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WarnerMedia’s Ann Sarnoff on ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ and DC’s Future

WarnerMedia's Ann Sarnoff discusses 'Zack Snyder's Justice League,' toxic fandom, and the 'bigger and broader' future she's charting for DC.

variety.com

The campaign for #ReleaseTheSnyderCut has moved into a new phase. It’s now #RestoreTheSnyderVerse. What’s your reaction to this new campaign?

I appreciate that they love Zack’s work and we are very thankful for his many contributions to DC. We’re just so happy that he could bring his cut of the “Justice League” to life because that wasn’t in the plan until about a year ago. With that comes the completion of his trilogy. We’re very happy we’ve done this, but we’re very excited about the plans we have for all the multi-dimensional DC characters that are being developed right now.

Will there be more of these director’s cuts? Will we see David Ayer’s cut of “Suicide Squad”?

We won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut.

Ray Fisher has accused Warner Bros. executives of racially biased behavior and of trying to impede an investigation into alleged misconduct on the set of “Justice League.” Did your investigation corroborate any of his claims of racism on the part of your employees?

No. Our investigator, Judge Katherine Forrest, has issued statements specifically about [DC Films president] Walter Hamada, saying that there was no evidence of interference by Walter in the investigation. She said that the cuts made in the Joss Whedon version of “Justice League” were not racially motivated. We took it very seriously, so we hired one of the top investigators out there and gave her a tremendous amount of leeway.

Ray Fisher has previously stated that because of a non-disclosure agreement he can’t share specifics about the abusive behavior he endured on the set of “Justice League.” Is there an NDA that would prevent him from publicly sharing all the details of what transpired on “Justice League”?

Not that I know of. No.

Walter Hamada has been on the receiving end of a lot of fan criticism. What was his involvement in the production of “Justice League”?

Walter had nothing to do with “Justice League.” He was not running DC Films in 2017 when “Justice League” was completed and released. He wasn’t put in charge of DC Films until the following year. About a year ago, Walter, [Warner Bros. Pictures Group head] Toby Emmerich, me, [former WarnerMedia chairman] Bob Greenblatt, [former HBO Max content chief] Kevin Reilly, and [HBO Max original programming head] Sarah Aubrey sat around the table with Zack and greenlit the Snyder cut. That cut includes Ray Fisher’s entire story as Cyborg, which is something that he had been disappointed had been cut from the Justice League movie three years ago. Perhaps we’ve lost the plot a little bit which is that Toby and Walter were part of the green-lighting that allowed Zack’s vision to come to life, which includes sharing the full story about Ray’s character. There really was nothing that Walter did against Ray, in fact he offered him a role in the Flash movie.

Walter was promoted recently. I am fully supportive of Toby and Walter and their visions. I truly believe they are great executives. Walter happens to be a person of color, so he knows what that feels like. He is bringing in diverse voices at an accelerated pace, more than anyone has in the past.

You talked about enlisting a broad range of voices when it comes to charting the future of DC. Is there one person calling the shots?

The connective tissue in the middle is Jim Lee, who oversees DC Comics. Jim lives and breathes the canon of DC and he works with all of the divisions to make sure the storylines are true to the canon. He helps them come up with ideas for new storylines. Jim is very much in the middle of everything. But the group together helps spur on new ideas. But there’s not one person calling the shots, because I want all the voices in the room to offer their expertise and knowledge of their formats.

 

[SlimySnake]

Disappointing but expected.

Ray Fisher is a jackass.

 

[AJUMP23]

Is he calling Ray Fisher a liar? Or is this just a misunderstanding, that Ray thought things that happened were due to racism, when it was really just business as usual. People reading something into a situation that wasn't there.

 

[HE1NZ]

Can they just kill the whole thing? The only good DC movie in the last 20 years was Joker.

 

[Nikana]

I like how he calls Snyder's Trilogy complete when it was never a trilogy. The movie ends on a damn cliffhanger.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

I like those answers.

I don't think that answer shuts the door on the Snyder-Verse as firmly as it could have. I wouldn't be surprised to see more. That said, I'm someone who really enjoyed Zack Snyder's Justice League (I've already watched it more than once), but I'm not too keen on any of the plans he revealed for sequels and I thought the epilogue scenes were all pretty bad. Maybe it is best to close the door. We have like 9-10 hours of Zack Snyder's DCEU, which is pretty good.

I'll be here for whatever they do next, either way. WB seems to take a lot of crap, and they've brought a ton of it upon themselves, but at the end of the day, they are constantly releasing films I love. Diamonds among all the crap they shovel out. In the last decade+, they've given me some of my favorite movies - The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, Joker, Zack Snyder's Justice League, etc. I love what they do and I ignore the rest.

 

[bitbydeath]

Is he calling Ray Fisher a liar? Or is this just a misunderstanding, that Ray thought things that happened were due to racism, when it was really just business as usual. People reading something into a situation that wasn't there.

The race card was likely just thrown to get traction in his claim.

It sounds like Joss’s work ethic towards everyone on set is ‘abuse’. Where he wants everyone to follow his direction to a T or they get yelled at. At least that is the conclusion I’ve come to after the cast of Buffy stepped forward.

 

[tkscz]

Is he calling Ray Fisher a liar? Or is this just a misunderstanding, that Ray thought things that happened were due to racism, when it was really just business as usual. People reading something into a situation that wasn't there.

While I can understand him being mad, especially after watching the Snyder cut, him calling it racist was pushing it. Both Ezra Miller and Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) got the same treatment and Miller also had to deal with Whedon. Had he stopped there he may have been taken more serious.

 

[AJUMP23]

For Joss you are his puppet, and he holds the strings. He needed someone like Harrison Ford to tell him no.

 

[KyoZz]

I guess WB don't want my money anymore.

 

[Ionian]

After Ray Fisher already saying he'd never work for Warner again, he seriously screwed himself over.

It's his own fault though. I'm sure after the money spent investigating his claims, they wouldn't touch him again anyway.

 

[Hatemachine]

DC seems to be going all in on woke:

Zatanna: Emerald Fennell to Write Superhero Movie for DC Films - Variety

 

[ManaByte]

DC seems to be going all in on woke:

Zatanna: Emerald Fennell to Write Superhero Movie for DC Films - Variety

Everyone said DC should've done solo movies before Justice League, but now that JJ Abrams is doing solo movies/shows before Justice League Dark they complain.

 

[Hatemachine]

Everyone said DC should've done solo movies before Justice League, but now that JJ Abrams is doing solo movies/shows before Justice League Dark they complain.

My complaint isn't about them doing solo movies. My complaint is that WB burned the Snyderverse to the ground and is replacing it with a bunch of crap that I'm unlikely to enjoy.

 

[Madflavor]

Everyone said DC should've done solo movies before Justice League, but now that JJ Abrams is doing solo movies/shows before Justice League Dark they complain.

They simply just do not like the direction DC is heading. Especially because JJ doesn't have a creative bone in his body.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

Can they just kill the whole thing? The only good DC movie in the last 20 years was Joker.

Hey-oh! Hot takes! Get your hot takes! Another “fan” that wants us to forget TDK trilogy exists!

 

[Cravis]

Disappointing that we won’t see an Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad.

Then again this is WB. They’re chasing the comic book money train like a dog chases cars. They have no focus and are quick to change courses at a drop of a hat

 

[VulcanRaven]

I hope there won't be more Snyder directed DC movies. The Snyder Cut was good but I'm glad WB has moved on. I'm excited about The Batman.

They should release the 3 hour cut of Batman Forever on HBO Max.

 

[oagboghi2]

Everyone said DC should've done solo movies before Justice League, but now that JJ Abrams is doing solo movies/shows before Justice League Dark they complain.

And after the Snyder cut, everyone realizes how dumb that complaint was

The problem wasn't that DC didn't make fifteen bullshit origin stories leading up to this. The problem was they took a great film and hacked it to shit.

The race card was likely just thrown to get traction in his claim.

It sounds like Joss’s work ethic towards everyone on set is ‘abuse’. Where he wants everyone to follow his direction to a T or they get yelled at. At least that is the conclusion I’ve come to after the cast of Buffy stepped forward.

The race card is fair. Why is every POC character either edited down or removed completely?

They took out 2 major characters, and some of the best scenes in the film and replaced them with shitty jokes. Ray is justified being pissed off.

 

[bitbydeath]

The race card is fair. Why is every POC character either edited down or removed completely?

They took out 2 major characters, and some of the best scenes in the film and replaced them with shitty jokes. Ray is justified being pissed off.

Cuts had to be made because the movie was far too long and it wasn’t just to POC characters.

Ray isn’t justified of anything, he’s been acting like a jackass the entire time.

 

[oagboghi2]

Cuts had to be made because the movie was far too long and it wasn’t just to POC characters.

Ray isn’t justified of anything, he’s been acting like a jackass the entire time.

It was just POC that had significance to the universe. Flash's love interest and the Atom are removed, but we need a scene where Lois Lane sashes her co-worker, and the russian family who exist just to make Flash look like a joke?

Also Cyborg is fucking mangled. I would love to hear the reasons for that. You remove that for time, but add scenes that make the film worse? Why go back and reshoot new footage just for Ezra to make one joke about brunch? Why introduce the idea that Flash has no idea how to save people? Why have Bruce crack bad puns near a lake? Why add new scenes where Bruce does nothing but insult Diana to her face?

Looking at the theatrical version, it just comes off as incredibly wasteful.

 

[Corpsepyre]

Yeah, I didn't expect this would continue. I'm just glad I got to see Snyder's original film, adored it, and can finally move on to see whatever Reeves and Gunn are cooking up.

 

[Chiggs]

The WarnerMedia Studios chief is also excited about the diverse range of creators she’s been enlisting to tell some of these stories, which includes tapping “Between the World and Me” author Ta-Nehisi Coates to write a Superman film or developing “Blue Beetle,” which marks the company’s first Latinx superhero movie.

Enjoy box office death, Ann. All your new projects sound like trash.

 

[Hatemachine]

Enjoy box office death, Ann. All your new projects sound like trash.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I'd imagine WB's rebuke of Snyder is alienating a lot of the hardcore DC fans who you should really have in your corner if you're going to put out a fucking Blue Beetle movie. Box office death sounds about right.

 

[LordCBH]

Warner Media needs executive turnover then. How can you see the hype and reception of the film and then go “eh we will stick with what we got” when “what we got” includes utter shit like Birds of Prey, and a Flash movie that STILL isn’t off the ground despite multiple years of development? Of their upcoming slate I’m only looking forward to batman and Shazam 2 because it’s batman, and I’m super bummed it’s not batfleck and Deathstroke, and because I adored Shazam 1. Aquaman 2 can fuck right off thanks to amber heard.

Edit : also FUCK the Jar Jar Abrams superman reboot. We needed a Man of Tomorrow to follow up Man of Steel, not another Abrams botch job.

 

[ManaByte]

a Flash movie that STILL isn’t off the ground despite multiple years of development?

They start filming it in April.

 

[LordCBH]

They start filming it in April.

I want it to be good. I like Ezra as flash a lot. But at this point I won’t believe the movie exists till I buy tickets for it lol

 

[sol_bad]

Atom was in the film for about 3 minutes and isn't integral to the plot. He is simply there to set up another film which is no longer being made or was never being made at this point.

Ray Fiser, Ezra Miller and Jason Mamoa were all heavily truncated in the theatrical cut, not just Ray Fisher.

 

[Hatemachine]

Atom was in the film for about 3 minutes and isn't integral to the plot. He is simply there to set up another film which is no longer being made or was never being made at this point.

Ray Fiser, Ezra Miller and Jason Mamoa were all heavily truncated in the theatrical cut, not just Ray Fisher.

Ray Fisher got it the worst by far.

 

[BaneIsPain]

Shame. I just want to see the continuity in Snyderverse.

 

[HE1NZ]

Hey-oh! Hot takes! Get your hot takes! Another “fan” that wants us to forget TDK trilogy exists!

TDK trilogy was never good.

 

[j0hnnix]

"With that comes the completion of his trilogy. "

 

[LordCBH]

"With that comes the completion of his trilogy. "

hey maybe Warner media can give us more studio hack jobs like the Suicide squad they released a while ago. Guardians of the Galaxy proved that movies only need good trailers with familiar music to sell (according to them anyway).
James Gunn will do well with his movie, but I fully expect Warner to tell him to fuck off afterwords.

 

[Hatemachine]

hey maybe Warner media can give us more studio hack jobs like the Suicide squad they released a while ago. Guardians of the Galaxy proved that movies only need good trailers with familiar music to sell (according to them anyway).
James Gunn will do well with his movie, but I fully expect Warner to tell him to fuck off afterwords.

The first GotG was pretty good. The second was a piece of shit. I'm confused where all the hype comes from.

 

[Toons]

Im fine with this. Never liked Snyders take on these characters and its past time to move on.

 

[KyoZz]

We know WB can't stick to a freakin' plan and with the reception of the ZSJL, there is no way they dont at least TRY to get Snyder back. The real question is: do all the actors want to be back ?
Also, at the end if Jason Kilar and John Stankey want the SnyderVerse to continue, WB has just no choice but obey:

We just need to keep this trending:

 

[Astral Dog]

Suicide Squad is shit

 

[Virt McPolygon]

Can they just kill the whole thing? The only good DC movie in the last 20 years was Joker.

And even that was a piece of shit.

 

[TonyK]

It's very surprising to me that there are so many fans of Snyder's films. I don't know anyone in my family/friends circle that like their DC movies. All people I know think their movies are boring and really really worse than Marvel movies. So, it was shocking for me to discover he has so many fans.
In my opinion, as soon as they remove Snyder the better, more chances to reboot and recover the DC movie universe.

 

[FunkMiller]

We know WB can't stick to a freakin' plan and with the reception of the ZSJL, there is no way they dont at least TRY to get Snyder back. The real question is: do all the actors want to be back ?
Also, at the end if Jason Kilar and John Stankey want the SnyderVerse to continue, WB has just no choice but obey:

Kevin Feige reports to Alan Horn, the head of Disney.

That’s it.

No wonder they crush WB/DC so comprehensively in every single way.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Suicide Squad is shit

It's okay we're getting a fire sequel in August to rectify the mistakes made.

 

[HoodWinked]

The retardation among the execs at WB/DC not having any kind of a plan actually is a positive for snyderverse these goons have no fucking clue so they'll react based on how the wind is blowing and at the moment that's fairly positive for snyderverse.

Marvel even going into a semi hibernation period currently probably makes them feel like the hot shit too cause everyone is talking about justice league and not the falcon.

 

[GamingKaiju]

I enjoyed ZSJL cut it was what I hoped for from an JL movie with overarching story leading upto dark future, it’s a shame that we won’t get to see that vision of JL on the big screen.

I can see Ray was pissed he was basically cut out of Whedons cut altogether and the scenes he was in he was a nothing character. Shame he played the race card and burning his chances with WB for future roles.

I gave ZS some stick over BvS felt it was disjointed and Supes death I felt wasn’t needed because we knew he was to come back, that was my major criticism over BvS.
MoS, WW and Aquaman weren’t bad movies lots of criticism especially with MoS overall I felt ZS vision would have been pretty good.

Bittersweet indeed hopefully one day someone takes up Zacks idea and vision and does something more interesting than Marvel.

 

[Red Rackham's Revenge]

When did Jim Lee become DC boss? Interview makes it sound as though he's behind anything DC related, but what influence does he really have with the movies?

I haven't seen either cuts of Justice League yet, but I've enjoyed Snyder's take on the DCEU. I don't want to see them try to become Marvel.

 

[Revolutionary]

I have to admit I'm still curious about the cut Joker footage from Suicide Squad, but unlike Justice League, SS has already had two direct sequels filmed (Bird of Prey and Gunn's SS) so yeah there's no real point in spending more money on it.

As for Justice League itself, I just want that Knightmare/Injustice movie.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Nothing against Snyder, but a novice could see through his directing style. People will eventually get really bored of that movie making. hell people did get bored after 300.

Let others take a stab at it. I am convinced throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks is what WB needs to do. They obviously do not have an ace in the hole (or JJ Abrams?)

 

[oagboghi2]

Nothing against Snyder, but a novice could see through his directing style. People will eventually get really bored of that movie making. hell people did get bored after 300.

Let others take a stab at it. I am convinced throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks is what WB needs to do. They obviously do not have an ace in the hole (or JJ Abrams?)

When was this decided?

 

[Shubh_C63]

When was this decided?

When what was decided ?

 

[DeafTourette]

It was just POC that had significance to the universe. Flash's love interest and the Atom are removed, but we need a scene where Lois Lane sashes her co-worker, and the russian family who exist just to make Flash look like a joke?

Also Cyborg is fucking mangled. I would love to hear the reasons for that. You remove that for time, but add scenes that make the film worse? Why go back and reshoot new footage just for Ezra to make one joke about brunch? Why introduce the idea that Flash has no idea how to save people? Why have Bruce crack bad puns near a lake? Why add new scenes where Bruce does nothing but insult Diana to her face?

Looking at the theatrical version, it just comes off as incredibly wasteful.

Don't forget that in the history lesson the African army was cut from the theatrical release, too.

 

[KyoZz]

Warner: WE WON'T RESTORE THE SNYDERVERSE !

Also Warner: Would you like to buy those SnyderCut shoes



Or maybe a FunoPop ?



Oh, I KNOW ! A T-shirt ! Right !?