Justice League: Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot call for release of film’s ‘Snyder cut’ amid HBO Max rumours

Justice League actors including Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot have called for the release of a director’s cut of the film – dubbed “The Snyder Cut” by fans.

Affleck and Gadot, who respectively portrayed Batman and Wonder Woman in the film, confirmed their support for the fan-driven campaign by tweeting #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. The message was similarly promoted by Justice League’s credited director Zack Snyder and actor Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg.

The tweets are the highest-profile issues of support for the campaign since the film’s 2017 release, when fans began to mount a movement calling for the release of Snyder’s original cut.

Following the death of his daughter, and completion of filming and several months of post-production, Snyder stepped down from the film. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and director of The Avengers, was then recruited to finish post-production as well as to direct reshoots.

But Whedon’s involvement was believed to have significantly altered Snyder’s initial vision, with the original “Snyder cut” holding a mythical position in Justice League fan circles as a result.

While the “Snyder cut” fandom was at first dogged by claims that a radically different cut of the film was not shot in the first place, its existence has been explicitly confirmed in recent months. Snyder has revealed that his film ended differently, while Aquaman actor Jason Momoa revealed that he had seen the film and supported its release.

“I think the public needs to see it,” he said in early November. “I’m obviously indebted to Warners and DC and I don’t know how they feel about it. But as a fan, I’m very, very happy I got to see it.”

Fans are currently hoping that the “Snyder cut” could be released on HBO Max, the forthcoming streaming service from Warner Bros.

It was confirmed last week that HBO Max were planning an unscripted Friends reunion to encourage viewers to sign up to the service.