How The Snyder Cut Movement's Victory Is A Victory Of Mankind.

               On 17th of November, 2017, the world was introduced to the very first live-action Justice League movie, which had been hyped up for a long time, ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) introduced the concept of interconnected shared universe movies, and finally made the very first live-action Avengers movie. The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) started with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel movie in 2013, when Snyder introduced Kal-El, aka Clark Kent, to the real world through his movie. It was a completely different take on Superman, as a confused and doubtful alien among humans, one who was taught not to show his powers by his own adopted father, Jonathan Kent, as the world might not accept him and it may even prosecute him if they knew how different and powerful he really was. Snyder showed a Superman in the real world, which is governed by political mindsets and influenced by the media in almost every way. A world where people with power want to take control of everything, and so the world would look at a Superman as someone who would try to do the same.

               

               The movie itself was a success in the box office, but it left fans divided, as most have grown attached to the comedic and unreal nature of the MCU movies, and so they were unable to accept a different take on the all American boy-scout. However, there were also fans who connected very well with Snyder's take on Superman, and went on to show their support for him in the sequel, which gave us the greatest gladiator match in history, Batman Vs Superman. The movie was titled Batman V Superman, and was surrounded with controversy as well, as it also divided fans because it was mainly plot driven and more mature than other Marvel movies, especially since by the time it was released, there have been many MCU movies that fans have gotten used to, which were completely different from the darker and gritty take of the DCEU. The movie was plot driven and so it was around three hours long, but the studio decided to cut down the movie to two and a half hours, which resulted in them cutting off important plot points, and so the movie, while still being a success, didn't achieve the expected result. WB then decided to release the uncut version of the movie, titled, Batman V Superman: Ultimate Cut, which was much much better than the theatrical version.

               

               Now, the next movie that Snyder was supposed to direct and release was Justice League, which had been set up in Batman V Superman, but due to and unexpected family tragedy, Zack Snyder had to leave the project and spend some time with his family. However, WB wanted to move on and finish the movie anyway and release it on the planned date, so they brought in Avengers' director, Joss Whedon, to complete the remaining VFX for Snyder's Justice League. But Whedon decided to bring the actors for reshoots, which at that time wasn't known for which reason. When the movie was released, fans immediately realized that it was a completely different movie, and that the reshoots that Joss Whedon did were most of the things that they got to see in the theater. The CGI removed mustache of Henry Cavill's Superman was clearly visible in almost all the scenes in which Superman occured, Batman was no longer Batman with forced jokes and smiles that is completely unreal for Batman, Wonder Woman was highly sexualized, Flash was just a comedic character and most notably, Ray Fisher's Cyborg, who was supposed to be the heart of the movie, had little to no importance in the movie.

               

               That's when the movement was born, the Release The Snyder Cut movement, which was unintentionally started by a fan named Fiona, and this became one of the most popular movement in the history of social media. Fans began tweeting their desires to see the original version of Justice League by tweeting the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut and they were degraded and demotivated by many famous people, calling them toxic fans and telling them that the theatrical version was Snyder's original version, and that the Snyder Cut simply didn't exist. This however was not the end, as Zack Snyder bagan to see the support of his fans and started to share more about his original version of Justice League, which was completely different from what was released in the theaters. Snyder himself was attacked by haters as well, as they called him a failed director and more. However, he and the fans remained determined and started petitions which were signed by more than 180,000 people, and engaged in promoting the Snyder Cut in the Comic-cons and various other platforms by raising funds to spend half on advertising campaign (including billboards and a flying banner ad promoting the Snyder Cut), and the other half was donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

               

               More and more fans started joining the campaign from all over the world, and even celebrities started supporting the fans as this was a movement for giving creative freedom to directors, even the cast of Justice League also started supporting the movement by tweeting the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Snyder kept on supporting the movement by sharing more and more unseen stills from his version of the movie and revealing even more information about it. He started hosting watch parties for his movies, and on May 20, 2020, during an online Q&A, after finishing his watch party of Man of Steel, Snyder was joined by Henry Cavill, where he finally announced that the fans have won and that he will finally be allowed to complete and release his original version of Justice League on the streaming service, HBOMax, in 2021.

               

               Fans were overjoyed and took to social media to express their enthusiasm for their dream and hard work finally coming true. The movement may have started small and may have been termed as a toxic movement, but it showed the better nature of mankind, how people of different races and colours from different countries of the world can put aside their differences and come together for a common cause, to support something they love and to stand strong together. The victory of the Snyder Cut movement didn't just give creative freedom to Zack Snyder and isn't just a step towards directors getting more freedom to make their own movies, it is a victory of humankind, a sign that showed that we are not so different afterall, that we can all "come together" and achieve anything we want.