19 #Releasethesnydercut: Fan activism and the Power of Twitter
19 #Releasethesnydercut: Fan activism and the Power of Twitter
Peter Fazari
Brock University
#Releasethesnydercut: Fan activism and the Power of Twitter
Peter Fazari (6930309)
COMM 3P18
TA: Suze Tkachuk
Prof. Derek Foster
December 5th, 2023.
Fan activism has been an important part of every fandom. Bringing together individuals who are passionate and devoted to specific fandoms can lead to political and emotional movements. Fan activism has been an important concept in showing how passionate fans who have been affected by something on a deeper level will join in order to demand change. The dedication and passion of the Zack Snyder fandom has dominated the online film fan landscape. Although Snyder fans are not the only vocal minority in the pop culture world, their story and dedication showed how relevant fan activism still is and how the use of Twitter helped their voices become heard and their efforts become successful.
Background
Zack Snyder is a popular film director that has directed major hit films such as, 300 (2006), Watchmen (2009), Man of Steel (2013), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and of course, Justice league (2017). Snyder is known for his distinct dark style and over use of slow motion when it comes to his blockbusters. His popularity really kicked off when he was given the chance to set the stage for a DC superheroes cinematic universe, a concept similar to what Marvel had been doing. Starting with the success of, Man of Steel, Snyder moved on to his next project Batman v Superman. Before the film was even released Snyder had already been hired to direct a follow up film, Justice League. Batman v Superman was deemed a mess by critics and most fans were in agreement. A small group of fans emerged from twitter to show their love for Snyder’s vision of the characters. After Batman v Superman was deemed as a flop by the studio, (Warner Brothers), a course correction was put into place to make sure that their Justice League movie fixed the complaints of the critics and fans. After filming ninety-five percent of the film Zack Snyder dropped out of the director’s chair after the tragic suicide of his daughter Autumn Snyder. The film would undergo extensive reshoots to fix the film to be more widely accepted, (or more like Marvel). Famous writer, director and producer Joss Weadon was hired to complete the filming. The film came out in November of 2017 and had lukewarm reviews from critics and was maligned by fans. It became a gigantic flop. The complaints of Snyder’s style being too much in the last film was reversed for this movie, with many fans upset with no clear style of one director and the visual duct-tape of the re-edited and reshot scenes. After reports of Snyder actually being fired from the project came out, a reaction or a spark was ignited on Twitter, a hashtag called, Release the Snyder Cut. Initially a large minority of fans disliked Snyder and his style and were against supporting his vision, until the news came