The news about Zack Snyder’s original cut of Justice League has been pouring in, and now two of the movie’s VFX supervisors have confirmed a lot of VFX work was done, and many shots are complete. Snyder completed 100% of principal photography before leaving Justice League in the wake of a family tragedy, but since he wasn’t with the project for the entirety of post-production, much of the debate about the cut’s existence has revolved around how complete VFX are, despite evidence the Snyder Cut was farther along than people think existing since the before movie’s release.
The most recent buzz for the Zack Snyder Cut of Justice League came thanks to familiar champion Jason Momoa, who once again confirmed he’s seen the Snyder Cut and it’s a “totally different” movie, although when asked directly about the state of VFX, he played coy, deflecting with a question of his own: “You think Zack couldn’t finish it?” It seems the pressure may be on from Warner Bros. because he also joked they might fire him for running his mouth about the Snyder Cut.
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Curious about Momoa’s response to the VFX question, a fan on Twitter asked two of the movie’s VFX supervisors, John ‘D.J.’ Des Jardin and Bryan Hirota, if they had a comment about what Momoa said. Des Jardin replied to confirm “Many VFX shots are complete, some percentage were various stages of completion, from early postvis to almost done (but not quite)” and Hirota corroborated, simply saying “I’d concur.”
The news that many shots are complete is a great sign for the Snyder Cut. Des Jardin doesn’t specify what percentage of shots are complete versus the other “various stages of completion” he mentions, but even many of those are “almost done (but not quite),” which is also great news for fans. We already knew some of the movie was early postvis because Snyder has revealed several photos depicting shots in postvis, from Uxas (Darkseid) in the history lesson to Wonder Woman chopping off Steppenwolf’s head.
Postvis is different from previs in some key aspects. While previs depicts early crude versions of VFX heavy scenes, often being compared to graphics from older game consoles like the first Playstation, to serve as placeholders, sort of like motion storyboards, postvis is actually the early stages of actual VFX completion and can even include many of the models and effects that ultimately end up in the final cut. Postvis is an important editing tool to allow incomplete VFX scenes to be used in early cuts as placeholders until the VFX shot is fully completed.
Neither supervisor gave a specific completion percentage or potential cost estimate to complete, but other similar reports have suggested it could be as much as 30-40 million dollars, but as a “totally different” movie as Momoa describes it, which we’ve also seen through various other leaks, it’s clear there’s money-making potential should it get a theatrical run, or just be used as new content to lure subscribers to HBO Max.
With it becoming standard practice to ask the cast and crew of Justice League about the Snyder Cut during interviews, as we’ve seen recently with Momoa, Jesse Eisenberg, and Junkie XL (who recently told Screen Rant his score is complete), it seems there’s no stopping the Snyder Cut news, and it all seems to indicate the cut is real, it’s way different from the movie in theaters, and it’s way farther along than many detractors think. The clock seems to be ticking on Warner Bros. finally acknowledging its demand.
Source: John ‘D.J.’ Des Jardin, Bryan Hirota
