Joss Whedon Directing Justice League in Wake of Snyder Family Tragedy

Joss Whedon Directing Justice League in Wake of Snyder Family Tragedy

In Cinemas November 2017

By Alex Burns

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Joss Whedon has taken on directing duties for Warner Bros. Pictures' Justice League film. Zack Snyder had previously worked on the film up until March but a family tradegy led to the Man of Steel director having to step down, his daughter, Autumn, sadly committed suicide at the start of the year. Zack and his wife Deborah Snyder, who also acts as producer on Justice League, have moved away from the project to focus attention completely on their other children.

Initially returning to work on Justice League for two weeks following his daughter's passing, Snyder had to make the decision to pass the reigns of Justice League as it became apparent there were more important things for him to focus on.

“In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was way through it,” Zack Snyder tells the trade. “The demands of this job are pretty intense. It is all consuming… I’ve decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me. They are all having a hard time. I’m having a hard time.”

WB initially suggested pushing the planned November 2017 release of the film back but Snyder resisted and now Joss Whedon will complete the project in time for the end of year. Whedon's work speaks for itself with Buffy the Vampire Slayer proving one of the most successful TV shows of recent times and 2012's Avengers becoming the highest grossing superhero film of all time. Whedon is also working on a solo Batgirl film for the current DC Comics' universe on screen that includes Snyder's Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a plethora of upcoming superhero movies.

“We’re not introducing any new characters,” says WB President Toby Emmerich of the change in directors. “It’s the same characters in some new scenes. He’s handing a baton to Joss but the course has really been set by Zack. I still believe that despite this tragedy, we’ll still end up with a great movie.”

Following the critical backlash of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and David Ayer's Suicide Squad, the current DCEU is in no shortage of bad press and it's clear Snyder felt some pressure to have to share this personal tragedy so as to avoid insensitive speculation.

“Here’s the thing, I never planned to make this public,” he says. “I thought it would just be in the family, a private matter, our private sorrow that we would deal with. When it became obvious that I need to take a break, I knew there would be narratives created on the internet. They’ll do what they do. The truth is … I’m past caring about that kind of thing now.”

Whilst we here at Cape and Cowl have openly criticised Batman v Superman and Snyder's directorial work on that picture, we of course extend our deepest sympathies to the Snyder family during this difficult time and look forward to seeing Justice League in theatres, as Zack Snyder intended, on November 17 2017.