We were all saddened to learn that Justice League director Zack Snyder and producer Deborah Snyder were stepping down from the film after a tragic death in their family. Joss Whedon agreed to take over the film — partially because, as it turns out, he was already working on it.
Image: Warner Bros.
In an interview with Variety at the LA premiere of Wonder Woman, producer Charles Roven confirmed that Whedon was already involved in the post-production of Justice League before agreeing to take over for Snyder. It looks like Whedon was brought on for photography and direction for a few re-shoots, but other reports suggest he’s been doing some writing for those scenes as well, sharpening some of Snyder’s dialogue.
“We were saddened by the events that caused Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder to have to leave and turn the reins over to Joss Whedon,” Roven said. “He was already working with us on some of the scenes for the additional photography that we’re gonna be doing shortly, and it was fortunate that Zack convinced him, and he agreed to step in and finish the movie, help Zack finish his vision, and we’re excited about that.”
It’s interesting that the pairing already happened before the announcement, considering how different Whedon and Snyder’s writing and filmmaking styles are. It looks like they’re committed to keeping Snyder’s vision intact for Justice League, but these developments raise questions about what could happen with Justice League 2, which is set to come out in 2019. Justice League comes out November 16, and Whedon’s solo DCEU project Batgirl doesn’t have a release date scheduled yet.
[Twitter via ScreenRant]