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Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a win for fans who have been petitioning for this 4-hour super-cut to be released for years. Regardless of how you feel about the movie itself, there’s no denying that this is the definitive version of Justice League. It also perfectly showcases the vision Zack Snyder had for Justice League before it released back in 2017. If you’ve finished watching this epic superhero romp and are looking for alternatives – fret not! We’ve combed through the archives and saved you the hassle with our top picks for alternate viewing. So without further ado, we present 10 movies to check out when you’ve finished watching Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Superman II
While Superman II seems like an odd choice for this list, it’s also a movie that shares a lot of similarities with Zack Snyder’s Justice League away from the big screen. In 1980 a similar issue akin to Justice League plagued Superman II’s production. With a different cut of the movie released, one much lighter than intended, it took decades before the original cut of Superman II was released back in November 2006 – 26 years later. The story here picks up where Superman: The Movie left off, with three criminals from Planet Krypton (General Zod, Ursa and Non) released from the Phantom Zone and descending on Earth. To make matters worse, they team up with Lex Luthor who escapes from prison and remains determined to destroy Superman. While not the best movie out there, it is still an enjoyable romp and worth checking out.
Avengers: Infinity war
With so many characters to juggle and a run time of around 2 and a half hours, Marvel do a great job bringing everything together for Infinity War. The first part of an otherwise 2-movie story, Infinity War is a compelling and well written story rife with tension and high-stakes. Every fight plays into the bigger picture too and whether it be the opening skirmish between Thanos and Hulk or a battlefield-spanning epic to protect one of their own, Infinity War is a beautifully balanced superhero film and a perfect way to reward fans that have stuck with the franchise over the years. The story opens right at the heart of the action on board the Asgardian Ship housing characters from the after-credit scene at the end of Thor: Ragnorak. After a brief skirmish that sees Thanos brush aside Hulk and Thor, it’s revealed that this unimaginably powerful being is after the Infinity Stones in a bid to become the most dominant being in the Universe. While the heroes on Earth and across the void of space join up in a bid to stop Thanos and his children from collecting all the stones, the future of the universe itself hangs in the balance. This is easily one of the best Marvel movies released.
Avengers: Endgame
Although it is a little overlong and a few of the characters feel under-utilized, Endgame is a highly enjoyable way to close out Phase 3 of Marvel’s big-screen universe. After a brief prologue, the film picks up after the events at the end of Infinity War. The remaining survivors on Earth band together to destroy Thanos once and for all, with hopes of collecting the Infinity Stones and snapping everyone they’ve lost back into existence. Of course, things aren’t that simple and after a pretty devastating truth is revealed, we cut forward five years where the real story begins. The group formulate a new plan, with the help of Ant Man, and remain determined to stop Thanos and reverse everything that’s happened before. While this is essentially part 2 of Infinity War, the movie delivers some great action and a satisfying conclusion to this epic Phase of Marvel’s big-screen world.
Justice League (2017)
Although tonally different, the main story in Joss Whedon’s cut of Justice League still sticks to the same story beats as Zack Snyder’s re-edit. For that reason, it makes sense to add it onto this list. Whether you love or hate this version, watching this close to the Snyder cut certainly helps to see what differences were made. The story is virtually the same, with Batman recruiting the various Justice League members to thwart the threat of Steppenwolf. With lots of Marvel humour and no Darkseid this time, Justice League plays out as a stripped down version of Snyder’s cut. This one is very much a love/hate affair though.
Justice League: Doom
There have been a lot of animated Justice League movies over the years, each of varying quality. Doom is one that really shows how far Batman is willing to go to save the planet – which inevitably means it draws a lot of parallels to Justice League. The story here revolves around an immortal supervillain known as Vandal Savage, who secretly raids the Batcave to uncover documents detailing all the weaknesses for the League. With this in his possession, Savage assembles a team of super villains with personal vendettas against the League members. Interestingly, it falls to Batman to save the day, and stop the Earth from meeting certain doom (no pun intended) when Savage uncovers his master plan. With good animation and an interesting story, this one’s well worth checking out – especially for the way Batman is made the central character here.
Avengers: Assemble
When it released back in 2012, Avengers changed the big-screen landscape, delivering a thoroughly enjoyable blockbuster that brought together all the loose plot threads from the previous stand-alone movies. To this day, it remains one of the best superhero team-ups on the big screen. The story here is simple and revolves around Nick Fury recruiting Captain America in a bid to bring Earth’s mightiest heroes together to thwart the threat of the mischievous Loki. With Hawkeye, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow together, the group set out to stop Loki and his alien army before it’s too late. With lots of action, a consistent story and a a nicely balanced pace, Avengers: Assemble is easily one of the best Marvel movies.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
This seems like an obvious one but Batman v Superman is also a movie that should be watched through the extended cut rather than the theatrical version. With a 3 hour run-time, the marketing for this movie billed an epic showdown between Batman and Superman. In reality, this movie plays out like a glorified prequel to Justice League. The plot here sees the general public torn over their perception of Superman. After the destruction of Metropolis, Batman sees Superman as a danger to everyone and prepares to take on Clark Kent himself. However, their grudge match is interrupted by wild-card Lex Luthor, who plots to destroy mankind. While all this is going on, Diana Prince (Woman Woman) gets mixed up in the action too. All of this leads up to a big fight at the end with a monstrous artificially-bred creature called Doomsday, leaving big questions for the Justice League to answer. Panned hard by critics at the time, Batman V Superman is another of those movies that’s going to be a love/hate affair.
Aquaman
Given the turbulent history of DC movies, it’s a relief then that Aquaman is one of DC’s better efforts on the big screen. While it pales in comparison to The Dark Knight or Wonder Woman, Aquaman does enough to right the sinking ship of the DC universe. Part Atlantian/ part human, Arthur is the destined child to unite the armies of Atlantis and bridge the gap between the surface world and the sea. Skip forward to present day and our story sees Arthur called into action as the threat of war looms on the horizon. Arthur’s half brother King Orm wages war on the surface, calling forth the service of Manta, who’s hell-bent on revenge after an early run in with Arthur on board a submarine. What follows is a story that sees Arthur seek out a legendary trident while fighting off the forces of Atlantis and Manta himself. While the story itself is well told, it is pretty predictable stuff and with a run time of 130 minutes, Aquaman does feel unnecessarily bloated at times. Still, it’s a fun ride nonetheless.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
Just like The Flash is billed as one of the most important characters in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, so too does The Flash take the reigns of this animated adventure. Despite some questionable animation, this heady, timeline-distorting plot puts The Flash squarely in the driver’s seat for this well written movie. The plot revolves around Barry Allen aka. The Flash, who causes a temporal ripple in reality which distorts the timeline. In this alt-reality, the Justice League has never been formed, Superman doesn’t exist and a bitter war rages between Wonder Woman and Aquaman. The only hope to restoring the world comes from Flash teaming up with Batman and Cyborg. With lots of action and a really interesting look at this new world, Flashpoint Paradox is definitely one of DC’s better animated projects and a must-watch for DC lovers.
Watchmen
Complex, dark and absorbing, Watchmen is one of the best superhero films ever made. It’s also one of the most fascinating too, especially on a thematic level as it asks big questions around humanity. The film itself takes place in an alternate 1985 America where costumed superheroes are just part of everyday society. The Doomsday Clock is set for five minutes to midnight and one of our heroes is murdered. To make matters worse, Nixon has just passed a law to prohibit the use of masks in public, leading to the Watchmen disbanding completely. This then falls to masked vigilante Rorschach to figure out who’s plotting to kill all past and present superheroes. Inevitably, Rorschach reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion and uncovers a disturbing conspiracy along the way. This movie has all the usual Zack Snyder hallmarks you’d expect but it remains a fantastic movie and a must-watch. So there we have it, our 10 Movie picks to keep you busy after watching Zack Snyder’s Justice League. What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
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