Zack Snyder's Justice League

Zack Snyder's Justice League (colloquially referred to as the Snyder Cut) is the 2021 director's cut of the 2017 American superhero film Justice League, the fifth film set within the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) based on the team of the same name appearing in DC Comics publications. It is intended to match director Zack Snyder's original vision for the film, prior to his departure from the production and subsequent studio interference. The film follows Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and a revived Superman (Henry Cavill) as they form an alliance to stop the extradimensional New God Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and his army of Parademons from conquering Earth for his overlord Darkseid (Ray Porter).

Released by Warner Bros. Pictures in 2017, Justice League had a difficult production. Its script underwent major changes before and during production between 2016 and 2017. In May 2017, Snyder stepped down during post-production following the death of his daughter, Autumn Snyder, and Joss Whedon was hired to finish the film, completing it as an uncredited director. Whedon oversaw reshoots and other changes that incorporated a brighter tone and more humor while reducing the runtime significantly in accordance with a mandate from Warner Bros. The theatrical version polarized critics and underperformed at the box office; this resulted in Warner Bros. opting to prioritize developing future films around individual characters, with less regard for consistency and continuity within the wider shared universe.

Many people expressed interest in Snyder's version of the film, which they often referred to as the "Snyder Cut". Although most industry insiders reported its release unlikely, Warner Bros. moved ahead with it in February 2020; in May, Snyder announced it would be released as Zack Snyder's Justice League as a HBO Max Original Film. $70 million was spent to complete the visual effects, score and editing, with new material being shot in October 2020. The release was originally planned as both a six-episode miniseries and a long feature-length film, with the former concept being cancelled in January 2021 in favor of releasing it as the latter. The film is dedicated to the memory of Autumn Snyder.

Zack Snyder's Justice League was released on HBO Max in the United States on March 18, 2021. It became the fourth-most-streamed film on the platform that year. The film was widely considered superior to the 2017 theatrical release, and critics praised Snyder's direction, visual style, action sequences, performances, improved characterizations, musical score, and balance of emotional weight and humor, although the runtime received some criticism.