10 Moments From Joss Whedon's Justice League That Prove It Wasn't All Bad
While most DCEU fans prefer Zack Snyder's Justice League over Joss Whedon's, the controversial director's movie has a few highlights.
Regardless of what people might have thought about the DCEU under Zack Snyder, it seems to be generally agreed that his version of Justice League was a considerable improvement over the theatrical version. After Snyder left the original project, Joss Whedon was brought on to finish things. This eventually resulted in more controversy, frustrated actors, workplace toxicity, and a heavily panned final project.
However, just because Snyder's vision wins out doesn't mean that Whedon's is totally without merits. There are moments and lines in the movie that bring a smile to the face of fans and even do a few things better than Snyder's cut.
10 Opening Credits
It's interesting that one of the aspects that feels like such an obvious Snyder inclusion actually came from Whedon. While the movie opens with two very awkward scenes of kids interviewing Superman, and Batman hunting parademons, the opening credits provide a nice setup for the movie.
The slow-motion sequence set to a haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" immerses people in this world following the death of Superman. It feels very reminiscent of the amazing credit sequence in Snyder's Watchmen and could be an homage of sorts.
9 Throwback Music
Whedon decided to give fans a taste of nostalgia in this movie by including some classic scores for two of the movie's biggest heroes. At various times in the movie, Danny Elfman's theme from Tim Burton's Batman cues up, which immediately gives the audience goosebumps.
The use of John Williams' score for the original Superman is also used, although not quite as effectively. Snyder's musical choices work well for his movie and it's easy to dismiss this as an easy gimmick, but it does still get an excited reaction.
8 Lasso Of Truth
One of the best things Whedon brought to The Avengers was taking what fans knew about these iconic characters and using them in fun ways. Sadly, that wouldn't work quite as well with this new group of superheroes, but there were some clever moments.
Just as the team is getting ready to go into battle, the usually silent Aquaman starts talking about how he thinks they're all going to die and how he has never really belonged to a team only to realize he is sitting on Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.
7 Penguin Reference
Comic book fans love references and Easter eggs in these types of movies, which is another thing Whedon is quite skilled at. While it doesn't add much to the overall story, it is fun to think about the larger universe of these movies.
When Bruce is attempting to assemble the team, he and Alfred note the more complicated world they've been exposed to. Alfred remarks that he misses the day where the threats they faced were "exploding wind-up penguins," a fun nod to the classic Batman villain, the Penguin.
6 Barry Geeking Out
Whedon's version of the movie uses Barry Allen as little more than comic relief. In fact, sometimes it gets a little irritating how many quips and goofs the character has. But it is also fun seeing this young hero suddenly become part of this team.
Barry feels a bit like the audience surrogate as he fanboys over Batman. One particularly funny scene finds Barry speeding around the Batcave, checking out all the gadgets. He finally ends up sitting in the Batmobile with a big goofy grin on his face.
5 Fish Talk
In both of Whedon's superhero team-up movies, there seemed to be at least one hero he didn't really know how to use. In The Avengers it was Thor and in Justice League it was Aquaman. This causes the character to sort of be pushed to the side and become the butt of some jokes.
Clearly, Snyder's use of Aquaman was more entertaining, but Whedon does have a way of narrowing in on those funny aspects of the character. At one point, Bruce Wayne awkwardly begins asking Aquaman if he could get any information from his ocean friends before just straight up asking, "Do you talk to fish?"
4 Barry Doesn't Do Battle
Another fascinating aspect of Barry Allen in both versions of Justice League is that he is a kid with amazing abilities but not yet a superhero. During the first face-off with Steppenwolf and the parademons, he finds himself out of his element.
As Barry is freaking out, he points out that all of the other heroes seemed prepped for battle but that he has only ever pushed people and then run away. It is one of those great moments where something is pointed out about an iconic character that is true but never really said out loud.
3 Lex Luthor's Post-Credit Scene
A scene featuring Lex Luthor escaping from prison and meeting with Deathstroke is featured in both versions, but with two different payoffs. In Snyder's version, Luthor tells Deathstroke about Batman's identity, presumably setting up Ben Affleck's canceled Batman movie. In Whedon's version, Luthor proposes creating a "league of our own" which hints at a sequel featuring the supervillain team, Legion of Doom.
Deathstroke learning Bruce Wayne is Batman feels like a big moment to include in an epilogue scene. But the promise of a team vs team Justice League sequel is admittedly pretty exciting.
2 Lois As Secret Weapon
The debate over bringing Superman back to life is made to create considerable tension amongst the team in Whedon's version. This feels like a manufactured conflict but there is a pretty great payoff to it all.
Batman assures the rest of the team that if Superman goes rogue, he has a secret weapon to stop him. While it appears like Bruce is going back to his old ways of searching for ways to bring Superman down, his secret weapon turns out to be Lois Lane and the sight of her immediately brings Clark Kent back.
1 Batman's Pep Talk
When first introduced in the DCEU, Ben Affleck's Batman was a pretty harsh hero, branding criminals and attempting to kill Superman. However, he is softened considerably in Whedon's version with varying success.
However, one moment that feels like the best hero moment in the whole movie is when Barry is doubting he can face Steppenwolf. Batman tells him, "just save one." It is a touching lesson that helps Barry realize his inner hero.
NEXT: DCEU: 10 Heroes That Should Join The Justice League In A Sequel
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