Summary
- Zack Snyder thought the joke about his Justice League cut in Barbie was pretty good and appreciated the humor.
- Warned of the reference ahead of time, Snyder recalls being struck by having his name attached to something so big that it could be referenced in a movie like Barbie.
- The reference to Snyder's work in Barbie reflects the impact his director's cut has had on his fans and wider audiences.
Director Zack Snyder has weighed in on Zack Snyder's Justice League cut. Though Barbie would go on to become 2023’s overwhelming box office success story, grossing an impressive $1.442 billion worldwide and smashing multiple records along the way, it did manage to generate some measure of controversy among Snyder’s ionate fanbase. In the movie’s final act, when Alexandra Shipp’s Writer Barbie is rescued from being brainwashed by the Kens, she quips: “It's like I've been in a dream where I was really invested in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League.”
Speaking with Men’s Health, Snyder revealed that not only was he made aware of the moment before the movie’s release, but he also thought the “joke is pretty good.” itting that he invited his friends over for a private screening of Barbie, he said the good-natured jibe was aimed more at his fandom than him. He also went on to wonder how his name came to become entwined with a “pop-culture phenomenon so big it can exist as a joke in a movie about Barbie.” Check out his comments below:
They gave us a heads-up. [Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Michael DeLuca] said, ‘Hey, there’s a reference to Justice League in the movie. It’s cool and whatever, I hope you guys understand, we think it’s awesome.’
I thought [Barbie] was great and I think the joke is pretty good. The thing that I said to Debbie [Snyder] is—the thing that you need to take a second and think about is that your name is so seamlessly sewed together with a pop-culture phenomenon so big it can exist as a joke in a movie about Barbie. That’s pretty insane. You just need to step back for a second and go like, ‘Whoa, what did we do? What happened? How is that a thing?'
Justice League Wasn't The First Choice For Barbie's Director's Cut Joke
While Greta Gerwig's movie may not have sat well with a few of Snyder’s more devout fans, the director himself could appreciate the humor being employed. However, had Gerwig’s movie followed its original plan, Barbie's Zack Snyder’s Justice League joke would have referenced an entirely different movie altogether. During a recent Q&A session, the Barbie director revealed that earlier drafts had taken aim at the director’s cut of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner instead. Moreover, Scott himself was even supposed to make a cameo appearance.
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Ultimately, however, the decision to reference Zack Snyder’s Justice League was the better choice given its recency and its persistent presence in contemporary pop-culture. While Scott has famously made several changes to Blade Runner since its original 1982 theatrical release, culminating in his 2007 Final Cut, it has still been over 16 years since conversations surrounding his tweaks to the movie dominated cultural discussions. Meanwhile, not only was Snyder’s 2021 Justice League cut released far more recently, but many within his fanbase are still actively campaigning for the director’s return to the DC Universe.
Prior to releasing his 2007 Final Cut edition of Blade Runner, Ridley Scott also released a 1992 Director's Cut, but was still not happy with the finished product.
Had Gerwig decided to poke fun of Scott's director’s cut instead of Snyder’s, the moment likely would not have had anywhere near the reaction it elicited from audiences. As a movie that so effortlessly manages to poke fun at so many other pop-culture touchstones, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, the reference to Snyder’s work in Barbie merely reflects how much impact his own director’s cut has had on both his more ionate fans and wider audiences alike.
Source: Men’s Health
