Zack Snyder's wife and Christopher Nolan told him not to see 'Justice League', as it would 'break his heart'

Watch: Zack Snyder's Justice League trailer

Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder's wife, producer Deborah Snyder, told the Justice League director not to go and see Joss Whedon's finished version of the movie.

According to a new report in Vanity Fair, the pair told him that the final result would 'break his heart'.

Snyder had to step away from finishing the movie during its post-production period, following the tragic death of the couple's daughter.

Avengers Assemble director Joss Whedon then took over, but embarked on his own re-shoots of the movie before releasing it some months later.

Read more: Fans react to new Justice League trailer

The result was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office, and Whedon has since been accused of abusive behaviour on the movie's set, most notably by Cyborg actor Ray Fisher.

In the Vanity Fair report, Deborah Snyder reveals she went to an early screening of the finished movie with Christopher Nolan, who was a producer on Man of Steel, and an executive producer on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

“It was just…it’s a weird experience,” Snyder said. “I don’t know how many people have that experience. You’ve worked on something for a long time, and then you leave, and then you see what happened to it.”

Zack Snyder, also interviewed for the piece goes on: “They came and they just said, ‘You can never see that movie.'”

Deborah Snyder then adds: “Because I knew it would break his heart.”

Read more: First look at the new Joker in Justice League

After being given the green light to re-cut the original movie – and after an investigation into the alleged behaviour of Whedon – Warner Bros is now poised to unveil Snyder's cut of the movie, having cost an additional $70 million.

Now running at four hours, and rated R, it's set for release on HBO Max in the US on 18 March.

The UK release details are yet to be confirmed.