In the last week, a good chunk of viewers around the world have been entranced by the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League . The first rendition of the film was released in 2017 and was critically ripped apart. The two-hour film was clearly a chopped-up, stitched together, Frankenstein of a creation.
So then, by the magical combination of fandom and a worldwide pandemic, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was born. Snyder’s true vision, for better or worse, was fully realized. On top of nearly all deleted and/or discarded scenes added back into the fray, Snyder even filmed some new ones.
So, naturally, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier having just aired as well, it’s easy to wonder what may not have made it into the final product—and what a long, more complete version would look like.
WHAT SCENES WERE BLIPPED?
In an interview with Digital Spy , Kari Skogland—the director of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier —talked about whether anything notable was left on the cutting room floor. Skogland mentioned that nothing that was cut "felt like it was a game-changer:"
"There were plenty that I would have loved to have had, or different ways to take a scene. That's just the nature of the creative process...What I can say is that there's nothing on the floor that felt like it was a game-changer. So there's nothing that I go, 'Oh!', lamenting. Truthfully, everything that is great, is in there.”
Skogland went on to mention how a good amount not originally in the script made it into the final product, citing "a fair bit of ad lib:"
"We did a fair bit of ad lib – because we were finding characters a little bit. When you're exploring character, you kind of want to let everybody out of the box, and go, 'Let's try this, and let's go down this lane, and shake it up' or 'let's say nothing'."
With a little prodding from Digital Spy, Skogland revealed where some of those moments were—places such as at the docks and with Bucky at therapy:
”There's a bit of back and forth there [at the docks]...Sebastian's lovely at throwing in some lines here and there [at therapy]."
WHAT ABOUT A RUSSO CUT?
Now, while it may seem that fans are getting a complete version of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , it’s hard not to wonder what prior MCU entries could use the Snyder treatment. The first to come to mind? The world’s (second) biggest movie does, of course .
What fans got from Avengers: Endgame was a near-perfect film that is an incredible culmination of over a decade of storytelling. With a movie that large, though, there’s sure to be plenty that simply couldn’t fit. Now, imagine if there was a way to get all of that back; a once three-hour epic could become six.
The most recent MCU project, WandaVision , definitely felt a loss from things getting cut. In fact, there was a huge scene involving a demon in the finale that would have solved quite a few issues that the last episode had. The possibilities of the precedent set by Zack Snyder’s Justice League and its popularity are endless.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is streaming exclusively on Disney+.
