The long and arduous process of making another Snyder Cut is now complete. Last weekend, Netflix released the six-plus hours of the reconstructed version. Rebel MoonZack Snyder’s two-part sci-fi epic. Without the apparent demand from a theater-less streaming service that he deliver something that the MPAA would give a PG-13 rating, Snyder delivered what he’s been promising for nearly a year: his no-holds-barred vision of a sci-fi fantasy world where a lot of people’s heads explode. I joke, but I also enjoy it: the crazy foolDune amount of Rebel Moon It’s part of the fun of watching a Zack Snyder movie, usually multiple times, because there’s always a director’s cut coming. That’s its galaxy-brained appeal. But the sheer scale and volume of this particular Snyder cut also raises the question of what the heck he might do next.
I’m not asking how Snyder can top it. Rebel MoonThere are many ways to do it, whether it’s a larger or (more likely) smaller format, while still maintaining his conviction to create images and appear on screen. It’s more a question of whether Snyder is still in good hands with Netflix executives and whether he could find support elsewhere if he’s not. Although he has spoken of Rebel Moon as a potential franchise with many more cinematic installments (among other components), Snyder recently said The wrapper that while he did speak with Netflix’s new head of film, Dan Lin, the conversation was not specifically about more Rebel Moon deliveries. By the sounds of it, he and his wife/producing partner Deborah Snyder aren’t sure what’s next. (While we won’t have access to their audience for a few weeks, the initial signs are that each of the Rebel Moon The director’s cuts were Viewed by approximately 80% fewer people than the original releases.)
As the Wrap article mentions, Snyder once had world-building plans for Army of the Deadhis first subsequent project on Netflix after leaving the DC Universe. This resulted in the prequel/spinoff film of a heist Army of Thievesbut a planned animated series failed to materialize, and in a recent Rebel Moon At the screening in Los Angeles, Snyder did not seem particularly optimistic about the future of a potential Rebel Moon cartoon, either.
The truth is, this is the first time in nearly a decade that Snyder hasn’t had some sort of directorial masterpiece floating around in his head (at least as far as we know). League of Justice before it was terminated due to an unworkable combination of family tragedy and executive interference, and though it later jumped to Netflix for Army of the Deadclearly didn’t stop thinking about his own version of the superhero team, which Warner Bros. eventually paid to turn into a reality. More of a hyperreality, really: The four-hour “Snyder Cut” as it appeared on Max was likely far more elaborate than anything Snyder had originally planned for the film, as he obviously knew he wouldn’t make a four-hour superhero movie for thousands of multiplex screens. The eventual League of Justice It was a hybrid between a director’s cut and an ever-changing wish list that came true.
Something similar could be argued about Rebel MoonThese two new films are being billed as director’s cuts, and technically they are, but they are not cuts that Snyder handed over to Netflix before retooling them into PG-13 versions. He knew he was making two different versions from the start, often filming different versions of scenes during production.
There’s nothing wrong with any of this; it’s a different way of making movies, and it’s certainly not a boring way. It’s even a little refreshing that Snyder isn’t such a purist in his work, referring to the different versions of Rebel Moon as something akin to alternate universes. (This is a stretch, considering the director’s cuts have almost exactly the same story as the shorter versions, but at least it’s not too picky about the idea of canon.) Taken as a whole, though, Snyder’s director’s cut suggests a filmmaker forever daydreaming about movies he considers perpetually unfinished. There’s something perverse, for example, about Snyder being given funding and a seemingly unlimited runtime to make his supersized film. League of Justicewhich allowed him to somewhat close his vision of the DC universe in an alternate world and essentially refrained from giving it an ending. Instead, League of Justice ends with an extended vision of some other crazy sequel Snyder would have supposedly made in his perfect world, where Superman, fresh from the dead, mind you, loses his mind again and causes an apocalypse, all based on an extremely dark and stupid DC video game. (So Snyder’s grand vision for the on-screen DC Comics brand was… to turn a video game into a movie.) It’s a baffling decision that seems designed to whip up the worst fans into another frenzy for a movie that would require an entire alternate reality in our world, not just DC’s. Ending with an excited announcement of the next installment, existing or not, seems to be Snyder’s preference, even or especially if it might not come; if the original sequel to Superman is to be released, it’s a good idea to go with the flow. Rebel Moon The sequel teases a few clues, the director’s cut offers a more explicit ending.
But does Snyder want to make the next installment or just want people to want it? He hasn’t seemed especially optimistic in recent interviews. Maybe it would help if someone agreed to finance it and then take it away from him somehow, giving him a director’s cut to look forward to. The last time one of his films didn’t have a much-hyped expanded version was 2013. Iron ManMore than a decade ago. In fact, that, Army of the Deadand 300 They are his only films without some sort of alternate edit (and all three have sequels, prequels, or other extensions of some sort). Sucker PunchFor example, it’s supposed to be the most standalone film Snyder has ever made; instead, it’s getting an extended edition on Blu-ray, and while it improves the film substantially, Snyder is also careful to say it’s not his actual director’s cut, which would of course require more money to finish. He’s said he’d love to make it one day.
Again, this isn’t necessarily a judgment. Some filmmakers are just inveterate tinkerers. You could program an extensive film festival using only variant cuts of Michael Mann and Ridley Scott movies. Some of them are better, some are worse, and some have differences that only a superfan would spot. Like Snyder, those guys always seem to find another studio willing to give them the money they need to realize their next vision. Unlike Snyder, his movies don’t seem to be world-building leading up to some grander climax that they haven’t bothered to articulate yet. It seems inevitable that some studio or streaming platform will want Snyder and his fanbase on their side, at least for a movie or two. But Rebel Moon — as fun as it is to parse through its silliness, its influence, and its moments of genuine inspiration — now seems like a warning that the universes Snyder has in his head aren’t necessarily meant to be realized, but to be promised, to enhance the brainstorming around his latest project. I don’t doubt Snyder’s sincere love of this sort of thing. I do wonder, though, if all his epic world-building and long cuts don’t boil down to him constantly negotiating his way out of directors’ jail with the prosecutor.
Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer based in Brooklyn. He is a regular contributor to The AV Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts on www.sportsalcohol.comalso.
