfinished but I never inferred that the film was 99% done. Rather that Zack’s vision was all shot except for a few reshoots planned

— Jay Oliva (@jayoliva1) June 16, 2018

I think they are responding to people saying that the Snydercut (prior to Whedon’s involvement) does not exist and is not a cohesive story because Zack left. It may not be 100% polished but all of the planned scenes were shot and edited into a full timeline.

— Jay Oliva (@jayoliva1) June 16, 2018

So yeah, conspiracy theorists, I don't know where this leads us. I do, however, know that harassing WB's new overlord AT&T about it is not helping anyone...

Hey Chris, thanks for your feedback. We are always looking to expand. We are always here you. ^NatC

— ATTCares (@ATTCares) June 15, 2018

[h/t Slashfilm]