March 18, 2021 is a date reserved for many DC fans to check out the highly anticipated “Justice League” Zack Snyder cut, which releases theatrically as well as on HBO Max for streaming. The trailer finally dropped, and promises to satisfy DC fans that have been for years asking for the original Snyder version to be released.

A first look at the “Justice League” Zack Snyder cut

The 4-hour film is a very expensive remake from the 2017 “Justice League" film, which received mixed reviews when it first released. However, this updated version promises to tell the story the way Zack Snyder wanted to tell it, after he stepped away from the project during postproduction, citing personal reasons.

Snyder’s departure resulted in Joss Whedon stepping in and completing the remainder of the movie to release in November 2017. The mixed responses from fans mainly came from Joss Whedon’s contributions to the project, resulting in the DC fandom creating a yearslong social media campaign to pressurize Warner Bros. Studios to release the “Justice League Zack Snyder Cut.”

The upcoming movie is rated R, and is set after the events of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” where Batman and Wonder Woman form a team of DC superheroes (including Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg) as they protect the world from Steppenwolf. The upcoming movie is not going to simply be an updated version of the 2017 film. In fact, it has been reported that WarnerMedia have invested up to US$70 million into this project to include brand-new visual effects and footage. Most of the footage in the 2017 film is not likely to appear in the new redo.

What can we expect?

The trailer has made it clear that the upcoming production is going to be vastly different from the 2017 movie, as fans finally get a proper look at Darkseid, the DC villain who was supposed to appear in the 2017 version. However, the most surprising element from the trailer was seeing Jared Leto reprise his role as The Joker, where in the final few seconds of the trailer he says to Batman, “We live in a society.”

Although the line “We live in a society” has never been said by The Joker before, the phrase has been tied to the character and is a line that is wildly popular among those who feel ostracized by society. The line first became tied to the character when the trailer for the 2019 film “Joker” dropped. Fans associated this line with Joker for so long that the meme inspired a Change.org petition requesting Warner Bros. to have Joaquin Phoenix, the lead actor in “Joker,” say the line in the 2019 movie. Despite receiving more than 58,000 signatures, fans never got to experience Phoenix say the line as the Joker in the film. However, fans were elated to hear Jared Leto’s portrayal of Joker, where he tells Batman, “We live in a society, where honor is a distant memory.”

Leto’s first appearance as the iconic DC villain was in the 2016 film “Suicide Squad,” and his performance was criticized heavily. However, this version teases a much darker and creepier portrayal of the character. Leto announced via Instagram that he was returning to play the role a few days before the trailer. He posted a black and white photo of him dressed up like the Joker, except with much longer hair and no tattoos.

The trailer dropped on Valentine’s Day and has amassed more than 15 million views. Based on the initial reactions to the trailer, fans cannot wait for March 18 to come.

The upcoming film is probably HBO Max’s biggest title for this year, since Warner Bros. announced they would be releasing all of their 2021 movies on the streaming service. However, while “Wonder Woman 1984” broke records on the streaming platform and grew the platform massively, it was a brand-new film. The upcoming “Justice League" movie is essentially a remake of the 2017 film, which failed to do well when it first released theatrically. So it will be important for the studio and the streaming platform to see whether such projects will be able to pull in new subscribers.

“Zack Snyder’s Justice League" releases on March 18 theatrically as well as on HBO Max.

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