#Justice League Was Always Supposed to Be a Lord of the Rings Style Trilogy Confirms Zack Snyder

Zack Snyder says Justice League was supposed to be the first of a trilogy, as the director had hoped at the time that the movie would launch a new franchise similar to The Lord of the Rings. This month, the four-hour cut dubbed Zack Snyder’s Justice League will premiere on HBO Max. It’s the end result of a popular fan campaign for Warner Bros. to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.

Speaking about the new movie in the latest issue of Total Film, Zack Snyder addressed how his Justice League relates to the other movies in the DCEU. The filmmaker clarifies that he sees the four-hour cut as a story that stands on its own – not necessarily sharing the same universe as Wonder Woman and Aquaman, despite featuring some of the same characters.
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“In a lot of ways, I view this movie on its own. I love [Wonder Woman director] Patty [Jenkins] and I think she’s done an amazing job, and [Aquaman director] James [Wan] has done a great job – they’ve made their own movies. But I just thought, ‘I’m gonna stay the course that I thought was cool.’ There’s a bunch of stuff I do differently than what they do, but I just think of Justice League as its own thing at this point. It exists kind of on its own.”

While elaborating on the continuity of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Snyder also divulges how the original movie was supposed to launch a new blockbuster trilogy like Peter Jackson had done with The Lord of the Rings. Still, fans shouldn’t be holding their breath on seeing Justice League 2 & 3 happen anytime soon, as Snyder doesn’t foresee that ever happening.

“For me, there’s a trilogy of films that I sort of lean on. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League are a continuity, and within that three-movie arc there is a consistent tone. Frankly, [Justice League] was meant as the primer for another two movies – not that those movies are ever going to get photographed, I don’t see that happening – and it stays true to that concept. It was meant to be like Lord of the Rings and not a one-off. That’s the way I think about it.”

It’s easy to see why Warner Bros. is in no rush to develop any more Justice League movies. The new four-hour cut cost around $70 million to complete, and the majority of the footage used had already been shot. As it was, the original Justice League was one of the most expensive movies ever made with a budget surpassing $300 million, so it stands to reason that developing a follow-up to Zack Snyder’s Justice League would cost a pretty penny.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will premiere on HBO Max on March 18. Snyder’s next movie, the zombie feature Army of the Dead, will also be releasing on Netflix on Mary 21. The new issue of Total Film with Snyder’s interview will be released on Friday, March 5. This news comes to us from Games Radar.

Topics: Justice League, Snyder Cut, HBO Max, Streaming