Chris Terrio Wanted to Remove His Name From Theatrical Cut of Justice League

As we know now, the theatrical cut of Justice League ended up not being the film that anyone involved with it really signed on for. Years of advocating for the Snyder Cut brought the complete version to the public’s eyes and the behind-the-scenes story of what went on has started to emerge. Screenwriter Chris Terrio is the latest to break his silence about what went on behind-the-scenes, having collaborated with Zack Snyder on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Justice League script. Terrio revealed that he wasn’t present on set for the filming of Justice League and that he considered having his name removed from the credits.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Terrio revealed that ahead of the theatrical release of the movie (while collaborating with J.J. Abrams on the script for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) he went to Warner Bros. and saw the film a few weeks ahead of its release. Once the credits rolled however, he made a phone call. “I immediately called my lawyer and said, ‘I want to take my name off the film,’ Terrio said. “(The lawyer) then called Warner Bros. and told them that I wanted to do that.”

When asked why he didn’t, Terrio added, “Prints had already been struck or hard drives burned or however they deliver movies these days. The elements were on their way, and to remove my name they would have had to restrike the prints or redo the digital copies, and the film could be delayed. It would be an international scandal and news story. So I shut up and I said nothing publicly. I’ve never said anything about Justice League since then, but the movie doesn’t represent my work…As far as I know, I wasn’t invited to the premiere, and I never watched the film again.”

The outlet followed up and asked why he never followed through with removing his name, Terrio replied: “I think it would have created a whole wave of negative publicity that I think would’ve made the situation even worse for the actors, and for all the craftspeople who had worked on it, for all kinds of people. But I’m awfully happy that Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League is the one that is higher on my IMDb page.”

Snyder himself said that removing his name from the movie was something he could have done but didn’t consider at the time.

“I don’t know if I even thought about it,” the director told MTV News. “I mean, in retrospect, maybe that would have been a thing I could’ve done, but my friends were all in it and everyone worked so hard. I never saw it. Maybe if I had seen it I might have wanted to take my name off it.

Both the theatrical cut and Zack Snyder’s Justice League are streaming now on HBO Max.