Additional footage shot for the Snyder cut of Justice League may mean the movie is rated R hints director.
Zack Snyder has managed to convince the powers that be at Warner Bros to give him another crack at finishing his initial vision for Justice League – three years after the theatrical release. The tone of the new cut of the movie is expected to be drastically different, with brand new scenes that were shot recently, and it is due to be released on HBO Max in four parts.
Zack Snyder had to step down before he could finish work on the original theatrical release of Justice League due to personal circumstances. Joss Whedon then took the reins, and made substantial changes to the final cut of the movie that were very different from Snyder’s original plan. Unfortunately, the original theatrical release of Justice League was universally panned by critics and fans alike. This eventually led to an outcry for Zack Snyder’s cut to be completed and released. The people have had their say and Warner Bros have listened - the Snyder Cut of the movie is almost upon us.
Although a specific release date is yet to be set for the Snyder Cut of Justice League, it is definitely expected to drop some time in 2021. Snyder spoke to EW recently and confirmed that he believes the final release of the new cut will be R-Rated. The MPAA is yet to have their final say on this, however, Snyder believes that the explicit nature of the additional content being added to the movie will require an R rating. This is what Zack Snyder had to say when he spoke to EW.
"Here's one piece of information nobody knows: The movie is insane and so epic and is probably rated R — that's one thing I think will happen, that it will be an R-rated version, for sure. We haven't heard from the MPAA, but that's my gut."
"There's one scene where Batman drops an F-bomb. Cyborg is not too happy with what's going on with his life before he meets the Justice League, and he tends to speak his mind. And Steppenwolf is pretty much just hacking people in half. So [the rating would be due to] violence and profanity, probably both."
Snyder’s original dark and edgy vision for the DC Universe has polarised fans going all the way back to the release of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. The movie resultantly received a host of mixed reviews. The feedback from that movie actually led to Snyder having to rewrite a lot of content for Justice League before it was filmed (which was then altered again when Joss Whedon took over). The design for Steppenwolf, the main antagonist in the theatrical cut of the movie, was also said to be much ‘scarier’ and had to be altered. Releasing this new project on HBO Max means that Snyder will have more freedom to include edgier content – an interesting prospect for fans eagerly waiting for the release.
It should be noted that it is yet to be confirmed by the MPAA whether or not the final cut of Snyder’s Justice League will receive an R rating. What we can all take away from all of this, however, is that Snyder’s comments certainly imply that he’s been able to do a lot of things with the movie that he wouldn’t be able to get away with if it was being released in the theaters from the outset. Warner Bros would want to reach the largest audience possible with household names such as Batman and Superman in a movie, and it wouldn’t be possible to do that with an R-rating. Whether or not R-rated content will add any value to the final product remains to be seen.
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