The confirmed runtime was announced by the director himself on his social media platform Vero, following speculation around the project’s format.
When the new Justice League cut was formally announced in May 2020, debate was rife as to whether it would be released as one long feature, or four hour-long segments in a miniseries.
Read More: Justice At Last For Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’?
Snyder put this speculation to bed just months away from the film’s release, stating it would be a movie instead of an episodic structure.
This projected runtime would make Zack Snyder’s Justice League the longest-running film in the superhero genre, overtaking the three-and-a-half-hour runtime of one of Snyder’s previous projects, the Ultimate Cut of his 2009 comic-book adaptation Watchmen. It also vastly overtakes the three-hour length of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which was previously the longest theatrically-released superhero film.
Expectations are sky-high for Snyder’s Justice League, which comes after years of fans campaigning for Warner Bros. to give the director a chance to finalise his vision of the film. Snyder, having directed the previous DC films Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, left the project during production following the death of his daughter. Justice League’s reshoots and post-production were handled by Avengers alum Joss Whedon, though the final product’s cold reception and underwhelming box office performance meant the chances of Snyder’s vision being realised were unlikely.
The film is set to be Snyder’s final foray into the DC Universe, revealing that he “[has] no plan to” direct additional entries in the franchise. His Justice League cut is being anticipated as the swansong of his DC entries, bringing in cameos from the likes of Jared Leto’s much-maligned Joker, and DC’s big-bad villain Darkseid.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is set to release on HBO Max in March 2021, though a UK distribution platform has yet to be announced.
Words by Luke Hinton
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.