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Zack Snyder says he left ‘Justice League’ because he had ‘zero energy’ for the fight

Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder had “zero energy” to fight the studio further over “Justice League” after his daughter’s death in 2017.
(Marco Ugarte / Associated Press)
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Zack Snyder just didn’t have it in him to fight the good fight anymore.

That’s what the original “Justice League” director said in a new interview, explaining why he didn’t return to helm “Justice League” after stepping away during post-production and reshoots because of the suicide death of one of his eight children.

For the record:

7:17 p.m. Jan. 26, 2021An earlier version of this story said Zack Snyder’s cut of “Justice League” would be a four-part series. It is a four-hour feature film.

Snyder had been fighting with the studio over his “Justice League” vision when tragedy struck his family, he told Cinemablend‘s Sean O’Connell whose book “Release the Snyder Cut” comes out March 1. The director never completed his cut of the movie — until now.

“I just was kind of done with it,” said the director, 54. “I was in this place of [knowing] my family needs me more than this ... and I just need to honor them and do the best I can to heal that world.”

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Snyder said he had “no energy” to fight the studio as the film’s November 2017 release date approached.

“Literally, zero energy for that. I really think that’s the main thing,” he said. “I think there’s a different world where I stayed and kind of tried. And I’m sure I could have . . . because every movie is a fight, right? I was used to that. But ... there was no fight in me. I had been beaten by what was going on in my life and I just didn’t want to, I didn’t care to . . . that was kind of where I was.”

Director Zack Snyder’s cut of “Justice League” — known as the mythical “Snyder Cut” — will be completed and released as an HBO Max exclusive.

May 20, 2020

As Snyder stepped down in March 2017, Joss Whedon took the “Justice League” reins and the movie came out on time. But some fans who had been obsessed with Snyder’s vision since the “Man of Steel” and “Batman v. Superman” director was named to head “Justice League” years earlier considered Whedon’s film disappointing — and so a social-media movement was born as they called relentlessly to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.

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Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) and Ben Affleck (Batman) tweeted their support for the effort on the second anniversary of the “Justice League” release, and WarnerMedia ultimately accepted the challenge.

A teaser trailer for Snyder’s version came out in July 2020, with a push from Jason Momoa (Aquaman).

Snyder wasn’t nuts about Whedon’s take either, saying in a December 2020 Q&A on Vero, “I just hope I can wipe that Version out of existence with what you see in March” on HBO Max.

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The Snyder cut is being sold as a four-hour feature on the premium streamer that includes new footage, new visual effects and new music. It’s also said to have the kind of violence and profanity that earns it an R rating, unlike Whedon’s PG-13.

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