If there are problems with Joss Whedon’s 2017 film Justice League—not the most difficult premise to grant, given its famously troubled production, widespread critical dismissal, and (relatively) tepid box office performance—we can only assume that they stem from a single point: Batman’s inability to say “Fuck you” when he punches the film’s various generic bad guy Parademons in the face. Thankfully, this problem has now been addressed at long and winding last, with Screen Crush noting today that Zack Snyder’s long-anticipated-by-someone-apparently recut of Justice League, the fabled Snyder Cut, will arrive on HBO Max this March with a full-fucking-fledged R rating from the MPAA.
This news is, essentially, the culmination of many of Snyder’s most fiercely held superhero ambitions, starting with the “Superman breaks a dude’s neck” fun of Man Of Steel, to the elevated, hyper-violent mommy drama of Batman V. Superman, both of which were forced to labor under the restrictive aegis of the genre’s usual PG-13 limits. According to the MPAA, Zack Snyder’s Justice League has now been rated R for “violence and some language,” which we can only assume means Wonder Woman will tear a CGI baddie fully in half, slam both parts into red paste on the ground, and then scream “GET FUCKED, CHUMP!” at the top of Gal Gadot’s voice. (Or maybe Superman will just be extra grumpy when he wakes up from his mid-movie death nap. We’re not entirely sure just yet.)
Given that the Snyder Cut is, essentially, the endpoint for the version of the DC Comics film franchise that Snyder willed into life—with embattled DC Films president Walter Hamada essentially stating that the company is expected to continue to move away from these sorts of big epic crossover attempts—it’s nice to see him finally get to make the purest possible expression of “his” aesthetic: A four-hour, hyper-violent superhero movie with washed-out visuals that is also, somehow, all about the importance of hope. (And also the Joker is there, maybe.) Fuck yeah!