It took more than two and a half years of campaigning from perhaps the most devoted fanbase in Hollywood history, but, finally, on 18 March, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, AKA the “Snyder Cut”, will arrive on HBO Max.
Its release marks a watershed moment in the world of pop culture, not just for Zack and Deborah Snyder, who got the chance to complete their film on their own terms, but also for the fans who not only managed to persuade a studio (in this case, Warner Bros) to release, well, anything at all, but to also revisit an alternative, not-yet-fully-existing version of a project from several years ago.
To recap: Snyder had to pull out of Justice League during production due to a family tragedy, which saw Joss Whedon come on board to complete it in his absence. Whedon’s final product – which Snyder says is an entirely different film than the one he had been working on – was both a critical flop and a disappointment to many fans, who bemoaned the total loss of Snyder’s artistic vision. Almost immediately after the film arrived in theatres, Snyder’s supporters began to organise on Vero with one demand: #ReleaseTheSnyderCut (RTSC).
Vero has been a digital HQ for Snyder fans since 2017, when the director first teamed up with the social platform to release his personal project Snow Steam Iron, a film shot entirely on iPhone (follow him @ZackSnyder). The film community has been using Vero for some time, drawn to various aspects from its no-ads, no-algorithms model, to its long-form HD video capability and movie recommendation feature. What followed was a constant level of interaction between him and his fans that would be hard to achieve on any other platform, with Snyder making himself accessible to answer questions while sharing behind-the-scenes shots, exclusive imagery and Easter eggs from the DC universe.
He also brought his core collaborators on board, with the likes of Ray Fisher (who plays Cyborg), Ray Porter (Darkseid), Mark Twight, producer Wesley Coller, photographer Clay Enos and, of course, Deborah Snyder all joining Vero. Snyder’s small community grew into a movement thousands strong as fans connected through their shared passion, with the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut setting up shop in the app, rallying the troops while keeping a keen eye on the director’s posts for clues that would prove its existence.
Their efforts to bring Snyder’s Justice League to light provide fascinating proof of the power in digital community building. The RTSC movement has advocated online, sure, embracing the Snyder family on Vero, but it’s also taken action in the real world. It did everything from buy billboards in Times Square, New York City, to flying planes towing banners over Warner Bros, with activations at Comic-Con and other fan events. Stars of Justice League, including Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and Ben Affleck, added their voices to the cause. There was a petition and lobbying, yes, but RTSC was about more than just giving a director the chance to finish a beloved project: it raised more than $500,000 for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention in memory of the Snyders’ daughter, Autumn Snyder.
Its creative fundraising efforts were myriad, but one particularly impressive example is Justice Con, a virtual charity convention launched by super fans The Nerd Queens and Meg Loucks, run by fans, with all proceeds going to AFSP (which supporters can donate to via their posts on Vero). “Over the course of the last four years, Vero became like a home to the RTSC community,” the Justice Con team tell GQ. “It became a safe haven for our support as well as our charity efforts and helped us connect with many amazing, like-minded people we would’ve probably never get to meet otherwise. And not only did it bring us together, it also served as a ground zero for many of our ideas, which ultimately made this community what it is: a group of amazing people who can do whatever they set their minds to while helping those in need.”
Impressed by their collective zeal and desire to drive positive change with their philanthropic efforts, Vero established a relationship with the core fan group coordinating the movement and supported its community-building activities, from a poster competition to cosplay activations. When the pandemic began last year, Vero’s cosplay community, many of whom are stalwarts of the RTSC movement, came together to make and find PPE for medical staff and vulnerable people, with Vero donating to support the efforts of leaders such as Lis Wonder (a dead ringer for Gal Gadot and prominent DC cosplayer known for her hospital visits).
Wonder tells GQ that “the RTSC movement will always be grateful to Vero – a platform that has been dedicated to creators and their creative freedom since day one. Zack Snyder used this platform to share high-quality images of his Snyder Cut, shared links to raise awareness for suicide prevention, links for fundraisers toward AFSP. The best part is that this platform allowed him to interact with fans, providing a unique and exciting opportunity to really get to know him and his vision and keep the movement fired up. Vero is the main tool that kept us moving forward and giving us hope. We won!”
Other key players on Vero include Fiona Zheng, who is credited as being one of the first – if not the first – fans to advocate for the Snyder Cut and has been one of the key architects of the RTSC movement, as well as fellow community leaders Sheraz Farooqi (cofounder of ComicBookDebate) and Dexter Washington. Washington, for whom this has been “a personal journey of hope, unity and oneness”, credits the success of the movement to Autumn Snyder, saying, “We kept the fire alive to honour her and her light will continue to shine in our memories forever. Vero became the home for the movement and the movement became a family. When doubt crept in, or the future looked bleak, the Vero family was there to help us back up.”
It is this uplifting community spirit that inspired the team at Vero to launch its “ZLJS Celebration” in the run up to the 18 March, which includes the “Thank A Fan” campaign that will spotlight the friendships made and connections deepened during the RTSC movement on the app and beyond. As Vero cofounder and CEO Ayman Hariri says, “Now that the Snyder Cut is finally here, we wanted to thank the fans for their boundless energy and tireless passion by celebrating their achievements and the community they’ve fostered together.”
There is also a once-in-a-lifetime competition already underway on Vero – the ZSJL Cosplay Competition – which will be judged by Snyder and the film’s costume designer, Michael Wilkinson, and will give fans the opportunity to win a video call with Zack Snyder and special ZSJL merchandise courtesy of HBO Max.
Beyond the official activity, Vero will also be the place for post-film conversation, with discussions, reviews and fan celebrations, just as it has been since 2017. Accounts we’d recommend playing close attention to include Chris Wong-Swenson, host of Ping Pong Flix, a daily show on YouTube breaking down all the news on DC films and series, as well as podcasters LightCast Podcast and TheNiceCast, who have interviewed Deborah and Zack Snyder respectively, as well as the likes of Ray Fisher. As Washington put it, “This movement will continue to grow and serve in the Vero community.”
Take part on Vero using #ZSJLCelebration and join @BritishGQ on Vero now.
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