Zack Snyder Is Stepping Down From Justice League Following Family Tragedy

After a family tragedy, Zack Snyder is stepping away from Justice League along with his wife following their daughter’s death. The film is currently in post-production. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news earlier today as Snyder held a meeting with Warner Bros. The director said he was taking time to step away from his work following the tragedy to recenter and spend time with his loved ones.

“In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was way through it,” Snyder said as his wife Deborah sat beside him. “The demands of this job are pretty intense. It is all consuming. And in the last two months I’ve come to the realization…I’ve decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me. They are all having a hard time. I’m having a hard time.”

“What they are going through is unimaginable, and my heart — our hearts — go out to them,” Toby Emmerich, president of Warner Bros. Pictures, told press. The studio went on to say it is fully behind Snyder’s leave from the film.

With the movie in post-production, there is still work left to be done on the feature. As such, it has been announced that Joss Whedon will be filling in for Snyder. Warner Bros. said it initially toyed around with pushing back the release of Justice League, but the Snyders were not pleased with the idea. Instead, the duo opted to remove themselves from the feature for some time to focus on their family and personal lives.

Fans were not informed about Snyder and his family’s on-going tragedy in order to keep the public’s eye away from the ordeal. The director’s daughter Autumn Snyder committed suicide back in March. The 20-year-old student was attending Saint Lawrence College, and the family remembered the girl as one who loved to write. “I want the movie to be amazing and I’m a fan, but that all pales pretty quickly in comparison,” he says. “I know the fans are going to be worried about the movie but there are seven other kids that need me,” Snyder admitted. ” In the end, it’s just a movie. It’s a great movie. But it’s just a movie.

“Here’s the thing, I never planned to make this public,” he continued. “I thought it would just be in the family, a private matter, our private sorrow that we would deal with. When it became obvious that I need to take break, I knew there would be narratives created on the internet. They’ll do what they do. The truth it…I’m past caring about that kind of thing now.”

Our thoughts and well wishes are with Snyder and his loved ones at this difficult time.

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In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists 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 is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, and features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Ezra Miller (The Flash), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Ciarán Hinds (Steppenwolf), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth), J.K. Simmons (Commissioner Gordon), Amber Heard (Mera), Kiersey Clemons (Iris West) and Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor).