On May 20th, Zack Snyder announced that the Snyder Cut would release on HBO MAX as Zack Snyder’s Justice League. It was a moment of jubilation for a fandom that had campaigned for it daily for two and a half years since the theatrical cut released in 2017. Though, if you ask the fandom what the true mark of victory means to them, the film itself might just be second to the charity work for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention.
To date, the Snyder Cut movement has raised $200,000 for AFSP. From the humble beginnings of the $800 raised in the #JusticePledge twitter campaign in 2018, to the stunning $86,000 raised for Snyder’s own charity T-shirt, the fandom showed up time and again, donating in sums small and large towards the same goal. Below you will see a graphic detailing just how the fandom managed to raise over $200K over the last two years.
Zack Snyder commemorated the achievement by dropping a special graphic that combined the JL and AFSP logos to truly show how interconnected the two have become. The director commended the fandom with the message. “The bottom line…you guys have saved lives. This powerful movement is amazing #AFSP.”
The Snyder Cut movement has not been given the credit it deserves. The movement has been instrumental in changing the way fans interact with films. Despite being conflated with campaigns that had more negativity like Remake The Last Jedi or Bring Back Spider-Man, the Snyder Cut fandom did things in a more groundbreaking way. The fandom made sure that the fight for suicide prevention was just as, if not more important than releasing the film itself. The movement has inspired other fan-driven campaigns to do the same. The #AlitaSequel campaign has donated Open Bionics, a company that develops affordable prosthetic limbs for amputees. #ReleaseTheAyerCut has donated to Dogs for Vets, a charity that helps veterans by pairing them a dog companion.
Contrary to what some might say, HBO Max and Warner Media did not set a bad precedent by releasing Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Fans and consumers are the lifeblood to any business, especially that of entertainment. Zack Snyder’s fandom campaigned for the film daily. Was it always done perfectly? Of course not, there will always be a vocal minority that gets more attention than the majority. Those who paid attention will see that at the heart of the fandom is an altruistic core. For the majority, fighting for the Snyder Cut had more to do with Zack Snyder getting his artistic vision realized then film itself. The fandom made donating to AFSP the foundation for everything it does. No banner, billboard, t-shirt, or screening was done by the fandom without having AFSP at the center of it.
The goal to Release the Snyder Cut has been achieved by this fandom but the fight for AFSP goes on, and these fans will find ways to donate even more. $200,000 and counting…
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