Snyder Cut V Theatrical Cut: Which Cut Handled Supes Better?

[Amadeus Arkham]

The Snyder Cut is out! And what a journey it was to get there. Now that we have two versions of JL to enjoy or loathe depending where you fall on either version, I wanted to know which out of the two existing versions of Justice League do you guys think handled Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El the best?

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

He's barely in either, so going with the one where he has a real face. Not even criticizing that, thats what the story was and they made an effort to limit marketing him when the first version came out. For better or worse, the trilogy is more about how the world reacts to Superman's existence than the character himself.

[MadFacedKid]

Going to be spoiler heavy obviously


Snyder cut hands down. We get more in-depth on not how it necessarily effected the world but how it effected the characters around Superman.

Lois stops going to the daily planet, she stops working since the death of Superman. She also visits his memorial often.
We see later when J’onn disguises himself as Martha to go talk Lois back into continuing her actual life that the two of them haven’t been in contact since Superman died.

Martha. This is reinforced by the fact when Martha see’s Clark again she has a reaction towards Lois like she hasn’t seen Lois in awhile either. We don’t see much of Martha so it’s kind of hard to determine how much it effected her but we do get that reaction to his return from her and before his return her scenes with Martha Kent actually in them had a more gloomy tone.

Batman. His whole mission of assembling the league was said to be inspired by Superman and that we’re stronger together than we are apart. Batman even has a line when they’re debating on bringing Superman back where he said that there’s no us without him. In reference to the Justice League.

The World. The whole plot of the motherboxes reactivating we’re because of his death and before someone says Supes does more harm for being on Earth. If his rocket ship never landed the motherboxes probably would of A.) Woken up earlier B.) Woken up in current time possibly anywhere from when Superman was suppose to have arrived up until when Steppenwolf did. They were weakened and taking time to awake. The only reason it said they didn’t send out a signal sooner was because of Superman’s presence on Earth. Which kind of symbolizes him as Earth’s protector.


Ofcourse he also didn’t have a mustache cgi removal surgery in the Snydercut, and I think the fact he got to coordinate with the Justice League instead of one man army the situation kind of helps with the idea of justifying the team and him among it. Instead of separate.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

While I loved the Flash/Superman race and the "slow poke" scene, I can't think of a single addition that Whedon made that improved things. Now, I'm sure the shitty CGI moustache removal may have a lot to do with that, but that's certainly how I'm feeling now.

I think Whedon was trying too hard to pivot Cavill's Superman into the one we all know and love and that simply wasn't the guy who Snyder had established in the previous two films. Clearly, those were his marching orders from Geoff Johns, but it never felt organic to the story being told. It felt like an abrupt course correction, rather than a genuine change in his character, which could have worked, but they didn't have the time to make it work within that ridiculous 2 hour runtime that the studio mandated.

[manofsteel1979]

While I loved the Flash/Superman race and the "slow poke" scene, I can't think of a single addition that Whedon made that improved things. Now, I'm sure the shitty CGI moustache removal may have a lot to do with that, but that's certainly how I'm feeling now.

I think Whedon was trying too hard to pivot Cavill's Superman into the one we all know and love and that simply wasn't the guy who Snyder had established in the previous two films. Clearly, those were his marching orders from Geoff Johns, but it never felt organic to the story being told. It felt like an abrupt course correction, rather than a genuine change in his character, which could have worked, but they didn't have the time to make it work within that ridiculous 2 hour runtime that the studio mandated.

This.

Plus it has my favorite badass Superman moment in cinema now,his entrance into the Steppenwolf fight.

"I'm not impressed "

[Soubhagya]

While I loved the Flash/Superman race and the "slow poke" scene, I can't think of a single addition that Whedon made that improved things. Now, I'm sure the shitty CGI moustache removal may have a lot to do with that, but that's certainly how I'm feeling now.

I think Whedon was trying too hard to pivot Cavill's Superman into the one we all know and love and that simply wasn't the guy who Snyder had established in the previous two films. Clearly, those were his marching orders from Geoff Johns, but it never felt organic to the story being told. It felt like an abrupt course correction, rather than a genuine change in his character, which could have worked, but they didn't have the time to make it work within that ridiculous 2 hour runtime that the studio mandated.

This.

Plus it has my favorite badass Superman moment in cinema now,his entrance into the Steppenwolf fight.

"I'm not impressed "

Agree with both of you. I am having some mixed feelings at the moment, but i agree with both of you.

I think his freeze breath here was more awesome. It was just a light breath. He was not blowing with some heavy force. And he just disintegrated that weapon. Oh and he kicks as well. He was wiping the floor with Steppenwolf in the theatrical cut too. But i think this is more effective.

Say what you will about Snyder handling his character, but you can't deny Superman in fights kicks ass.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

In the theatrical he basically waited for Cyborg to get wrecked so he could then spout some line about truth and justice... it was all so awkward.

Here he saved Cyborg and foze the staff and then proceeded to wreck Steppenwolf. Of course the music was so much better too. The frost breath on the staff was one of the most satisfying moments!

[manofsteel1979]

In the theatrical he basically waited for Cyborg to get wrecked so he could then spout some line about truth and justice... it was all so awkward.

Here he saved Cyborg and foze the staff and then proceeded to wreck Steppenwolf. Of course the music was so much better too. The frost breath on the staff was one of the most satisfying moments!

The way Clark just nonchalantly just puffs on Steppenwolf's axe and then shattered it before proceeding to kick the crap out of him...that was fantastic.

[Blue22]

He was pretty terrible in both of them, honestly. He gets the Goku treatment in both movies, where he spends most of it out of commission and then just comes in at the end to save the day. Less of a character and more of a living prop. In a movie that's about bringing a team together, he never really feels like part of the team. Which makes Batman's line about there not being a team without him super laughable. Y'all worked like a team just fine without him. You just needed him to look cool and punch stuff.

But that scene against Steppenwolf was pretty badass in Snyder cut so I guess he gets the point.

Also not a huge fan of the Injustice route we seem to be going down for the next movie.

[MadFacedKid]

He was pretty terrible in both of them, honestly. He gets the Goku treatment in both movies, where he spends most of it out of commission and then just comes in at the end to save the day. Less of a character and more of a living prop. In a movie that's about bringing a team together, he never really feels like part of the team. Which makes Batman's line about there not being a team without him super laughable. Y'all worked like a team just fine without him. You just needed him to look cool and punch stuff.

But that scene against Steppenwolf was pretty badass in Snyder cut so I guess he gets the point.

Also not a huge fan of the Injustice route we seem to be going down for the next movie.

Well the whole premise started with him being dead so ofcourse he wasn’t there for most of the movie... the whole reason the team banded together was to get Superman back so ofcourse he’s significant to the team. He was the mission, bringing him back to help stop the invasion. He’s basically the idea Batman used to not only assemble the team but to give them hope in stopping Steppenwolf.

Injustice Route? It was a dream sequence for 1. 2 we don’t know the context of it and there’s a difference between being enslaved by the ALE, and being a tyrannical dictator.

[Alpha]

Well the whole premise started with him being dead so ofcourse he wasn’t there for most of the movie... the whole reason the team banded together was to get Superman back so ofcourse he’s significant to the team. He was the mission, bringing him back to help stop the invasion. He’s basically the idea Batman used to not only assemble the team but to give them hope in stopping Steppenwolf.

Injustice Route? It was a dream sequence for 1. 2 we don’t know the context of it and there’s a difference between being enslaved by the ALE, and being a tyrannical dictator.

We do know the context of it. Snyder has revealed his entire arc for most of these characters, and it's just exasperating.

[Lightning Rider]

Overall, Snyder. I didn't hate everything Whedon did, but "itchy", "Truth/Justice" were really off-putting.

That little butterfly moment...I thought that was beautiful.

[Lightning Rider]

This is tangential, but it seems like Snyder's original trilogy centered on the Knightmare future has Superman front and center in the final film as a leader. Obviously I'm sure we would have liked more Superman earlier on but it's nice to know he wasn't just evil, mind-controlled Superman.

https://www.esquire.com/entertainmen...gue-interview/

[Sacred Knight]

I sill say theatrical. With the addendum this is all relative, the theatrical cut still sucks. But at the very least, the dude had a flair of optimism behind him finally. He remains overly dark in the Snyder Cut, and it would only get moreso had the sequels happened. It shouldn't take three films to get the character to actually be his character. Comparing the two movies overall the Snyder Cut is better. But Superman individually doesn't benefit from it at all, other than what little story he has being more coherent.

[Yoda]

I think the SnyderCut definitely handled his resurrection and return much better. I don't like that he keeps the black suit, but I think character wise he's a lot better in SnyderCut than the theatrical.