Has HBO Max Given Up The Fight For Zack Snyder’s SnyderVerse?

HBO Max has just released a new trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League and they’ve called it the “trilogy trailer”, so what does this mean for the SnyderVerse?

Is this the end? Is this now the time to lose all hope? Has HBO Max given up the fight to have the SnyderVerse carry on on their streaming platform?

Well, the answer isn’t so black and white.

Much like the latest version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League that was released on HBO Max, it’s kind of grey.

So, as it stands, yes, the SnyderVerse is done.

The company line is very much this is the final movie in the SnyderVerse.

OK, maybe I should phrase it better than that – this is the final DC Comics movie which will be directed by Zack Snyder.

Is the SnyderVerse finished?

Read more: Dwayne Johnson’s Fight With WarnerMedia To Restore The SnyderVerse

However, does this mean that Zack Snyder’s Justice League is going to be the final film in the SnyderVerse?

No, it doesn’t.

And when I say “the company line”, I’m talking about the company as a whole, so WarnerMedia.

This decision wasn’t taken by HBO Max.

I’ve reported on multiple occasions that executives at HBO Max have been very interested in keeping the SnyderVerse alive on their platform.

However, Warner Bros. Pictures executives have not, and it seems as though, for the time being at least, AT&T is going along with them.

There is still the possibility that AT&T could step in again and push through the continuation of the SnyderVerse on HBO Max.

However, they seem to just want to take a backseat at the moment and not get as involved as they have been in the past.

There are also a whole load of financial reasons why Warner Bros. Pictures and even HBO Max might not want to pursue the SnyderVerse.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ bank balance has been hit hard by the pandemic

Credit: HBO Max

Read more: People Are Calling For AT&T And WarnerMedia To Release HBO Max Worldwide

The pandemic has hit WarnerMedia hard, and they need HBO Max to really take off to make up for the huge amount of revenue they lost over 2020 and now 2021.

Warner Bros. Pictures hasn’t been able to release a movie in cinemas for over a year now.

2020 was gearing up to be a big year for them at the box office with the likes of The Suicide Squad and Dune all scheduled to be released in that year.

They’ve now been pushed back, and in The Suicide Squad’s case, it’ll be released on HBO Max.

That’s going to take a pretty significant chunk of Warner Bros. Pictures’ earnings away.

There are so many variables to take into account when it comes to the SnyderVerse.

Zack Snyder’s movies were not cheap to make, and Warners ended up spending more on Justice League than any other comic book movie in history.

As far as the executives are concerned at Warner Bros. Pictures, this whole venture has been a huge failure for them.

This is something that I was told by an insider over at WarnerMedia, and it makes sense.

Justice League cost Warners a lot of money

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Read more: Chris Terrio’s Interview Is The Nail In The Coffin For Warner Bros. Execs

The reported budget of Justice League was $300 million back in 2017.

Now, that budget is actually quite a lot more than the reported $300 million.

Joss Whedon’s reshoots were very costly, and then there’s the marketing budget on top of that as well to consider.

The film then only managed to make just over $657 million worldwide, which wasn’t a very good result at all.

Then, AT&T greenlit Zack Snyder’s Justice League and that added a reported $70 million to the film’s budget.

I’ve been told that Warner Bros. Pictures spent close to $450 million on Justice League in total.

So that’s Justice League when Snyder was making it, then the Joss Whedon reshoots, and finally the Zack Snyder reshoots and then marketing costs for both versions of the movie.

Now, I don’t think you should really consider Josstice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League as having the same budget, but Warners does.

They look at this whole venture as a giant waste of money and they just want to move on.

That’s why Ann Sarnoff referred to this as the culmination in Zack Snyder’s trilogy, even though they originally planned to have at least one more movie from him.

Does all of this signal the end of the SnyderVerse?

Credit: HBO Max

Read more: AT&T Reportedly Looking To Sell DC Comics To The Highest Bidder

So, does this now put the nail in the SnyderVerse coffin?

No, it doesn’t. Zack Snyder still has his supporters inside of WarnerMedia.

He also has Dwayne Johnson on his side, and he’s getting more involved in the DC Comics movies.

Johnson wants the SnyderVerse to continue. He wants his Black Adam to fight Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Henry Cavill’s Superman, Ben Affleck’s Batman, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller’s The Flash and Ray Fisher’s Cyborg.

Johnson wants Black Adam to go up against them all, and beat them!

Will we get to see that?

Dwayne Johnson still wants to fight Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Credit: DC Comics

Read more: Zack Snyder’s SnyderVerse Will Reportedly Carry On Via HBO Max

Well, it’s up to Warners. Are they serious about having The Rock be a vital part of the DC Comics movies moving forward?

If so, then they’ll give the man what he wants.

However, the pandemic has really thrown a spanner into the works, and money is now very much an issue for Warner Bros. Pictures.

They’re struggling to stay afloat and without that AT&T takeover, they might have very well gone under during this pandemic.

What do you make of all of this?

If you have any questions or comments, you can either let us know in the comments section below or you can contact me directly via Twitter.

You can find me at @EJLauder and my DMs are open.

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