The fabled 'Snyder Cut' of Justice League is heading to HBO Max in 2021

It's all happening. The countless diehard fans replying to anything remotely related to DC, Warner Bros., Justice League, or Zack Snyder with their rallying hashtags (#ReleaseTheSnyderCut) are finally going to see the long-fabled Snyder Cut of the superhero film. Snyder left the team-up project partway through production due to the death of his daughter, leaving Avengers alum Joss Whedon to finish things up.

The rewritten, reshot results left some fans wanting more — and specifically, wanting a peek at Snyder's original version of things. Now it seems they'll finally get it.

Announced today after Snyder's live watch party of Man of Steel on Vero — during which the filmmaker and his wife, producer Deborah Snyder, talked fans through a screening of the premiere DCEU film and Superman himself, Henry Cavill, dropped in — fans will be able to see the DCEU's climactic meeting of the superheroes as the original helmer intended it. Starring Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck's Batman, Jason Momoa's Aquaman, Ezra Miller's Flash, and Ray Fisher's Cyborg in addition to Cavill's golden boy, the film originally disappointed at the box office and only scored a 40 percent among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, however, it's getting a second chance.

"Me personally, I'm not in control of it," Snyder said. "It's not really up to me. If it was up to me, I'd have left it on a thumbdrive in a bathroom somewhere." After a little ribbing from Cavill, the filmmaker turned it over to the actor. "For me, having just watched Man of Steel, this was such a big moment," Cavill said. "I would love to see a version of Justice League without the mustache."

Credit: HBO Max

"I can't show the movie right now, because there is a little bit to do, but I can show this," Snyder said, turning his camera around to show a title card for Zack Snyder's Justice League - marked for 2021. It'll drop on HBO Max, which has apparently put the cash up for Snyder and team to finish it all up by next year.

This goes against what insiders were anticipating late last year when looking at HBO Max's upcoming relationship with the DCEU, as there was previously "little appetite at the studio for spending the millions of dollars it would require to finish visual effects and editing work on Snyder’s version." But, with the coronavirus pandemic fundamentally changing the structure of the entertainment industry and locking most creatives down until they can safely get back onto sets, perhaps all this new time at home allowed for the post-production work (the only kind of work most are able to accomplish) necessary for the film's recut release.

Cavill, who popped by the screening to reminisce about the various heating needs of the Superman suit and ADR needs over the course of production, also answered some fan questions in a Zoom-aided discussion:

While Easter eggs (the inclusion of LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises) and other production details were discussed over the course of the screening, everything was blown away by the announcement of the Snyder Cut.

HBO Max drops on May 27, with Zack Snyder's Justice League coming in 2021.