Zack Snyder On Why He Isn’t Being Paid For Justice League On HBO Max

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There may be countless superhero movies out there, but none have had the wild life of Justice League. Following Zack Snyder's departure from the project due to a family tragedy, the studio stepped in and greatly altered the film's theatrical cut. And following years of fan campaigning, the Snyder Cut will finally become a reality on HBO Max next month. Now the filmmaker has explained why he's not accepting a paycheck for his hours of additional work.

Since Zack Snyder was committed to not including any of Joss Whedon's footage in his version of Justice League, there was a ton of editing work necessary to complete the project. The filmmaker also did some reshoots of his own, while spending plenty of time with the visual effects artists who are making the superhero project a reality. But he's not being paid for this work, and Snyder spoke about this decision, saying:

I’m not getting paid. I didn’t want to be beholden to anyone, and it allowed me to keep my negotiating powers with these people pretty strong.

Well, there you have it. Looks like Zack Snyder won't accept payment for Zack Snyder's Justice League so he didn't have to worry about negotiating its contents. This makes a great deal of sense given the movie's checkered past, but it's still pretty wild.

Zack Snyder's comments to Vanity Fair show how personal his version of Justice League is. The filmmaker is passionate about finally revealing his true vision to the world, including the various concepts and characters that were cut from the film's theatrical cut. And this time around he wasn't leaving anything to chance regarding creative control.

The Snyder Cut will be available exclusively on HBO Max. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

It's hard to imagine doing so many hours of work and not being compensated for the work, especially when your name is in the title. Still, Zack Snyder put financial gain aside and focused solely on Justice League's contents. There were some limited reshoots involved, where he was able to add Jared Leto's Joker to the project. But the majority of the labor was based around visual effects, which are key to making a comic book movie feel real.

Fans campaigned for years after Justice League hit theaters in 2017, calling for the Snyder Cut. The project first seemed like a myth or pipe dream, but years of crowdfunding and Zack Snyder's own interest HBO Max made its unprecedented decision. And now we're just weeks away from that full vision being shared with the world.

Zack Snyder was doing a ton of world-building when he suddenly departed the set of Justice League. The Snyder Cut's trailer revealed some of these, including Darkseid and his massive forces. We'll also be treated to Superman's Black Suit, as well as scrapped characters like Iris West and Willem Dafoe's Vulko.

Zack Snyder's Justice League will hit HBO Max on March 18th. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.