The 242-Minute DC Spectacle That Changed Hollywood Dominates Streaming

Zack Snyder’s career launched back in the mid-2000s with the release of Dawn of the Dead, his directorial debut starring Ving Rhames, that’s currently streaming on Netflix. Two years later, he directed what many would argue is his most iconic film, 300, the period action epic starring Gerard Butler. Snyder further expanded his directorial resume in 2009 when he helmed Watchmen, which is still held in high regard as one of the best superhero/sci-fi movies ever made. Fans are still waiting for a sequel to Watchmen to this day. In 2013, Snyder teamed up with Henry Cavill for one of the most controversial superhero movies of all time, Man of Steel. The film also stars Russell Crowe and Amy Adams alongside a host of other stars.

After Snyder directed Man of Steel, he was given creative control over a larger branch of DC stories, and he chose the next chapter to be Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The film introduced Ben Affleck as a darker Batman, and it was met with extreme controversy from both critics and fans. The year after Batman v Superman, Snyder directed Justice League, but he had to leave the project during the middle of production to deal with the tragic suicide of his 20-year-old daughter. Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, took over directorial control of the original theatrical cut. Four years after Justice League was panned by critics and audiences, Warner Bros. let Zack Snyder release his own cut of the film, titled Zack Snyder’s Justice League. All these years later, the film is still charting in the top 10 on HBO in several countries.

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ Changed the World

In the years before Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Snyder’s devoted fans launched a campaign to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, which received enough momentum to force Warner Bros. to follow through with another version of the film. Snyder’s new cut of the film was not given a theatrical release, but it broke records on HBO Max at the time as one of the platform’s biggest movies ever. The film comes in with a behemoth runtime of just over four hours, and it returned Cavill as Superman, Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Jason Momoa as Aquaman.

Be sure to check out Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max, and stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates.