Zack Synder took a shot at Justice League producer Geoff Johns over how Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe was handled.
During Snyder’s charity event Q&A session, the filmmaker spoke about his days as the creative force behind both the DCEU and 2009’s Watchmen film adaptation. When asked if he would have considered adapting Johns’ Doomsday Clock crossover event story as a feature film, Snyder did not hesitate to answer. “Probably not,” he said.
From Johns, Gary Frank and Brad Anderson, Doomsday Clock is a limited series published by DC Comics from 2017 to 2019 and was a direct sequel to the Watchmen miniseries by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. Doomsday Clock effectively introduced the characters in Watchmen to the DC Universe and also served as a conclusion to the story set up by The New 52 and DC Rebirth.
Following the response to Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, Johns and former DC Entertainment executive Jon Berg were appointed by Warner Bros. to take over DC’s film division. Johns handled the rewrites to Snyder’s Justice League script, giving the film a lighter tone than its predecessor. This caused friction between Johns, Snyder, co-writer Chris Terrio and the studio. However, when Snyder departed the project due to a personal tragedy, The Avengers director Joss Whedon took over Justice League in reshoots and post-production.
Did Zack Snyder Threaten Geoff Johns’ Career?
While Justice League was a critical and commercial failure, Warner Bros. announced the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League for HBO Max in 2020. Snyder requested that both Johns’ and Berg’s names be removed from his cut of the film, though the filmmaker has denied reports claiming that he threatened the producers’ careers if their names were not removed. “[We] have [never] said anything negative about Geoff Johns or Jon Berg on social media or in interviews,” he said. He also added that he wanted their names removed from his cut of Justice League because it “was not the movie they believed in, developed, or helped us to get made.”
Snyder’s most recent project is a space epic for Netflix titled Rebel Moon, which is “in the can” according to co-writer Shay Hatten. “I think with Rebel Moon, people will just see that it’s him really getting to unleash his visual imagination to the fullest extent. And I think people will really dig it,” Hatten said.
Rebel Moon is scheduled for a Netflix premiere on Dec. 22, 2023, after a limited theatrical release. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is available to stream on HBO Max.
Source : CBR