On March 18, Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally hit HBO Max and was met with much better reviews from fans and critics compared to Joss Whedon’s theatrical release. Since the four hour Snyder Cut went public, #RestoreTheSnyderVerse has been trending on Twitter with fans hopeful for Justice League 2 and more DC adventures for Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker. However, WarnerMedia have confirmed that a follow-up after that Knightmare Future cliffhanger won’t be happening, but that doesn’t appear to be the end of the story.

According to FilmDaily.com

Snyder Cut fans saw their hopes for a continuation of the Snyderverse shot down by WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff. In an interview with Variety, Sarnoff addressed the future of the Justice League and the DCEU. And those Zack Snyder’s Justice League sequels? They ain’t happening, folks. The exec refers to the release of the Snyder Cut as “the completion of [Snyder’s] trilogy.”

“Completion”. As if that didn’t sound definitive enough, Sarnoff also went on to explain how she’s interested in bringing multiple creative voices into the mix – the implication being the studio isn’t keen on pursuing a film universe dictated by Zack Snyder’s vision alone. 

In the Variety interview, Sernoff explains: “We want different voices in the mix. For certain fans that want singular voices, they may be disappointed, but we ask them to be patient and see what we’ve got in store because perhaps those newer voices in the mix will have just as compelling stories to tell.”

There’s already a #RestoreTheSnyderVerse online campaign making the rounds, spurred by the cliffhanger ending of the Snyder Cut as well as the overall desire from fans of this Justice League to see further adventures featuring this team. On the surface the eventual success of the original #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign could be read as encouragement for Snyder fans not to give up.

However, in the Variety interview, Ann Sernoff sounds pretty determined to move on from the Snyderverse and focus on syncing up DC’s film & TV efforts instead. You know, not to bring up a tired comparison but . . . kind of like what Marvel is doing with Disney+. Sernoff comes across as excited for the brand new projects in the future and simply thankful there’s some love for the Snyder stuff from the past.

As for those fans already getting nasty in their demands for respect for the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie? Sernoff told Variety: “We’re not tolerating any of that. That behavior is reprehensible no matter what franchise you’re talking about or what business you’re talking about. It’s completely unacceptable. I’m very disappointed in the fans that have chosen to go to that negative place with regard to DC.”

Sernoff doesn’t seem like the type of person that we would hang out with or go to the movies with. In fact, Matt McGloin at Cosmic Book News added the following regarding DC’s plans going forward:

I was told Sarnoff got the gig as WB’s first female CEO because of J.J. Abrams and Abrams’ producer wife, Katie McGrath, wanting Sarnoff in the position and that a big reason why Abrams signed with WB is to take on the DC characters.

It’s since been announced Abrams is developing a Justice League Dark series for HBO Max, a Black Superman movie, and a Zatanna movie.

I was also told a DCEU reboot is happening involving Abrams, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (Gunn is also developing a John Cena Peacemaker series for HBO Max and I have been told Gunn will return to DC following Guardians of the Galaxy 3).

Regarding DC’s new direction, Sarnoff told Variety she hopes the fans will be happy with it:

 

What are your plans going forward for DC?

We’ve got an incredible group of creators — television series creators, Max series creators, feature film creators — who are basically broadening the base of the talent that we work with on DC because we’re so excited about the potential to build out the DC multiverse. It’s one of the reasons why I was hired almost two years ago. The before-and-after was it was a very siloed organization with no connectivity between the businesses. DC was being developed, but in a kind of monolithic way in each division. My mantra coming in was to make it bigger and broader and we really want to surprise and delight the fans with more connective tissue across the various media and platforms. I’m talking movies, HBO Max, television and our games division.

The Snyder Cut came about because of a fan campaign online. Do you feel like you need to strike a balance between being responsive to fans and charting your own course as a company? How responsive do you believe DC should be?

We’re always going to listen to our fans, but we are in service of the broadest fanbase and we owe them an integrated, holistic strategy. We are the shepherds of the franchise and hopefully when the fans see what we’ve got in store they’ll know that DC is in good hands across many different platforms with many different creators. We want different voices in the mix. For certain fans that want singular voices, they may be disappointed, but we would ask them to be patient and see what we’ve got in store because perhaps the newer voices in the mix will have just as compelling stories to tell. 

But now one studio insider who insists that all hope for a continuing SnyderVerse is not lost.  Grace Randolph of Beyond the Trailer tweeted the following the yesterday.

Randolph added: “As I’ve been saying, if #SnyderVerse moves forward it will be on #HBOMax as a series, under #HBO’s creative leadership. (Like Watchmen).”

Just how the SnyderVerse would connect with upcoming movies like The Flash when the Snyder Cut isn’t considered canon is anyone’s guess. But maybe the introduction of the DC multiverse in Ezra Miller’s solo outing could help explain it all? Or maybe they will take our advice and close the book on the Ezra Miller Flash and move on.

Stay tuned!

Perhaps this means there is hope then for Justice League 2 and 3, which Snyder himself said would have been like Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame. In a new YouTube video, Randolph (who has studio sources) said: “As I’ve been telling you all along the SnyderVerse will very most likely continue on HBO Max.

“Now, of course, Jason Kilar could force Warner Bros’ movie division to do the SnyderVerse. But why would he do that, especially when HBO Max is the one that needs the help and needs the boost?”