In a recent interview with The Reel in Motion podcast, director Zack Snyder spoke about that awesome DC FanDome trailer for Justice League, including the decision behind that “Hallelujah” soundtrack and shared his thoughts on that cool sneak peek at Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
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Snyder joins the podcast at around the 46-minute mark and, after grabbing a quick beverage, delved right into the trailer. Notably, Snyder revealed that his favorite shot in the lengthy piece was the opening bit with Darkseid, but also enjoyed the bits with Flash running and the brief shot of Desaad. He also revealed that the film contains over 2,000 visual FX shots.
Another interesting tidbit Snyder talked about was the shot of Superman being stabbed by Doomsday is part of the opening montage of Justice League and that it’s seen from a “certain perspective” not unlike the opening credit sequence in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
“You’ll see at the beginning of ‘Justice League,’ there’s another where you see Bruce — or Batman — lowering the grenade launcher that he used to fire the last kryptonite round [at Doomsday] and you see him seeing the sacrifice that Superman — what he’s just done. It’s full circle if you think about the first moment he sort of saw Superman and was like, ‘That motherf***er!’ And now he’s like, ‘That guy just gave his life to save all of us.'”
Snyder also revealed that he decided to use “Hallelujah” almost two years ago. “It’s something that I just felt like, you know, was right for this,” Snyder explained of the Leonard Cohen song and that “it has significance beyond just the movie.”
Intriguingly, when discussing his plans for Lex Luthor, Snyder explained that he had a character arc spread out over a much longer trajectory. When pressed if we’ll see that story play out, he simply said, “We’ll see” before adding that the movie we are going to see is actually a more complete and longer version of Justice League than his original cut.
Finally, with regard to Ben Affleck returning as Batman for The Flash, Snyder admits that he was surprised by the news and physically knocked on wood when asked if that meant the actor would return for more Justice League films.
As for The Batman, Snyder was as enthusiastic as the rest of us after that great trailer.
“I don’t know yet what the rating is going to be, but I felt the same way. I actually just texted Matt [Reeves] after and I was like, ‘What the f***! This is cool! I loved it. I thought it was so cool. I thought it was the right direction and everything about it. As far as just being a fan, it’s the kind of movie I want to see, so I felt like [two thumbs up].”
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Zack Snyder’s Justice League will reportedly cost around $20-30 million in order to properly finish the editing and visual effects of the director’s original vision. The original post-production crew is also expected to return along with the cast members to record additional dialogue for the cut.
Fueled by the hero’s restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Justice League sees Bruce Wayne enlist the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Justice League, which features a screenplay from Chris Terrio from a story by Snyder and Terrio, stars Affleck as Batman, Cavill as Superman, Gadot as Wonder Woman, Momoa as Aquaman, Miller as The Flash, Fisher as Cyborg, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.
Released in November 2017, the film earned mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, praising the action and performances from Gadot and Miller while criticizing every other aspect of the film, namely the inconsistent tone that many fault Joss Whedon (The Avengers) for after taking over directorial duties from Snyder. With a large budget of $300 million and a break-even point of $750 million, the film is considered a box office bomb having grossed only $658 million.
