Kevin Smith Sheds Light on Zack Snyder's Planned Justice League Trilogy

[Midvillian1322]

I like the idea of Superman coming into his own over the course of a few movies and the end product being the superman we love and know. But I just couldn't roll with what they started with. Everything I disliked about the Kent's just turned me off. Which is a shame cause Jor-El was amazing in MoS. Might be unpopular opinion but I'll take Russle Crowes over Marlon Brandos anyday.

[Sam Robards, Comic Fan]

Indications are that the studio gave him a length and he ignored it. no one on either side is saying for sure, of course. But it would hardly be the first time a studio got something they didn't ask for.

Huh. Learn something new every day.

I like the idea of Superman coming into his own over the course of a few movies and the end product being the superman we love and know. But I just couldn't roll with what they started with. Everything I disliked about the Kent's just turned me off. Which is a shame cause Jor-El was amazing in MoS. Might be unpopular opinion but I'll take Russle Crowes over Marlon Brandos anyday.

Agree wholeheartedly with the bold. Even on my first viewing of Man of Steel, I loved Crowe's Jor-El. If they wanted to do a prequel about him, I'd be all for it.

[Agent Z]

Indications are that the studio gave him a length and he ignored it. no one on either side is saying for sure, of course. But it would hardly be the first time a studio got something they didn't ask for.

Where did you hear this?

[Midvillian1322]

Where did you hear this?

It was a rumor when the movie came out when the reports surfaced that he was forced to cut 30mins. But other then rumors I've never seen a definitive report that WB says keep it 2 1/2 or less. But I mean does it seem that unreasonable that before the movie was filmed they asked to keep it to 2 - 2 1/2 hour mark. No way of knowing but given you want as many showings as possible for these movies and MoS was already a decisive film. I can easily seeing WB requesting the movie not be to bloated. Let's be fair I know some people loved the movie but alot of people who didnt like it or had complaints was that the movie was slow and felt way too long. I mean that was Kevin Smith's big complaint. But honestly I feel like I end up on the anti Snyder DCEU films side of the fence. I didnt hate any of them as a comicbook fan they gave me moments that made me nerd out and I loved it for that. BvS has Batmans warehouse fight, Wonder Womans entrance, and the first time we saw a paradeamon. It was worth watching just for that. Justice league is in the same boat. I dont love it but it gives me moments that as a comic fan I geeked out on. The Justice league vs Superman fight I liked. They didnt nerf Supes and let him run rough shot on all of them. But in all honesty the extra 30mins the ultimate cut of BvS has made the story actually make sense with people thinking supes killed those people in Africa. But It did nothing to improve the story or movie for me other then making it make some sense. So I dont blame studio meddling I just feel like Synders vision wasnt the right one for mass appeal.

[Osiris-Rex]

Snyder had to deal with executive meddling too but people keep blaming him for ruining the DCEU. Same with Schumacher and the Batman movies.

Basically, how much a director is seen to be at fault depends on how much you like them.

At least Schumacher has apologized for what he did to Batman. If anything Snyder seems to be doubling down in his tweets to justify what he did to Batman and the rest of the DCEU.

I like the idea of Superman coming into his own over the course of a few movies and the end product being the superman we love and know. But I just couldn't roll with what they started with. Everything I disliked about the Kent's just turned me off. Which is a shame cause Jor-El was amazing in MoS. Might be unpopular opinion but I'll take Russle Crowes over Marlon Brandos anyday.

Brando was a ham and let his star status go to his head. So Brando made Jor-El be all about him. He even got top billing instead of Christopher Reeve. Crowe knew his place. Jor-El wasn't Crowe, Jor-El was Jor-El.
And Crowe didn't get top billing over Cavil.

[Zero Hunter]

It was a rumor when the movie came out when the reports surfaced that he was forced to cut 30mins. But other then rumors I've never seen a definitive report that WB says keep it 2 1/2 or less. But I mean does it seem that unreasonable that before the movie was filmed they asked to keep it to 2 - 2 1/2 hour mark. No way of knowing but given you want as many showings as possible for these movies and MoS was already a decisive film. I can easily seeing WB requesting the movie not be to bloated. Let's be fair I know some people loved the movie but alot of people who didnt like it or had complaints was that the movie was slow and felt way too long. I mean that was Kevin Smith's big complaint. But honestly I feel like I end up on the anti Snyder DCEU films side of the fence. I didnt hate any of them as a comicbook fan they gave me moments that made me nerd out and I loved it for that. BvS has Batmans warehouse fight, Wonder Womans entrance, and the first time we saw a paradeamon. It was worth watching just for that. Justice league is in the same boat. I dont love it but it gives me moments that as a comic fan I geeked out on. The Justice league vs Superman fight I liked. They didnt nerf Supes and let him run rough shot on all of them. But in all honesty the extra 30mins the ultimate cut of BvS has made the story actually make sense with people thinking supes killed those people in Africa. But It did nothing to improve the story or movie for me other then making it make some sense. So I dont blame studio meddling I just feel like Synders vision wasnt the right one for mass appeal.

It is common knowledge no studio wants a movie much over 2:20 at the most. When it starts getting over that it can cut into how many times a movie can be shown per night. A 3 hour movie is never going to fly because in most theater chains you would be cutting the number of screenings in half which would be cutting your profits in half. Add in the fact that mot people don't want to sit through a 3 hour movie in the theater just adds to that. There are the rare exceptions to this rule, but most of the time studios are always going to make them cut it down when it gets over 2:20. Any director who has worked in Hollywood for any length of time knows this so when you see them going way over that it is just them being egomaniacs.

[AJBopp]

Brando was a ham and let his star status go to his head. So Brando made Jor-El be all about him. He even got top billing instead of Christopher Reeve. Crowe knew his place. Jor-El wasn't Crowe, Jor-El was Jor-El.
And Crowe didn't get top billing over Cavil.

Apparently Brando regretted taking the role before filming started, and his agents tried to pitch the idea of "What if Jor-El is a box...?" so that Brando would only be doing voice-over work.

However, it would have been very unusual for an actor of Brando's stature to not get top billing. Remember that Hackman got second billing, and Reeve only third (I believe he didn't get top billing till III). And Hackman wasn't even that much in stature at that point. His star was waning at the time, not able to equal or ascend the heights of French Connection until the 80s. That's part of the reason he took such a ridiculous role.