Zack Snyder shares some details about the Justice League #SnyderCut and Preston & Steve geek out.
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00:00The last time we spoke to our next guest was when he was on set for Army of the Dead in Atlantic City.
00:05Yes, that's right.
00:06Awesome surprise conversation that we had.
00:08It was fantastic.
00:09And so we knew he was going to be on to help support Camp Up for Hunger and to, what I didn't know was like today is a big day.
00:18It's a big day.
00:18In the world of the Snyder Cut of Justice League.
00:22There's a lot of, there's so much buzz on the internet about this.
00:24Those of you who live in these geeky worlds that we live in know exactly what we're talking about.
00:30Yeah, that would be me.
00:32Yeah, so let's welcome Mr. Zack Snyder to our show via Zoom.
00:36This morning, Zack, good morning.
00:37Hey guys, can you hear me?
00:39Yes.
00:39Everything sounds excellent.
00:40Where are you right now, by the way?
00:42I'm in my office in Pasadena, California.
00:45Excellent.
00:45Well, thanks for getting up early.
00:47And it's dark.
00:48I know.
00:49You can't speak because it's the radio.
00:51Yeah, but we appreciate it.
00:53You're a man of your word.
00:54You've been working with our producer, Casey, who's been nothing but effusive with his praise
00:57about how easy to work with you have been.
01:00And, you know, listen, we are all major fans of your work.
01:03The fact that you called in that day from the set, your brother-in-law, Bob, is a big
01:08listener of the show.
01:08And you, I guess, maybe to keep family harmony, you've acquiesced to that.
01:13But he knows what it is.
01:15I mean, on one hand, yes, to keep family harmony.
01:17But you guys were great.
01:18And I would talk to you guys any time.
01:20Oh, that's awesome.
01:21Maybe next year or whatever I could come, we'll do this in person.
01:25That would be fantastic.
01:26And I have to say, just honestly, starting off with this and the importance of today and
01:30everything, you know, Preston and I, first off, we're massive fans of The Watchmen.
01:34It's just a masterpiece.
01:36Always have been a fan of your directing style.
01:39And you serve that purpose if, obviously, I'm wearing my Frank Miller-inspired Batman
01:43shirt this morning.
01:44But if, you know, that legend, that lore that I know you're a massive fan of as well, the
01:52joy of experiencing that throughout my life, you have provided a conduit of a visualization
01:58for that that, to me, is every bit the equal of the legend and lore before it.
02:04So you have served that purpose.
02:06And it's an honor to talk to you.
02:08The fact that we have this Justice League event taking place, it was three years ago
02:13today, I believe, as it goes, that the Snyderverse got together.
02:18And we had heard about the potential of a Snyder cut, of your original director's cut of the
02:24Justice League.
02:25And I, when I heard that, I thought, well, there was Batman v Superman, which I thought
02:31the theatrical cut was very good.
02:33When I saw the ultimate edition, to me, it was a, again, I put it at a masterpiece level
02:40because it filled out plot points.
02:43It gave so much additional.
02:45And the truth is, you like to work longer form.
02:48And, you know, you have these iconic stories that are so big.
02:52What's wrong with making long movies?
02:54Why does Hollywood seem to stand against that?
02:57I don't know.
02:58You know, it's funny because, you know, you look at, like, what are the biggest movies
03:02of all time?
03:03I mean, you look at, like, Titanic and Avatar, like, almost three-hour movies, every single
03:09one of them.
03:10But, yeah, I've always been, I have been dinged for making long movies.
03:15But on the other hand, I would say that that's why I'm sort of synonymous with making
03:22director's cuts of the movies because I'm always like, guys, you know, I think there's
03:25more to tell here.
03:26There's more to do.
03:27I've shot a lot more.
03:28Why can't I just let you guys see it?
03:31So, I think that that's always been a mantra that I, you know, I've stuck to pretty hard.
03:37And in the case with Justice League, you know, the cut that will come out on HBO Max is going
03:47to be, it really is a legit, solid four hours of movie.
03:53So, you'd shot most of this footage and it existed.
03:56I think if I'm correct, additional footage that you're shooting is, what, five minutes,
04:00six minutes of actual?
04:02Something like that.
04:02I mean, it was really more, I wanted to put that scene in more for a, to complete what
04:10I thought was something within the universe of my movies that I really wanted to see personally.
04:21You know, like it was this, it's a small event, but event that's really important to what I
04:26consider the, the mythological, uh, um, making it whole, you know, like sort of helping, uh,
04:35an audience to, um, experience all the things that they needed to kind of have within this
04:41world.
04:41And frankly, it's just, uh, a lot of fun.
04:45Well, listen again, it's a tangible point, obviously.
04:48And there's, there's an example, many examples in your director's cut, if you will, Batman v.
04:54Superman, there are explanations for motivations in, in how the greatest detective in the world,
04:59Batman and Superman, who's a smart individual, how they could be turned against each other.
05:06And once you see the machinations of that a little bit more fully explained, it makes
05:10it a whole other movie experience.
05:12And so it's gotta be frustrating as an artist.
05:15I mean, does, do they come down and they say, you know, and obviously the, the end goal
05:19for the movie company is, is more screenings, you know, they can, they can run it more often
05:24and make more money, but, but, uh, you know, is this a battle?
05:28I mean, cause you'd establish yourself, you'd had successes.
05:31It's a constant, it's a constant battle.
05:32Okay.
05:33What's that like?
05:34What's that like when you're dealing with people who don't get it?
05:36I mean, listen, you know, in your heart of hearts, you want, these are your, you know,
05:40your partners and you want to really like have a relationship that is, um, you know,
05:45conducive to this creative process because, you know, it's a lot of, it's hard work making
05:50a movie and you want your partners to be with you and a lot and 99% of the time, it's a
05:55great, you know, give and take.
05:56Cause you want to give them something like, you know, as you say, that, that makes money
06:01in the end, it's the, I'm trying to make a product that people want, but there's a trade
06:07off right between, you know, what the, what, what, the, what makes the movie better and
06:15what, um, uh, essentially keeps people in their seats, I guess, you know, as I get there,
06:22there's this, I do believe though, that now in this sort of this current climate, you know,
06:26that we have with the way people watch movies and the way they experience media, that there
06:30is a kind of the longer format has gotten a lot more, um, even just in every case, like
06:37whether it be a blog or, uh, a morning radio show, people are willing to spend, you know,
06:43a couple hours.
06:44I agree.
06:45Yeah.
06:45We, we, we agree with that.
06:46Yeah.
06:47And it's, what's crazy about that is at the same time, um, some of our entertainment is
06:52actually getting shorter.
06:53You think about kids and their Tik TOK, I keep kids, people, I, let's just say people and
06:58their Tik TOK videos, you're talking about 15 seconds to one minute of entertainment
07:02chunks.
07:03So you have that, but at this also at the same time, you're investing in, you know, I,
07:08I, I'm, um, just chomping or champing at the bit to, to watch the Snyder cut of justice
07:14league, which is going to be four plus hours.
07:15And if you're going to give it to us in four, one hour chunks or four straight hours, I'm
07:19going to watch that regardless.
07:20So I find that to be, you know, kind of, uh, intriguing.
07:24Yes.
07:25It's, it's fun.
07:25It's funny because, you know, um, my, uh, you, you listen to, you know, any, go on any
07:32blog or any, you know, like whether it be Joe Rogan or whatever, people are super comfortable
07:37just listening to two hours of people just literally just talking.
07:42It's like going to dinner with someone more than, you know, um, you know, uh, some sort
07:46of super taught, uh, narrative.
07:50No.
07:50And it's, it's funny in every, sometimes what we'll do is because obviously we're a morning
07:54show and we have to have a certain level of momentum.
07:56But when we get into something that people like, we can go longer.
07:59We have that, that, that, that benefit of that.
08:02I think one of the things that's very telling about how much care you put into your, your
08:06projects, uh, is that for the most part, you cut your own trailers.
08:09Do you not?
08:11Well, we definitely, I have a hugely influential, uh, hand on the trailers.
08:16It's the thing that I've always loved to work with.
08:18I've worked with, um, particular, um, trailer editors who are just geniuses, but it's just
08:26my relationship with trailer editors and how we do it.
08:30We embed a lot of time.
08:31We embed them in our post production so that they're there as opposed to being away, you
08:37know, with marketing down the road, they're like right with us.
08:41And that way they get the benefit of me being able to talk with them about like what the
08:46movie is and there's great shots here.
08:48And let's look at that.
08:49Yeah.
08:50Well, it's much more like, it's more, they're part of the team than, and so then I feel like
08:56the trailers feel more like the personality of the movie and less of a sort of, uh, disparate
09:03piece of advertising.
09:05That's like glued on top of the movie can be like this amazing piece of entertainment.
09:11Well, my wife, uh, I mean, honestly had to reprimand me for, I was watching man of steel
09:16trailers so often and Batman v Superman.
09:18So over and over and over because it does what you, you want to do.
09:22And speaking of trailers and speaking of something, just as like, we're going to see more cyborg
09:26in your, in your cut, correct?
09:29Oh yeah.
09:29So can you give us some, some, some, without giving away too much, what we're going to,
09:33what we can expect from this?
09:35I mean, you know, cyborg was always sort of the heart of the movie.
09:38We see a lot more of his sort of origin story.
09:41We see a lot more of him kind of learning his powers and what he's about, his family
09:46dynamic, what's going on and sort of his, his arc of, of looking for, or sort of more,
09:55it's more about maybe coming to terms with what it is to have, what is a family and,
10:00and sort of, you know, it's the appreciation for the family you have.
10:03Yeah.
10:03But also moving on to the family that, you know, you might find yourself in.
10:08This disjoint a collection of people.
10:10Yeah.
10:10And we had Ray, Ray, Ray Fisher on, on the show and, you know, and he was talking about,
10:15cause there's a clearly a scene where there's some sort of tank or something that was in
10:19a, you know, something going on.
10:21And it's like, that never ended up in the movie.
10:22And we're like, you know, and obviously you, you had a, and we're going to want to talk
10:26a little bit about the, the suicide prevention efforts that you're involved with as well,
10:31which is, I couldn't think of a, you know, we're hearing statistics out of the CDC and,
10:35and you know, it, with all of this stuff that's working, you know, breathlessly to depress the
10:41hell out of people, all the stuff that's going on, the, the rates are rising exponentially.
10:46And so explain how, you know, your, your fan base rose to the occasion and, and started
10:52this effort raising money for suicide awareness.
10:56Yeah, I, um, you know, the, the circumstances around me leaving the, my work on Justice League
11:03was that we suffered a tragedy in my family.
11:05I lost my daughter to suicide and, um, I had to, I, we were just at a place where my family
11:12just, they needed me and I just felt like the best thing for me to do is sort of step
11:16away from the movie.
11:17And then the movie became its own thing, sort of without me.
11:20Um, and, uh, but the fans and this sort of recognition of this, this thing that struck
11:28me and can strike anyone, um, they really have rallied around this cause and they've done
11:35amazing work.
11:36The fans have raised half a million dollars just, you know, the, just in their own little
11:42community doing their thing, spreading the word and in support of the movie.
11:47And we were saying the other day, I said, you know, the movie's cool and it's fun to make
11:51a movie and it's cool to, you know, and to have superheroes fight and all that.
11:59That's cool.
12:00But, you know, these guys with the money they've raised literally exactly what you guys are doing
12:05in a lot of ways, but that money, you know, someone saw a billboard that was paid for
12:11by these guys or someone saw an ad or someone, someone was manning a hotline, whatever it
12:15is, but like those lives literally saved someone's life.
12:18Like what they're doing is, is changing people's lives and saving lives.
12:21And I said, you know, regardless of what happens with the movie, like what that is, is a, is
12:28a giant win and they should all be super proud of themselves.
12:31And I'm super proud of the fandom.
12:32As well, you should be.
12:33I mean, the fact that they collectively did something and are making a big difference,
12:36it's like, well, you know, we, we've had this, I don't know if you're aware, but the
12:39camp out for hunger is the largest single sponsored food drive in the, in the country.
12:44And to say it's critical and oddly enough, Philadelphia is, is a poor big city and, and,
12:50and food insecurity continues to be a problem.
12:53Even when the economy was roaring prior to COVID and all that stuff, it was still hurting.
12:57So, but again, you know, people will laud us when really what we do is we simply provide
13:03a centralized location and it's everyone who steps up and donates.
13:07And for you, you know, to see this sort of a similar scenario where you create something
13:12people love and they're motivated to do an ultimate good.
13:14That's got to be an amazing thing.
13:17Yeah.
13:18And it's kind of, it's exactly what you say.
13:20Really just what it is, is creating some sort of, um, lightning rod where everyone knows
13:24where to go.
13:24I think a lot of times people, I'm not sure if they don't know how to give or they don't
13:28want to, but I think when they actually go, oh, here's the cause, here's the why, then
13:33it's really easy for them to, to get on board and do something.
13:36Cause I think everybody in a weird way in their heart, they want to.
13:39Well, to the point of suicide and our midday guy who's a legend in, in, in rock radio,
13:43he's, he uses the phrase, it's, it's a, uh, it's a permanent solution to a temporary
13:47problem.
13:48And it's, and the, you know, the word now more than ever has to get out for that, um,
13:52on, on other notes, cause you have so much that's going on.
13:56You are, you're the army of darkness, uh, excuse me, uh, Sam Raimi out here for a second.
14:03Yeah.
14:04So, so the, uh, army of the dead, which was shot in a partially, at least in, uh, Atlantic
14:08city, there's going to be a prequel.
14:11Uh, yeah, we, uh, we shot this, we're shooting right now, this prequel called, uh, meanwhile
14:16in Germany, that's what it's called right now.
14:18And it's literally, we took one of the characters who's this German, uh, the locksmith, the guy
14:23who cracks the safe, right.
14:25Uh, his character is sort of his origin story, how he got into safe cracking, you know, some
14:30big adventure, European adventure where they have to do this.
14:34Uh, crack these different safes.
14:35And then, you know, he gets involved with this international ring.
14:38But meanwhile, you literally see on the news that there is a zombie plague going on in
14:43Vegas.
14:43It's like this, it is this weird, um, that's great.
14:47And it's so, it's so it's, uh, you were, I was reading an interview with you.
14:51You're saying it's sort of a genre redefining in a little bit of a way because it's, it's
14:55ocean itself.
14:57You mean army?
14:58Because basically what my, my feeling about army was, I really wanted to take it this
15:03no, like, look, I made, uh, dawn of the dead.
15:06So I, I'm a, I'm a bit of, uh, uh, a zombie fan and sort of a genre, you know, I like to
15:11make genre films, like big genre films.
15:13And that reset, that was reset, that reset it in his own right.
15:16Like, you know, the, the, the aggressive, robust zombie, I mean, these guys, so I really
15:22wanted to take all of that and just put it on crazy steroids because I felt like it'd
15:26be fun to see zombies, Vegas, like just as much insanity as possible, you know, I think
15:36one of the, one of the, uh, notions is they're gonna, you know, they're in there.
15:40The government has decided the only way to get rid of the zombies is to nuke Vegas.
15:44And so the, the guys have to get in there and get the money, like this a hundred million
15:51dollars out of this safe underneath the strip in like 72 hours before they nuke the site
15:56and they've got zombies trying to kill them.
15:58So it's like, it's great.
16:00Uh, Zach, I wanted to ask you about something I, I have, uh, I use this kind of a litmus,
16:04litmus test, a handful of movies that I will ask people about and it determines whether
16:09I can hang out with them or not.
16:11Uh, and Watchmen is one of those films.
16:13Uh, I, I think it's perfect.
16:15I think, I think I just loved everything that you did with it.
16:17I had no qualms with the different ending.
16:20I thought it was poetic.
16:21Actually, I thought it was excellent.
16:22I wanted to get your take on, uh, the HBO series.
16:26Um, and did you get a chance to see it and what your impression was?
16:29No, I didn't.
16:30I have not watched the entire thing.
16:32I'll tell you what I am.
16:34I'm, uh, part of the reason is like I am, you know, it's pretty close to my, you know,
16:40personal, um, experience.
16:43And so I, I've been kind of warming up, getting myself ready to watch it.
16:47Every one of my close friends that I use as a, um, you know, kind of a, like you do,
16:54like a litmus test to say like, okay, they're all like, it's cool.
16:58Yeah.
16:58And I go, really?
16:59Yeah, it's cool.
17:00And I go, okay, I guess I have to watch it.
17:01Yeah, it takes, it takes some interesting, uh, direction and, uh, and, and, and you got
17:06to stay through it.
17:07You just got, got to stay with it to the end, but it's, uh, I thought it was very, very well
17:11done, but, you know, tonally and, and yet another example of this, uh, you know, type
17:16of chapter mentality of rolling out a story.
17:19I think that works beautifully.
17:20I, I want to support that as much as possible, like you're doing with Justice League on HBO
17:25Max.
17:25Uh, I want more out of these experiences and I don't want to have to wait, uh, a year
17:30for the, you know, two years for the second movie to come around when you can knock them
17:34out in this particular way.
17:35So I'm hoping that it, as much as I like going to the movie theater and one day we will return
17:41to that, that experience is wonderful.
17:42I do like, uh, having a longer journey and flushing out a story.
17:46So hopefully that continues to be, you know, a part of the way movie making goes.
17:51Yeah, it's like, you know, there's certain movies that you really want to experience
17:56on the big screen, you know, um, uh, like I, I, you know, had to, uh, uh, have to like
18:05a movie like Tenet that you got to see in the theater if you can.
18:08Um, but you know, then there's, you know, there are things made specifically for, um, you
18:15know, just sort of at home experience.
18:17And it's, it's, it's funny how I think, and it's, it's really fitting in a lot of
18:22ways that as we get to our custom world, where we sort of custom create our sort of
18:27entertainment window, we would be able to say like, oh, this is a, this movie I want
18:33to see an IMAX, this movie I want to see on my phone, you know, it's a, but, but, you
18:39know, those are different experiences.
18:41And, and I think that it's, they're all important.
18:44And I think we need to support them.
18:45Well, you, so you have a number of those, obviously we have the, the, the, and again,
18:49there was an article I was reading in Forbes talking about how you're basically going to
18:52be the linchpin.
18:53I mean, HBO Max, it sort of helped put that on, uh, uh, you know, on the map a bit, the
18:59anticipation and the excitement over that you have that project.
19:02And then concerning the Watchmen, are you also working on a, on another, uh, a Watchmen
19:06related project as well outside of that?
19:09Uh, no, no, no, no, I'm not, not right now.
19:14I, I, I, we, you know, there was talk, uh, back in the day.
19:18Um, but we've kind of, uh, you know, we're our big push right now.
19:22I'm getting ready to go shoot a movie.
19:24Hopefully as soon as, uh, you know, in the, in the spring, at the end of the spring, um,
19:29a, you know, a, uh, a really small movie that I'm going to go shoot down in South America.
19:34Is that, are you going to know what to do with yourself when you don't have something
19:37sprawling?
19:38I, I, I, trust me.
19:40You know, we're, we're friends with, uh, um, uh, I see one more green screen.
19:43I'm going to lose my mind.
19:45But you do it better than anyone.
19:47The M night, M night Shyamalan is a friend of the show and he's, he's been on the show
19:50a number of times.
19:51And, um, you know, he, when he made a, like a simple little quiet movie, like the visit,
19:57you know, you could, you could tell, you could see he had sort of refound what he
20:01initially loves about filmmaking.
20:03And do you, do you see this as a potential reset for you as well?
20:07Well, you know, army, I was the director of photography of army and, you know, um, and
20:13so it wasn't really, the thing about army was, you know, I was a camera operator, the
20:18DP and the director, and I wrote it.
20:20So, uh, with this guy, Shea Hatton, because, you know, and, and that was for me, this
20:25like way to really replug back into the process because, you know, the bigger the
20:29movies get sort of further away from the camera, you get weirdly, you find like,
20:33you know, it's some, there were points on justice league where I'd be like, I think
20:36the crew is over there in this vast soundstage in England, you know, there's a teeny
20:43little, you know, they're there, it's a million miles of green screen.
20:47And I'm on this TV, I'm on a monitor in a cave with all my monitors.
20:50And I don't, you know, I'm like, okay, guard, let's do it.
20:55So it's really refreshing to just get the camera in hand and then go just shoot.
20:59If you're just tuning in, it's a Zack Snyder.
21:01Who's joining us via zoom case.
21:03You had a question?
21:03Well, I wanted to ask you about one of your favorite movies, um, because I was reading
21:07a list and you, and your, uh, your likes are kind of like all across the board.
21:12And one that struck me as, um, as interesting because I like it as well is RoboCop and you
21:17love the original RoboCop movie.
21:19And what is it about that movie?
21:22And would you ever consider rebooting or maybe bringing that to Netflix or something like
21:27that?
21:27Or HBO max, I should say.
21:29Well, I'm a huge fan of RoboCop because I am a huge fan of the tone of that movie to
21:35me is 100% like crushing because it has this amazing, it does everything.
21:43It has fun with the genre.
21:45It points out poignant aspects of its sort of, you know, the way it talks about the future
21:52is very, you know, it's incredibly, it predicts a lot of stuff, but then it also is
21:58poignant and at times really like super violent and, and arresting, but it, it always has
22:05this weird, slightly absurdist, but never, it doesn't crack, you know, it holds, it stretches
22:11its tone, but it doesn't break.
22:13And I think it, for that reason, it's just, to me, it's one, it's masterwork.
22:17I love Paul Verhoeven, who's the director.
22:19He also directed Starship Troopers, which is a movie I think is underrated.
22:22Uh, we quote the line that, well, that's life in the big city all the time from RoboCop.
22:26Uh, cause it's, cause it has a dark, a dark sensibility to it, but you still, you leave
22:33that movie having, having a great time.
22:35You're also working on something involving Norse legend as well.
22:37Are you not?
22:38Oh yeah.
22:39I'm doing these two animated series at, um, uh, at Netflix.
22:44We, we are doing an animated prequel to Army of the Dead that I'm directing a couple of
22:51those.
22:51Um, and, and we worked and I, you know, sort of came up with the story with Shay and
22:56Jay Oliva, who's, um, our, one of my, my animation partner.
22:59And then also Netflix contact me about, um, how would I feel about a Norse mythology sort
23:07of adult, uh, animated, you know, story.
23:11And I said, that sounds amazing.
23:14Yeah.
23:15And so we sat down and we knocked out this crazy story and it's really fun and it's going
23:20to be just, you know, it's a, it's, you know, not for kids, um, violence and, you know, swords
23:29and insanity.
23:30So, but really fun.
23:32And I think really fun to kind of push the limits of animation.
23:35And that's kind of what we're, we're up to Zach.
23:37I just finished watching a queen's gambit last night.
23:39And that's another example of a, taking a story that you can stretch out over seven
23:42hours and, and tell in seven different parts.
23:45Um, and, uh, sort of like a justice league coming to HBO max, you know, you can, you can
23:48tell the story in longer form.
23:49Any other recommendations that you have for anything that you're watching right now?
23:54I've seen that first episode of queen's gambit and I really liked it.
23:58I, I, how does, how does it, is it?
24:00It's great.
24:01Anya Taylor joy is just incredible and it's a really cool book and a cool story.
24:05Uh, but I don't think that they could have told that in a theatrical release.
24:08I think they needed seven hours to tell it properly.
24:10And so that's why another reason why people should look forward to the justice league,
24:14because when you have the time to tell a story, the way that you want to tell it, uh,
24:17it becomes different and it doesn't need to get edited down.
24:20So I, I, it was my favorite show.
24:22Preston recommended it to me.
24:23It's my favorite show over the last few months.
24:25All right.
24:25I'll check it out.
24:26Let's see.
24:26What do I got?
24:27You know, it's funny.
24:28Cause like, uh, I have got these, um, two small kids.
24:31I have, you know, I have a big family.
24:33Um, my big kids are, um, you know, in college and they're starting their careers and, um,
24:41doing their thing out in the world.
24:42And then I've got these two little ones.
24:44And so like my nights are a little bit captured by getting them to bed and getting them on.
24:51So what did you think of Hubie Halloween then?
24:55Hubie Halloween.
24:55I haven't really had a chance to, uh, other than editing two of them at the same time.
24:59I haven't been, uh, really had a chance to check out much.
25:03I, I, I caught that one.
25:04My, my daughter fell asleep when I put on Queen's Gambit and was trying to check it out.
25:08Yeah.
25:08You're juggling a lot.
25:10It's just a couple of other questions I have to ask.
25:12So when you call back everybody for the, for the justice league and you're going to,
25:16you're going to do the, the, the Snyder cut props and things, costumes.
25:20I know that the Ben Affleck dons the, the Batman costume again, did that even exist?
25:24Did you have to create a new one?
25:26No.
25:26Yeah.
25:26We took it from archives.
25:28There was a, you know, the shot we did had been doing something.
25:31And so we, we needed to cowl and, uh, we did, uh, when we, when we pulled it out, it,
25:37you know, it's been, um, it seems, doesn't seem like this, but I think we were actually
25:43photographed the movie four years ago.
25:45Wow.
25:45Um, so it's, you know, and we talk about Ben Affleck, you know, his Batman and, and he
25:50literally hadn't put the cowl on for, for, for me for four years.
25:54Were there, were there some extra COVID pounds he had to adapt to?
25:57Yeah, there was a little bit of like, when he, I think when we pulled out the first one,
26:00it kind of just tore apart.
26:03That foam doesn't really age well.
26:05No, no.
26:06Yeah.
26:06Yeah.
26:07It was all like, you know, smelled weird and everything, you know, it's a lot of sweat
26:10and, uh, stuff is on that thing just kind of in its little box in archives for four
26:17years.
26:18It wasn't, uh, wasn't a great, but then the other one was fine.
26:22So it was good news.
26:23Well, with this, uh, with this coming out on HBO max, um, what are your expectations?
26:28Because the, um, the, the reception of, of justice league, you know, had its detractors.
26:34Steve and I liked it.
26:35I mean, I, I, I, I, I'm easy to entertain you.
26:38You will love me, Zach.
26:39I mean, it's, I go to a movie.
26:41Did I have a good time?
26:42That's all.
26:43I don't need to overanalyze things.
26:44Did I enjoy myself in the, and if I walk out of there saying yes, then, you know, mission
26:49accomplished.
26:50Um, what, what are your expectations?
26:52Do you have high expectations for this from the, from the audience?
26:55Here's the thing.
26:56I, when I left the project and, um, they finished it without me, um, I never watched the movie.
27:03I've never seen, I've never seen it.
27:06No kidding.
27:07Okay.
27:08I know.
27:09I'm, I just don't even know what happens in the movie.
27:11I, I've been told a lot and sometimes someone will say, Hey, what about, you know, this aspect
27:16of the movie?
27:17And I'll go, what?
27:19Wait, what?
27:20Oh, okay.
27:22That's not, that's not a thing.
27:23So for me, my expectation really is pretty simple.
27:27And that is to just sort of see to fruition, you know, kind of what I, what I started,
27:33what I wanted to achieve initially from its inception.
27:37And so, yeah, that's my expectation beyond that is just, you know, I want people to have
27:42a fun time and sort of see a little bit more of where these guys are headed and, you know,
27:49a little bit more about like them all, each one of their, there's their arcs and sort of
27:54how they come together and become this cohesive unit.
27:57Have you, and I always wonder about this, about, you know, writers and directors and
28:00the project of a movie, you, you know, you, you, you, you create this and then you, then
28:05you send it out into the world and we wait and we see what happens.
28:09But along the way, sometimes there are, there are audiences that test it along the way.
28:14You get focus groups and stuff.
28:15Has that been done with this?
28:16And do you know what the feedback is?
28:18No, the cool thing about this movie is, yeah, no, this is a entirely different process.
28:22Um, with this, uh, with my Justice League movie that I'm making right now, it's a completely,
28:31um, this is the purest.
28:33Okay.
28:34No focus groups.
28:35I mean, and I would say, I would say, you know, the director's cut of Batman versus Superman
28:39or any of those movies are just, that's the way I sort of intended the movie.
28:44And then when you see like the theatrical version, that's, you know, after we show it
28:48to an audience and people fill out these cards and then the studio has their notes and then
28:52we kind of, kind of try and tighten it up and make it different, you know, a little bit
28:57based on confusions and things like that.
28:58But weirdly, it seems that the director's cuts are less confusing.
29:02So, well, and that's part of the case.
29:04I mean, Batman V Superman and the extended version, you know, I look at the theatrical version
29:07as a shorthand version of the, of your director's cut.
29:10And I think it fleshes it out.
29:11I'm very excited about this because you had a vision in mind.
29:14It's, it's rare.
29:15I think a lot of times where a director can get, go and, and, and get what they originally
29:20intended to do.
29:21There's so much more of the story you're dealing with these legendary characters and it, and
29:26it sort of seemed like a thumbnail sketch.
29:28It's, you know, in, in, in a lot was passed over quickly in justice league.
29:33And it seemed like, wow, what are we, what are we running for?
29:35You know, this isn't, uh, you know, there was some stuff that was clearly you in there.
29:40And I know, you know, you're, you're level, you're a fan boy yourself.
29:43So there's, there's a lot of stuff that that's a love letter to the fans and you can see visually,
29:47but there's also, it's like, it, it, it definitely seems a lot, a lot more rushed.
29:51So to let it breathe.
29:53And I don't want, I want you to give away, but I know you can't give away.
29:57We're going to see some characters that here to four, like for example, dark seed is,
30:00is more of a, uh, a prominent, um, element in this and doesn't even appear in justice league.
30:08So, so the movie, uh, dark, dark side is very much, yeah, is very much, uh, the, the, the puppet master.
30:18Well, he's, he's definitely Steppenwolf is, is certainly the, the probing force, um, for what would be a massive invasion by, you know, by the forces of apocalypse.
30:31And so that's kind of the, you know, that's, that's what they're trying to stop from happening when the, when the mother box is, when the mother box is synchronized, you know,
30:43it's meant to scorch the earth and then sort of climate for this apocalyptic and remake of earth.
30:52And that's what, that frankly, what dark side has done all over the galaxy.
30:56He just goes from place to place and just, he's looking for something, this thing called the anti-life equation, which is super dorky.
31:03And I don't mean to be such a dork.
31:04No, no, it's okay.
31:05Cause Kathy, our traffic gal was saying the exact same thing.
31:09She just hasn't piped up yet during the conversation.
31:12Yeah.
31:12I have so much to say on this topic.
31:14I'm saying like, uh-huh, absolutely.
31:17It's got the anti-life equation.
31:19That's insanity.
31:21Yeah.
31:22I'm just going to let you say it.
31:24Yeah.
31:24Yeah.
31:25You were doing it with your eyes.
31:28I know this is a zoom.
31:29I could see it.
31:30You knew I was with you.
31:32She has a son.
31:33You know, she has a vested interest.
31:35Once I start talking about the armies of apocalypse, I saw you perk up and be like, wait a second.
31:41Yeah.
31:42Wait, are we going to see D'Saad or D'Saad?
31:46You saw me.
31:47You saw how excited I was.
31:48Yeah, I saw that.
31:49I'm glad, though.
31:50Even though I didn't say that, I'm glad you could see it.
31:52Your geek flag fly here.
31:53It's totally fine.
31:55I want to mention, we touched on the suicide prevention.
31:59I just want to name the organization that the Snyder fans have decided to contribute to.
32:05It's the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
32:08And if you can contribute to that, I know we're asking for a lot right now.
32:11But, you know, listen, I was just reading a statistic that says, given the current situation that we're in right now in America and the world in general, that charitable donations are actually up.
32:23I know.
32:24And that is such a promising thing to hear.
32:27That's really amazing.
32:28Yeah.
32:28And, guys, the work that you're doing, you know, is unbelievable.
32:32And I am going to encourage everybody.
32:33I'm going to go post right now that, you know, what this food drive is super important.
32:39And you've got to, like, you know, these guys, you're tirelessly, tirelessly, year after year, have been just doing this amazing work.
32:46And it's really great stuff.
32:48Thank you, man.
32:49Well, we're excited.
32:50And when is it coming out on HBO Max?
32:54When's the official?
32:55It's going to be.
32:56We haven't announced the exact date.
32:57But it's going to be next year.
33:01But hopefully early in the year.
33:03Today, a trailer, right?
33:05A redone trailer?
33:07Today is.
33:07What happened was the trailer, the Hallelujah trailer that I released just a little while ago, they hadn't gotten the music rights completely squared away.
33:17So they had to take it down.
33:19And so I'm putting it back up today.
33:21And I'm doing this little trailer pull through shot by shot, this live stream on Vero, which is the social media platform that I that I'm on.
33:28It's called Vero at the app store if you want to download it.
33:31But the but I'm going to there's a couple of new shots that I put in.
33:35Nice, nice.
33:38Same music or did you get did you use different music that you didn't get permission for?
33:42It was just literally a technicality.
33:45They had forgot.
33:47Like I was saying, I think there's I's and T's and they got mixed up.
33:50They dotted one and crossed the other.
33:53All the time.
33:53So you replaced it with the locomotion instead.
33:57Which was again, you know, but it was that weird, slow acapella version.
34:02Right.
34:02It's much more dour.
34:08Yeah.
34:09Yeah.
34:09It's like cool.
34:10It's like, whoa, that's crazy.
34:12It's so like intense.
34:14Well, as soon as we're done with this, I'm going to go find it.
34:16Where's that going with this?
34:18Yeah.
34:18Amazing.
34:19Yeah.
34:20All right.
34:20Well, Zach, we appreciate the support and we appreciate the entertainment that you've given
34:25us and will continue to give us for the past few years and next several.
34:28So thanks a bunch.
34:29And it's great to catch up with you, man.
34:31Of course.
34:31Of course.
34:32I can't wait till I'm back out in South Jersey and I'll I'd love to stop by.
34:37Awesome.
34:37You're always welcome.
34:38Yeah.
34:38Zach Snyder, ladies and gentlemen.
34:40All right.
34:41Thanks, guys.
34:42Excellent.
34:42We appreciate it, man.
34:43Wow.
34:44Cheers.
34:44That was very, very cool.
34:45Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:46Cheers.
34:47Cheers.
34:48Cheers.
34:48Cheers.
34:49Cheers.
34:50Cheers.
34:50Cheers.
34:51Cheers.
34:52Cheers.