The original director’s cut of the Justice League movie. Nearly four hours long and seemingly unnecessary to many viewers of the one that was released. I personally thought the other version was fine.

As I started to watch this version, I noticed that some scenes had been extended, new scenes had been added in and more importance had been put upon the villains. Steppenwolf is shown to have actual beliefs and motivations plus we get to see Darkseid as the real threat.

Minor characters such as Alfred and Commissioner Gordon get a few more lines which give their existence a bit more reason. Lois Lane gets her own mourning/grief storyline where Martian Manhunter shows up for some unexplained reason.

With the heroes, Steppenwolf recognised that Wonder Woman was a threat; Aquaman was able to display some proper strength; Cyborg got an origin story, plus some personal motivations because of his dad; Flash remained the comic relief but also shows his power and usefulness as a hero, possibly saving everything at one point. Then there’s Superman, I’m still not a fan of him being revived but the idea of him being different is explored both by giving him a black suit and having him star in Bruce Wayne’s nightmare.

The villains are much better in this one. Steppenwolf has character, dialogue, we get to hear his thoughts and learn that he wants to be in Darkseid’s good books, he also looks a lot more impressive. Darkseid has actual presence in this movie, he’s shown as a truly powerful dominator and has some actual relevance as a coming threat. Seriously awesome for a DC fan.

Then of course there’s the epilogue. We get to see Luthor meeting Deathstroke. We get to watch a nightmare where Superman is shown as a threat and Batman is being taunted by the Joker (Jared Leto, much better than in Suicide Squad). Batman meets Martian Manhunter. There’s just so much setup here for what will, could or may be and it’s brilliant, but as we know most of it won’t happen.

The length of the film is annoying. Roughly four hours is a bit much. It is split up with chapter cards but I do think releasing it as two movies might have helped.

I’ve written in the past about how I don’t like Affleck’s Batman. For me, this film redeemed him to the point where if the Arkham games were turned into movies I think he could fit well. I don’t like Ezra Miller, just a personal preference thing because although the acting is good enough I found his voice as the Flash annoying.

There’s just so much more in this version of the story and it’s much better told because of it. After watching the Justice League that was released and now Seeing this one, it’s clear that Snyder’s vision for DC could have grown into something much greater than what they look to be doing.

There is a major flaw to this movie and that is Martian Manhunter, he isn’t really explained at all when everything else is. I started watching the animations and I’m aware of some comics, but the shapeshifter alien and the Knightmare stuff mean the movie is more for deep DC fans than the casual viewer.

To clarify my opinion. I think this version of the movie is brilliant.