Joss Whedon Was Already Working On ‘Justice League’ Before Zack Snyder Tragedy

The tragic news that a bereaved Zack Snyder left post-production on the Justice League following the death of his 20-year-old daughter Autumn shocked and touched the world. At the same that the above was revealed, it was also announced that Joss Whedon would be stepping in to replace Zack Snyder as the director of the film.

However, it now turns out that Joss Whedon had already been working on Justice League for a couple of weeks anyway before Zack Snyder made the decision to step away. In fact, Zack Snyder was the one that asked Joss Whedon to write Justice League’s reshoot scenes. Producer Charles Roven was the one that admitted that The Avengers director had been brought into the fold for the Justice League.

“We were saddened by the events that caused Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder to have to leave and turn the reins over to Joss Whedon. He was already working with us on some of the scenes for the additional photography that we’re gonna be doing shortly, and it was fortunate that Zack convinced him, and he agreed to step in and finish the movie, help Zack finish his vision, and we’re excited about that.”

Charles Roven made the above comments regarding the inclusion of Joss Whedon to Variety at the premiere of Wonder Woman, which he has also produced. It was previously reported by the Hollywood Reporter that Joss Whedon was writing a few additional scenes for the Justice League.

Zack Snyder was actually the one that decided to ask Joss Whedon to write some additional scenes for Justice League. The Dawn Of The Dead, Man Of Steel, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice filmmaker reached this conclusion after screening a rough cut of Justice League for a group of friends, directors, producers, and writers. After this screening, Zack Snyder decided that he wanted to add several additional scenes for Justice League. Rather than writing these scenes himself, Zack Snyder asked Joss Whedon to scribe them, as Whedon had recently joined the DC Extended Universe to write and direct his very own Batgirl film.

Zack Snyder was then set to travel back to England so that he could shoot the scenes. However, he quickly realized that it wasn’t the time for him to be leaving his grieving family. After the death of Autumn Snyder, Warner Bros not only closed down production for two weeks, but they also told Zack and Deborah Snyder that they could have as much time as they needed. The studio even suggested pushing back the release date for the Justice League to accommodate them. Zack Snyder insisted that he wanted to return to production as he felt that it would help to take his mind off the pain of losing his daughter.

Ultimately, Zack Snyder realized that this wasn’t the best course of action, and so he asked Joss Whedon to direct the scenes that he had already written. When it was announced that Zack Snyder had stepped down, Warner Bros president Toby Emmerich insisted that Joss Whedon’s direction on the film would be “minimal,” and that he would be following a “template” that Snyder had already set.

“The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and tone and the template that Zack set. We’re not introducing any new characters. It’s the same characters in some new scenes. He’s handing a baton to Joss but the course has really been set by Zack. I still believe that despite this tragedy, we’ll still end up with a great movie.”

We’ll get to see what both Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon have fathomed together with Justice League when it is eventually released on November 17.

[Featured Image by Mike Windle/Getty Images]