Screenwriter Chris Terrio Lashes Out About Batman v Superman And Justice League

Justice League screenwriter Chris Terrio has spoken out about his thoughts on the theatrical cut and the Oscar-winning writer does not mince words when it comes to how he feels about the 2017 feature.

"The 2017 theatrical cut was an act of vandalism," Terrio told Vanity Fair. "Zack [Snyder] may be too much of a gentleman to say that, but I'm not."

Terrio initially joined the DC Universe to rewrite an existing Batman v Superman script because its Batman, actor Ben Affleck, was worried about the project. "I think the studio brought me in to appease Ben Affleck, because they thought, 'Okay, well, we have this movie star who is reluctant about doing this, so why don't we bring in his guy?'"

It's public knowledge that Justice League was plagued with production problems. Firstly, Snyder stepped away from the film after a personal tragedy, and Avengers director Joss Whedon was brought in to oversee reshoots that changed the film exponentially. It wouldn't be until years later that fans would see The Snyder Cut on HBO Max as the original director had intended.

“If you took 30 minutes out of Argo, as they were from Batman/Superman, it would make zero sense at all. Critics would say, 'what a lazy screenplay' because the characters don't have motivations and it's not coherent," Terrio explained. "And I would agree with them."

Terrio had hoped Justice League would be a better experience, but that would not be the case. He had even explored the option of taking his name off of the credits completely.

"I drove to the studio and I sat down and watched [Justice League] a couple of weeks before release. I immediately called my lawyer and said, 'I want to take my name off the film.' [The lawyer] then called Warner Bros. and told them that I wanted to do that." However, Terrio said removing his name could have caused the film to be delayed even more so he decided to not go with that option: "I shut up and I said nothing publicly. I've never said anything about Justice League since then, but the movie doesn't represent my work."

With The Snyder Cut finally available Terrio says he's both happy and relieved that they can finally have their story seen by the public, the way they had intended.

"It's sort of a gift that we got from HBO Max because it wouldn't have been possible a few years ago."

Zack Snyder's Justice League is streaming on HBO Max now as well as the movies leading up to it.