People Are Destroying Their Justice League Theatrical Cut DVDs

With Zack Snyder’s Justice League now slated for a 2021 release, hardcore Snyder fans are taking the opportunity to rid themselves of their copies of the theatrical cut of Justice League on Blu-ray and DVD. It may seem dramatic, but after 2+ years of arguing that this version of the movie isn’t very good, it almost makes more sense to trash the thing than it does that they own it at all. A half-dozen folks shared images of their efforts to be free of the “Josstice League,” while others chimed in to say they had done the same, or to explain why they wouldn’t.

Zack Snyder, director of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is a master of visual filmmaking, but has often struggled with studios over his vision for story. Extended director’s cuts of Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and Batman v Superman all made it to DVD, but in all of those cases, he had significant input into the theatrical cut of the films that most people would see.

Not so with Justice League. In March of 2017, Snyder’s daughter died by suicide, and with eight months to go before the release date Warners had set for what was expected to be a huge blockbuster, the studio decided to move forward with another filmmaker to oversee reshoots and the film’s final edit. That job went to Joss Whedon, director of Marvel’s The Avengers, who worked under what are reported to have been some pretty specific directions from Warner Bros. Pictures — including a directive to keep the film limited to two hours.

When it came to theaters, Justice League was a gigantic commercial flop, and almost no fans were happy with it. Those who hoped Whedon would “Marvelize” the dark and brooding DC films found that Snyder’s fingerprints were still on enough of it to to frustrate them, while people who had enjoyed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman hated the alterations to tone and story that Whedon and Warner Bros. had made. Across the board, it was agreed that the tone of the movie was all over the place, with two very different filmmakers who had shot the movie with two very different visions for the characters.

A movement to “Release the Snyder Cut” sprung up almost immediately and has never relented since, with a special push in November marking the theatrical cut’s two year anniversary. One of the early ideas was that if enough people bought the Justice League DVD and Blu-ray, maybe it would convince Warner Bros. that there was a market for an extended cut, so even some Snyder fans who said they couldn’t stand the movie, bought it anyway to support the possibility of a Snyder Cut down the line.

It seems those people are now having a little fun with it.

You can check them out below.

Jonny Sales

Mercival

Isaac

Jeff

Joe Higgins

Drizzd

An alternate take from Nick Ingram