A new report has been released about how Zack Snyder's Justice League came to be, and it reportedly involved a lot of bots.
In a lengthy story by Rolling Stone, the publication reportedly spoke to over 20 anonymous sources and viewed two internal reports that paint a picture of a very troubled production and its aftermath.
Following Snyder's high-profile departure from Justice League due to a family tragedy, Warner Bros. alleges that Snyder took hard drives containing the files for the film without permission. The director said that his contract entitled him to files connected with the project and that the files were for his "personal use."
Warner Bros. reportedly did not demand the return of the drives at the time, but has since reacquired them in a settlement with Snyder.
Outside of the sphere of the studio and Snyder, it was around this time that the “SnyderCut” movement began, and that is where the article really digs into what was happening. It makes some not-so-veiled allusions to the idea that Snyder himself may have been involved in the early days of organizing by hiring a PR firm to build a website and get the ball rolling. Additionally, an insider also questioned other tactics that were used such as digital billboards in New York City that can cost as much as $50,000 per day, and how those were funded.
No matter how things came together, the campaign seemingly worked, and Zack Snyder's Justice League was finally approved.
As production on the Snyder Cut moved forward, the report suggests that things were not always smooth sailing. Part of the deal was that no new scenes were to be filmed, but Snyder moved forward with some filming in his backyard that some claimed not only violated the studio agreement, but also union practices and COVID protocols as well. Snyder says he did follow COVID protocols and at least one of the filming sessions was approved by the studio.
There was also said to be some disagreement about the addition of the Martian Manhunter to the film. Sources say that the character never appeared in the original script and that the studio felt blindsided by his inclusion as it had other plans for him. Sources say that Snyder threatened to delete footage if he wasn't allowed to use him, but the director denies these claims. WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar is reportedly the person who finally stepped in and made the decision that Martian Manhunter could remain in the film.
Both Zack and Deborah Snyder apparently were pursuing the removal of Geoff Johns and Jon Berg from the credits as producers, but neither of the men would agree. The Snyders then asked the studio to intervene to no avail. According to multiple sources, Snyder confronted an executive on June 26, 2020 and issued a threat saying, “Geoff and Jon are dragging their feet on taking their names off my cut. Now, I will destroy them on social media.”
Following on from this line of thought, Rolling Stone says it has seen two reports commissioned by Warner Bros. into potential bot activity used in pushing the trending of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag on social media. The reports stated that in a normal campaign you expect to see 3 to 5% of activity to be related to bots, but in Snyder's campaign, it reached as high as 13%.
The article shares many more details and is well worth your time to read, but what readers take away from it will more than likely vary wildly.
