How Zack Snyder’s Justice League Fixes Superman’s Revival Scene

Warning: SPOILERS for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Zack Snyder’s Justice Leaguefixes how Superman (Henry Cavill) is revived by the other superheroes and it’s a marked improvement over how the Man of Steel’s resurrection played out in the theatrical cut. The 4-hour Snyder Cut restores Zack’s vision of the DC Extended Universe’s team-up movie and eliminates all of the footage reshot by Joss Whedon in 2017. As a result, the League bringing Superman back to life is more logical and powerful.

In both versions of Justice League, the superheroes led by Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) make the decision to resurrect Superman after their first encounter with Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds). The League’s plan is to exhume Clark Kent’s corpse in Smallville and bring it to the Kryptonian ship in Metropolis. There, a combination of the Mother Box and the organic liquid in the ship shocks Superman back to life after The Flash (Ezra Miller) supercharges the Mother Box with a bolt of lightning. The reborn Man of Steel is then confused and he fights the League at his Metropolis monument, Heroes Park. Just when Superman is about to kill Batman, the arrival of Lois Lane (Amy Adams) snaps Clark to his senses. Once Superman has regained his true sense of self, he joins the rest of the League to defeat Steppenwolf.

In the Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the League comes to a unanimous decision to bring Superman back after they faced Steppenwolf and got the measure of the Apokoliptian’s power. Whereas in Whedon’s version, the superheroes are frustrated and licking their wounds after Steppenwolf handed them a defeat. Batman eggs on the plan to bring back Superman and he even enrages Wonder Woman by goading her about her lost love, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). This was excised from the Snyder Cut. Instead, the heroes come to realize they can resurrect Superman after Cyborg (Ray Fisher) explains the origin of the Mother Box in his possession, as well as how it transformed Victor Stone into a living machine. Once Cyborg describes the Mother Box as a change engine that rearranges particles, the Leaguers simultaneously conclude that it can resurrect Superman. It’s a group think that leads to everyone getting on board what’s frankly an insane plan (that worked), as opposed to it being something Batman pushed for because of his own guilt and Wonder Woman hated in Whedon’s version.

In the Snyder Cut, the Flash actually addresses the fact that he could dig up Superman’s corpse at superspeed, which was a break in logic in the theatrical cut. Flash also calls Diana “Wonder Woman”, which is the first time her codename is spoken in dialogue. When the heroes bring Superman to Metropolis, the Snyder Cut also explains how they evacuated the STAR Labs facility and fills in more character-driven drama between Cyborg and his father, Silas Stone (Joe Morton). Compellingly, when Cyborg interfaced with the Kryptonian ship, the computer warned them repeatedly against what they were attempting to do. Cyborg also received a vision of the Knightmare future where Darkseid conquered Earth. Everything deepened the macro story that was meant to set up Justice League 2 and 3.

Once Superman is back, the League fights him in Heroes Park but the action is even more thrilling than in the theatrical cut. Perhaps the biggest improvement is Snyder dumped Whedon’s reshoot where Superman mocks Batman by asking, “Do you bleed?” – and this also eliminated the awful footage of Henry Cavill’s CGI face. After Lois Lane calms Clark down and they escape together, Snyder excised the awkward comedy Whedon added in the theatrical cut, like Batman on the ground moaning that one of his bones is broken. Batman even blocks Superman’s heat vision with an energy-absorbing gauntlet, which was set up by Alfred (Jeremy Irons) earlier in the Snyder Cut.

Superman’s reunion with Lois in Smallville is also greatly improved with Zack Snyder’s cut restoring their engagement before Clark’s heartwarming reunion with Martha Kent (Diane Lane). It all satisfyingly leads to Superman returning to the Kryptonian ship in order to don his black costume. This key moment is enhanced by the memories of both of his fathers, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), reminding the Man of Steel who he is and what he stands for before Superman joins the League to fight Steppenwolf at the end of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

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