Justice League Cut Massive Battle Between Atlantis and Parademons

When the Justice League took on the armies of Apocalypse in the 2017 film, they were supposed be [...]

By Joe Schmidt

When the Justice League took on the armies of Apocalypse in the 2017 film, they were supposed be aided in their efforts by soldiers of Atlantis. Aquaman's allies were filmed in a massive battle scene against Darkseid's Parademons as part of Zack Snyder's original plans for Justice League. But somewhere on the way toward its release date, during which directing duties changed hands to Joss Whedon, an epic war scene featuring the army of Atlantis was cut from the final film. Now it sounds like we finally know why — and there's a chance it could be reinserted for the Snyder Cut on HBO Max.

According to stunt performer Erol Ismail, the battle between Atlantis and Parademons was cut for being too violent.

In the years since the film's release, Snyder and others associated with the production have revealed glimpses of scenes and footage cut from the final product. And while Justice League did include a battle between Atlantean guards and Steppenwolf, there wasn't a full-fledged war taking place as Ismail alludes to right here. They were minor participants in the first invasion attempt, and then tried to protect one of the Mother Boxes from falling into Steppenwolf's hands, but that's it.

Snyder has his work cut out for him when it comes to finishing the series. Not only is he likely to be filming extra footage soon, but the director is also having to deal with changing the format of his original cut so he can make it a four-episode miniseries that will premiere on HBO Max.

"It will be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that movie," Snyder told THR. "You probably saw one-fourth of what I did."

Filming new footage is somewhat surprising, as many rumors indicated that Snyder's film was basically done, but now it seems like the scope of the project expanded quite a bit. The filmmaker has been adamant, however, that he will NOT be using any of the footage shot by Whedon when he took over directing duties on Justice League.

"I'd destroy the movie before I use a single frame that I didn't photograph," Snyder explained during his Justice Con spotlight panel. "That is a f—ing hard fact. I'd blow the f—ing thing up."

While it doesn't yet have a release date, Zack Snyder's Justice League is expected to premiere on HBO Max in 2021.

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