10 Times Zack Snyder's "Justice League" Was More Inclusive Than Joss Whedon's

Snyder’s cut has restored Cyborg’s storyline, but Ray Fisher wasn’t the only POC who got some additional love.

Women also got pushed to the side in Josstice League. In Whedon’s hasty cutting, he snipped out several characters and storylines that made the film richer.

In the Snyder Cut, we see Barry Allen’s life mapped out a little more. We get to see the hero on the search for a job and also see him save Iris West. Comic fans will recognize her immediately. She is the love interest of Barry Allen and they even get married. Snyder’s Cut has an amazing slow-motion scene where Barry saves Iris from certain death when her vehicle gets hit by an occupied truck driver.

Snyder tried to get Green Lantern in the film; however, DC and Warner had plans to introduce him themselves (more on that later). So he settled for J’onn J’onzz, better known as the Martian Manhunter. The scenes with the hero are brand-new, but actor Harry Lennix was slated to film for the original theatrical release. But he did not know General Swanwick, whom he played in Man of Steel, was really J’onn in disguise.

Lennix’s role was cut before he had a chance to film anything. In the Snyder Cut, we see J’onn shapeshift into Martha Kent and later introduce himself to Batman.

Ryan Choi’s storyline was chopped out of Whedon’s version of the film. His name does appear as an easter egg in the theatrical cut, but that’s all that was left of Choi’s role after being scrapped. Choi, who is played by Zheng Kai, is destined to one day become the Atom, another hero in the comics. His power allows him to shrink down to the size of his name or grow to a giant. Sounds familiar, huh?

In the Snyder Cut, Choi works in Star Labs with Silas Stone, Cyborg’s father. More on him later.

The Amazon Warriors got some screentime in Josstice League, sure. But the Snyder Cut made it so much more epic. When Steppenwolf first touches down in Themyscria, he tells the Amazon warriors he will bathe in their fear. Queen Hippolyta cries, “Daughters of Themyscria, show him your fear,” to which they yell, “We have no fear!” Give us more, Snyder!

The Snyder Cut also highlights the Amazon Warriors’ fighting styles, as well as their emotional sacrifice in an attempt to stop Steppenwolf.

The Snyder Cut not only highlighted the Amazon Warriors but also diversified their ranks. In the beginning of the film, Snyder treats fans to a scene where the Mother Box in Themyscria first awakens. A brave Black warrior investigates the strange occurrence.

Silas Stone is Cyborg’s father and much like his son, his role was completely downsized in the theatrical cut. Snyder enriches the story by making Silas a key figure. Not only does the director use Silas to complete Cyborg’s story arc, but he also elects to give him a death scene that shows how much he is willing to sacrifice to help the heroes stop Steppenwolf.

Josstice League cuts Silas down to a minor Dr. Frankenstein role. Joe Morton, who plays Silas, got to show his acting chops this time around.

For many DC fans, it was strange to see Bruce Wayne take a stab at Diana Prince in the scene where they argue over bringing Superman back. In Whedon’s version, we see Bruce make a comment about Diana’s love life out of spite. It just felt weird for the moment, like something Whedon forced in there himself.

The moment is reminiscent of a scene in the first Avengers, where the heroes argue on the Helicarrier. However, the Avengers are primarily made of men who want to play god. This approach doesn’t work with the Justice League, which is mostly a group of gods (or godlike beings) trying to be normal. Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg want nothing more than to be human. Even Flash tries to fit in with a normal day job and college aspirations.

Snyder highlights their humanity by turning the conversation to a more personal perspective. Instead of bickering about Diana’s love life, we see Bruce and the other heroes toy with the consequences of awakening a Mother Box.

As mentioned earlier, Snyder originally wanted to use Green Lantern in the film. Remember when the film was first being shot, there was a slogan called #UniteTheSeven. Green Lantern was that seventh member who just didn’t make the cut. Snyder threatened to quit after Warner Bros. said no, seemingly because they wanted to introduce the hero themselves. The last time Warner did that, they gave us Ryan Reynolds’s Hal Jordan. (Yuck.)

This time around, Snyder wanted to use the Black Green Lantern, John Stewart. John was a key member of the Justice League in the popular animated series. However, the Black Green Lantern was scrapped before he could even get cast. Luckily, we got Harry Lennix as the Martian Manhunter instead. We appreciate the effort, Zack!

Ultimately, Joss Whedon did Ray Fisher DIRTY. Fisher infamously took to the Twittersphere in 2020 to blast Whedon for being a toxic director with some problematic views. Essentially, this was the first step in exposing Whedon and getting the Snyder Cut out there. After watching the Snyder Cut, we can see why Fisher had some issues with Whedon’s version.

Fisher’s Cyborg was just a sulking mess in the theatrical cut. His story arc becomes the heart of the Snyder Cut, though. We get to see him mature from a father-hating android to a hero who declares, “I’m not broken,” to the deceitful Mother Box. The relationship between Cyborg and his father is fleshed out, while the hero’s own struggles with his identity are more defined. Out of all the heroes in the film, Cyborg’s storyline is the most emotionally fulfilling. It’s a shame that we won’t see Fisher’s Cyborg in his own film since Warner scrapped their initial DCEU plans and won’t continue Snyder’s storylines in upcoming films.