title: Michigan Murders

text: The defense contended that although the murder of Beineman was a "vicious, sadistic attack" which had degraded her body "almost beyond human comprehension," the prosecution's case that Collins was the perpetrator of the crime was a weak one at best. Defense attorneys Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell, in their opening statement, labeled the eyewitnesses' identification of both Collins and his motorcycle as flawed and unreliable, and stated their intentions to introduce several witnesses who would provide an alibi for their client in the early afternoon hours the prosecution contended Karen Sue Beineman had been abducted and murdered. Collins' attorneys also alleged these alibi witnesses had been subjected to police harassment, that the tests conducted upon the hair samples found upon Beineman's panties were unreliable, and that Collins' uncle, Sgt. David Leik, had refused to divulge the blood type(s) of his family to defense attorneys.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Formal witness testimony began on July 20, 1970. The first two witnesses to testify were Beineman's two roommates; each of whom discussed Beineman's character, and her movements on the day of her disappearance. These two witnesses were followed by the individual who had found her body on July 26, and the medical examiner called to the crime scene, Dr. Craig Barlow. Barlow testified as to the fact that although Beineman had been deceased for almost 72 hours, her body had only lain in the location where she was found for 24 hours before discovery.


title: Michigan Murders

text: The following day, Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas Harvey testified as to the discovery of Beineman's body, her subsequent autopsy, and his obtaining an updated composite drawing of the suspect with whom Beineman had last been seen alive from Mrs. Joan Goshe and her assistant, Patricia Spaulding. Both women had agreed this composite drawing was accurate, and only disagreed as to the structure of the suspect's chin. Furthermore, Goshe had identified a photograph shown to her of Collins as being the man she had seen with Beineman.


title: Michigan Murders

text: To expand on their allegations that certain defense witnesses had been subjected to police harassment, and that eyewitness accounts had been flawed, defense attorney Joseph Louisell subjected Sheriff Harvey to a 45-minute cross-examination as to his contact with the two eyewitnesses prior to completion of this composite drawing. In this cross-examination, Sheriff Harvey admitted to having driven Mrs. Goshe and her assistant to East Lansing to view the updated composite drawing of the suspect in Beineman's murder, and that he had shown photographs of various suspects, including Collins, to Goshe prior to her formally identifying Collins in a lineup.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Three days after both counsels had begun introducing witnesses, Joan Goshe was called to testify on behalf of the prosecution. In response to questioning from prosecution attorneys, Goshe described how, on the afternoon of her disappearance, Beineman had informed her she had accepted a lift home from the man waiting outside the wig shop. When asked to formally identify the individual upon whose motorcycle she had observed waiting outside her shop, Goshe pointed directly at John Norman Collins. The testimony of Joan Goshe was further supported by Patricia Spaulding, who testified as to having observed Collins for between three and four minutes as he had waited for Beineman to return to his motorcycle.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Although subject to intense cross-examination by defense attorney Neil Fink as to the credibility of her testimony, Goshe remained insistent in her identification of John Norman Collins as being the individual who had waited for Karen Sue Beineman to return to his motorcycle. In an effort to discredit Goshe's testimony, Fink diverted questioning as to the model of motorcycle she had seen outside her shop, to which Goshe conceded her initial belief as to the model being a Honda 350 was inaccurate. In response to questions as to her personal character, Goshe further conceded she had previously lied under oath on two occasions (one instance of which was unrelated to the trial).


title: Michigan Murders

text: On July 27, Arnold Davis testified as to his being in the company of Collins throughout the late afternoon and evening of July 23, 1969 (hours after Beineman had last been seen alive). The following day, following a consultation with opposing counsels, Judge John Conlin allowed Davis to testify as to having observed Collins hurriedly remove a laundry box containing women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment and place this box in the trunk of his car two days prior to his arrest. (The prosecution had initially intended to question Davis in detail as to each of the contents of this laundry box upon the grounds that the contents Davis had previously described to investigators may include Beineman's missing cut-off blue jeans; however, Collins' attorneys successfully objected to this motion upon the grounds that Collins was solely on trial for the murder of Karen Sue Beineman, and this testimony could suggest a link to the six other victims of the Michigan Murders then linked to the same perpetrator. The prosecution was therefore limited to questioning Davis with regards to whether the contents of this box included women's clothing and jewelry, without specifically describing any particular item.)


title: Michigan Murders

text: Also to testify at the trial on behalf of the prosecution was Marjorie Barnes, who testified on July 30 to having observed Collins leaving his uncle's home carrying a laundry box covered with a blanket on either July 24 or 25, 1969. In addition, Mrs. Sandra Leik testified to Collins being given a key to the family home in order that he could feed the family's German shepherd. Mrs. Leik also testified to having cut her children's hair in her basement two days prior to embarking on a vacation with her family, and that when they had returned home, she had noticed that several items from her basement had been moved, that she had discovered a wet, soiled cloth containing hair aside a laundry tub, and that other items—including a nearly-full bottle of ammonia—were missing.


title: Michigan Murders

text: The same day, the head of the state police crime laboratory, Sgt. Kennard Christensen, testified as to the results of forensic tests conducted in the Leik family basement: the results of these tests confirmed evidence of bloodstains in four separate areas. In response to defense questioning, Sgt. Christensen further stated that although partial fingerprints had been discovered in the basement of the Leik family, no full fingerprints had been discovered in the basement which had not belonged to any Leik family member.


title: Michigan Murders

text: On July 31, the prosecution introduced two forensic witnesses to testify regarding the physical evidence indicating the victim had been killed inside the Leik family home. The first witness to testify was the head of the Michigan Health Department's Crime Detective Laboratory, Walter Holz, who testified as to the human hair clippings found inside Karen Sue Beineman's panties being an exact match to those recovered from the basement of Sgt. David Leik. Although subjected to intense cross-examination by Joseph Louisell as to the reliability of his findings, Holz remained adamant the color, length, type and diameter of the hair samples found upon Beineman's panties were a precise match to those found in the Leik family basement. Immediately following the testimony of Walter Holz, a colleague of his named Curtis Fluker testified that the blood type of the tissue samples recovered from the Leik family basement matched that of Karen Sue Beineman.


title: Michigan Murders

text: The 47th and final witness to appear for the prosecution at Collins' trial was a University of California chemistry professor named Dr. Vincent P. Guinn, who testified on August 5 as to his conclusions that the hair samples retrieved from Beineman's panties bore "a remarkable similarity" to those retrieved from the Leik household and that, upon statistical calculations he had begun the previous month, the odds of erroneous matching of the hair samples earlier testified to by Walter Holz were quite low. Upon cross-examination, Dr. Guinn did agree with defense attorney Neil Fink that a statistical analysis of hair mixtures had never been attempted in a court of law, although he remained firm that his applications had been performed via scientific principles.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Five independent witnesses were called to testify on behalf of the defense as to Collins' whereabouts on the dates Karen Sue Beineman had disappeared and her body had been found. Four of these witnesses were employees of a motorcycle sales firm which Collins had visited on the afternoon of Beineman's disappearance. Each testified on August 6. The timing of these four witnesses' recollections as to when Collins had actually entered the motorcycle shop varied slightly, although consensus among three of these men was that he had entered the premises as they were eating lunch, which they typically did anytime between 1 and 2 p.m.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Upon cross-examination, the time factor of these witnesses as to when they had actually seen Collins expanded to between noon and 2 p.m. Two of these employees had signed statements affirming the time Collins had entered their premises was approximately 2 p.m., although one of these witnesses stated he had been repeatedly harassed by an Ann Arbor Police Sergeant as to the actual time he had seen Collins.


title: Michigan Murders

text: On August 8, Collins' attorneys introduced a renowned neutron analyst named Dr. Robert Jervis in an effort to discredit the earlier testimony of the forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution. Dr. Jervis testified as to his belief that insufficient chemical samples had existed in the samples retrieved from the basement which the prosecution scientists had worked with to form their conclusions, and that to form a conclusive neutron activation analysis, at least ten components in a hair sample must be compared, whereas only five components had been used by the prosecution's forensics experts to determine their findings. The forensic experts who had testified on behalf of the prosecution, Dr. Jervis stated, had therefore based their conclusions on "insufficient data".


title: Michigan Murders

text: Dr. Jervis' conclusions were supported by a private consultant named Auseklis Perkons, and a Massachusetts-based Director of Forensic Research named Samuel Golub. Perkons testified as to his belief that the hair samples retrieved from Beineman's panties were of a "different origin" than the hair samples retrieved from the Leiks' basement, whereas Golub stated that because he had found only one single fiber upon the victim's panties, the likelihood of her undergarments accumulating these hairs from a basement was extremely remote. In rebuttal to the testimony of Dr. Golub, the defense recalled Dr. Walter Holz on August 12 to testify as to the samples he had himself taken to Dr. Golub for identification; Dr. Holz affirmed that he had taken twenty magnified photographic slides of samples retrieved from Beineman's panties to Dr. Golub's laboratory for analysis, and that they had contained numerous man-made fibrous materials.


title: Michigan Murders

text: On August 13, both prosecution and defense attorneys delivered their closing arguments to the jury (these arguments concluded the following day). Prosecuting attorney William Delhey argued first, recounting the evidence the state had presented and Collins' conscious efforts to destroy physical evidence at the Leik household before telling the jury that their collective application of common sense could only dictate a guilty verdict.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Following the state's closing argument, both Neil Fink and Joseph Louisell delivered separate closing arguments on behalf of the defense, describing Collins as a "young victim of circumstances" and dismissing much of the evidence presented as "fuzzy allegations," with Louisell being particularly scornful as to the testimony of Walter Holz, to whose conclusions, he asserted, the prosecution hinged its entire case. In a brief final argument on behalf of the prosecution, Booker Williams re-emphasized the physical and circumstantial evidence against Collins, before accusing the defense attorneys of attempting to sow doubt in, particularly, the forensic evidence presented by the prosecution.


title: Michigan Murders

text: In a final address to the jury on August 14, Judge Conlin informed the panel they had two choices in the verdict they could render: Guilty of first-degree murder, or not guilty. The jury then retired to consider their verdict, and would deliberate for over 27 hours over a period of three days, with an additional five-and-a-half hours devoted to their re-reading portions of testimony, before announcing they had reached their verdict.


title: Michigan Murders

text: On August 19, 1970, John Norman Collins was unanimously found guilty of the first-degree murder of Karen Sue Beineman. He remained impassive upon hearing the jury foreman announce the verdict, although many spectators gasped audibly, and his mother and sister left the courtroom in tears. Formal sentencing was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. August 28. On this date, Collins was formally sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. Prior to his passing sentence, Judge Conlin asked Collins if he wished to address the court before mandatory life sentencing was imposed. In response, Collins rose from his chair and made the following speech:


title: Michigan Murders

text: Collins was then informed by Judge Conlin that if the jurors' verdict was wrong, the error would be corrected in due course. He was then sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with hard labor, in solitary confinement, at Southern Michigan Prison.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Upon receipt of the guilty verdict against their client, Collins' defense attorneys announced their intention to appeal upon the grounds of "tainted identification and the change of venue question." The first motion by Collins' attorneys, contending denial of defense motions to move the trial outside of Washtenaw County and the prejudice of prosecution witnesses, was filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals on December 14, 1970. This first appeal was formally rejected on October 24, 1972.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Between 1972 and 1976, Collins appealed his murder conviction on four further occasions; citing contentions that the Michigan Murders had received extensive media publicity in Washtenaw County, and that five separate motions for change of venue had been submitted by the defense counsel (two of which had been filed throughout the actual jury selection process) upon the grounds of pretrial publicity minimizing any chance of obtaining an unbiased jury in Washtenaw County. Each motion filed had been reserved or, in the final instance, denied.


title: Michigan Murders

text: His lawyers further argued that, at an evidentiary hearing in April 1970, shortly before jury selection had begun, Collins' indictment for the California murder of Roxie Ann Phillips had likewise received extensive media coverage in Washtenaw County—further reducing the chances of potential jurors being unbiased. Moreover, a psychologist retained by the defense had testified as such on April 20, 1970. This psychologist had been adamant that Collins' trial should be held outside Washtenaw County, and this motion had likewise been reserved. Furthermore, Collins' lawyers argued issues such as the admissibility of testimony relating to the microscopic analysis of hair samples presented at his trial, and the denial of defense motions to suppress prosecution witnesses testifying against their client.


title: Michigan Murders

text: In each appeal instance, Collins' conviction was upheld, with successive appellate judges of the Supreme Court announcing in October 1974, their refusal to review his conviction and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit announcing their own satisfaction with the earlier findings of the district court. Each ruling stated no evidence existed to suggest extensive publicity had interfered with pretrial or trial proceedings, and that police had not broken any protocol in showing two eyewitnesses photographs of Collins prior to his arrest and their being asked to identify him in a police lineup.


title: Michigan Murders

text: At his 1972 appeal hearing, Collins' lawyers did succeed in securing the partial striking of the testimony of Dr. Vincent P. Guinn, the final prosecution witness at his trial, who had testified as to the odds of erroneous matching of the hairs found upon Karen Beineman's panties to those in the Leik family basement being "more than a million-to-one." This appeal motion was partly upheld upon the basis that Dr. Guinn's testimony relating to probabilities was based upon on the statistical probability of another prosecution expert, and therefore, this part of his testimony was impermissible. Nonetheless, the three appellate judges at this appeal hearing concluded thus: "In our view, improperly admitted testimony that is merely corroborative of properly admitted evidence is not the basis for holding the error reversible."


title: Michigan Murders

text: At the time of his 1970 conviction, a grand jury indictment against Collins remained outstanding in relation to the June 1969 murder of Roxie Ann Phillips in Monterey County, California. The physical and circumstantial evidence linking Collins to this particular murder was stronger than any of the six outstanding murders then linked to him in Michigan, and authorities in Monterey did file several motions to extradite Collins to California to stand trial for Phillips' murder in 1970 and 1971. These motions were repeatedly contested by Collins' attorney, Neil Fink, who opposed and successfully delayed his client's extradition upon the grounds of due process.


title: Michigan Murders

text: The state of California postponed their requests to extradite Collins to face charges relating to Phillips' murder in June 1971. Citing Collins' then-ongoing appeals against his convictions in the state of Michigan as the cause, and their likely resubmittal should any of his Michigan appeals be successful. Just six months later, in January 1972, Monterey County District Attorney William Curtis formally announced, via a spokesman, the intention of California authorities to waive all extradition proceedings against Collins for Phillips' murder. This spokesman indicated the reasoning being that, as Collins had already received a life sentence in Michigan, the case therefore was undeserving of "priority attention" by California authorities, in part due to the fact Collins would be returned to Michigan to serve his sentence if convicted. At the time of the announcement of this decision, preliminary legal maneuvers between Michigan and California authorities had been ongoing to extradite Collins to Monterey County to face trial for Phillips' murder.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Although never tried for the murders of Fleszar, Schell, Skelton, Basom, Kalom or Phillips, physical and circumstantial evidence exists in each case indicating that Collins had indeed committed these murders. For example, in the case of Mary Fleszar, investigators discovered that at the time of her disappearance, Collins had worked part-time in the Eastern Michigan University administration unit, and that his office had been located directly opposite the hallway from the office where Fleszar had herself worked. One of the personal items missing from Fleszar's body was an Expo 67 Canadian silver dollar she is known to have worn around her neck; this item was discovered in Collins' dresser when police conducted a search of his room. When confronted with this finding, Collins reportedly denied any knowledge of the existence of this item and insisted it had never been in his room; he had apparently neglected to dispose of this item as he had the personal possessions of other victims two days prior to his arrest.


title: Michigan Murders

text: In the case of Joan Elspeth Schell, two separate witness accounts had placed the victim both entering a car with three men on the night of her disappearance, and walking alone in the company of a man believed to be John Collins later that evening. One of the men in the car Schell had entered was Collins' roommate, Arnold Davis, who later informed police the girl had indeed entered the car he had been driving, but that Collins had insisted he give Schell the lift she was seeking to Ann Arbor in his own car. Collins and Schell had alighted from Davis's car together, and he (Davis) had not seen his roommate for almost three hours before Collins had returned to their apartment, alone, referring to Schell as a "bitch" and claiming he had "dropped her [Schell] off" in Ann Arbor after being unable to obtain the sexual encounter he had hoped to achieve with her. As he had explained this to Davis, Collins had been carrying a red handbag, which he claimed Schell had left in his car. He had further informed his roommate he had agreed to drive Schell from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti the following day. Davis informed police he had long suspected Collins had murdered Schell, but had been too afraid to report his suspicions. Although Collins had claimed to police that he had been with his mother in the Detroit suburb of Center Line on the weekend of Schell's disappearance, police had never sought to verify his alibi.


title: Michigan Murders

text: The circumstantial evidence linking Collins to Schell's abduction and murder was stronger than that of any other Michigan victim linked to him, and police would formally announce this fact within days of his arrest. Nonetheless, the decision of the prosecution at his 1970 trial was to try Collins solely with the murder of Karen Sue Beineman.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Arnold Davis also informed police Collins had been in the company of victim Alice Kalom on the evening of her disappearance. According to Davis, he had heard Collins and Kalom arguing behind closed doors, before Kalom had run out of his (Collins') apartment, with Collins chasing after her. Collins had returned to their shared apartment shortly thereafter and asked Davis to hide a knife for him. Davis had reported this incident to police, and later handed them the knife Collins had allegedly asked him to hide. Investigators determined the knife was consistent with the weapon used to stab Kalom.


title: Michigan Murders

text: When Kalom's body was found, a distinctive boot print on her skirt was found to be a perfect match to a boot Collins had owned, and although Collins had evidently cleaned his car in an effort to destroy evidence prior to his arrest, investigators would find bloodstains in this vehicle and upon a raincoat he owned which were determined to match Kalom's blood type. Moreover, although the prosecution at Collins' trial had been unable to question Arnold Davis in detail as to the contents of the laundry box he had observed his roommate hurriedly remove from their apartment and towards his car two days prior to his arrest, one of the items he had seen within this laundry box had been a distinctive purple leather shoe, which may have belonged to Kalom.


title: Michigan Murders

text: In the case of California victim Roxie Ann Phillips, police had discovered that, prior to her murder, the victim had told a close friend she had met an Eastern Michigan University student named John, who owned a silver Oldsmobile Cutlass and several motorcycles; her nude, strangled body was found discarded in a patch of poison oak on July 13, with the distinctive red-and-white floral patterned belt from her culotte dress knotted around her neck.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Following Collins' arrest, a section of a red-and-white belt bearing the same distinctive floral pattern was found in the trailer he and Manuel had towed to Salinas on June 21. Moreover, a sweater found in Collins' closet was found to contain 22 pubic hairs which had not originated from Collins or any of the seven Michigan victims. At the request of Michigan authorities, Phillips' body was exhumed in Oregon in order that pubic hair samples could be obtained from her for comparison with those found upon Collins' sweater: The pubic hairs upon Collins' sweater proved to be a precise match to those obtained from Phillips' body, and investigators believe they may have transferred from her body to Collins' sweater as she was carried to the location in which her body was discarded. In addition, prior to his returning to Michigan, Collins is known to have visited a California hospital to receive treatment for poison oak anaphylaxis.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Three days prior to Collins' July 30 arrest, in direct breach of a Washtenaw County Prosecutor order, two young Ann Arbor detectives had arrived at the Emmet Street apartment Collins shared with his roommate to question him as to the circumstantial evidence then-obtained against him. Collins had protested his innocence on this occasion, and insisted the eyewitnesses' identifications of him had been erroneous, although he refused to return to the police station to take a polygraph test. No search warrant had been sought prior to Collins being questioned on this date, and his apartment would only be searched on July 30—two days after Arnold Davis had observed Collins hurriedly remove a box of women's clothing and jewelry from his apartment.


title: Michigan Murders

text: Had this violation of the county prosecutor's order not taken place, Collins may not have realized how seriously he was considered a suspect at that stage, and thus may not have disposed of the physical evidence which would have assisted in linking him to other killings linked to the Michigan Murders.


title: Sokka

text: Sokka is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series "" and its sequel series "The Legend of Korra". The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Jack DeSena in the original series and by Chris Hardwick in the sequel series. He is a warrior of the Water Tribe and the son of and Kya. In the live-action film adaptation "The Last Airbender", he is portrayed by Jackson Rathbone.


title: Sokka

text: In the original series, fifteen-year-old Sokka is a warrior of the , a nation where some people are able to telekinetically manipulate, or "bend", water. He, along with his younger sister , discovers an Airbender named Aang, the long-lost Avatar, and accompanies him to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn nations. Unlike his companions, Sokka is a non-bender, but as the show progresses he masters swordplay and proves himself to be a worthy strategist. Being a non-bender, Sokka uses different weapons such as his boomerang and machete; and eventually a jian sword to combat enemies.


title: Sokka

text: In the "Avatar Nick Mag Presents": First Edition issue by co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, stated that Sokka was originally designed as a minor figure; but when his comedian voice actor Jack DeSena brought liveliness to his character, they began to emphasize this quality.


title: Sokka

text: As a result of his design, Sokka's character is a source of comic relief throughout the series, often a victim of visual comedy. Among various running gags involving Sokka are his immersion in viscous substances, such as raw sewage, slurry, phlegm, or saliva; and forgetting that Toph is blind. Sokka also has a tendency to produce or at times laugh at jokes shared by no other character.


title: Sokka

text: In "Tales of Ba Sing Se", Sokka's name was written as 索卡, whereof Sǔo (索) means to search, demand, ask, exact, or isolated and Kǎ (卡) means to check, block, or card. The character for Kǎ also appears in Katara's name.


title: Sokka

text: According to his sister Katara, Sokka was initially skeptical, abrasive, sexist and immature but was always sharp-witted. Incapable of bending abilities himself, Sokka instead pursues martial arts, sciences, and engineering. He is intelligent, resourceful and at times he even proves to be quite scholarly. However, he is often clumsy and sometimes mistaken. Despite his flaws, he is loving, brotherly, and protective. He holds little interest in the mysticism of bending and prefers to rely on his strength and wits. He tends to be rash, and his arrogance often leads to embarrassment, as during a haiku contest when, in his last verse of his song, he included too many syllables. Even though Sokka finds himself victim to embarrassment, he has the capability to apologize and seek resolution to avoid preceding moments of embarrassment from recurring. This capability is evident from his sincere apology to the Kyoshi Warriors for his chauvinistic opinions in the fourth episode of Book One.


title: Sokka

text: As an advocate of human carnivorism, Sokka is the main hunter in the group; often makes dry-witted jokes or abrasive remarks; and accordingly once describes himself as ""the meat and sarcasm guy"".


title: Sokka

text: Under the guidance of swordsmaster Piandao, Sokka displays various unorthodox procedures when undergoing his training; such that Piandao relates that though Sokka's skills were unimpressive, he displayed much creativity, versatility, and intelligence. As a rule, most or all of the foregoing characteristics appear as sources of comic relief.


title: Sokka

text: After the failure of his Fire Nation invasion plan, Sokka attempted to restore his honor by risking his life in order to rescue his father from a highly secure prison known as 'the Boiling Rock'.


title: Sokka

text: Unusual for an inhabitant of a mystical world, Sokka prefers mechanistic science and is something of a jack-of-all-trades. He seems naturally adept at creating weapons from any available material and adapting them to various purposes, as when he used explosives to simulate Firebending or optical illusions to help his sister Katara imitate Earthbending. Alongside , Sokka devised a system of control for an experimental hot air balloon and partly began the design of waterbending-powered . Sokka also demonstrated advanced mathematic skills and a talent for geometry towards the end of the series; but is whimsically depicted in the epilogue as a poor draughtsman.


title: Sokka

text: In addition to his engineering and strategic skills, Sokka shows a remarkable talent for poetry in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", wherein he competes with a local instructor in a haiku contest, and holds his own at length before mistakenly adding an extra syllable to the end of a haiku. Sokka writes with his right hand, but draws with his left hand, and may therefore be accounted ambidextrous.


title: Sokka

text: As the only non-bender in Aang's group, Sokka is often overshadowed by the bending skills of his friends; but his skill in martial arts improves as the series progresses, and it is sometimes he who devises victorious strategy. Alongside his trademark boomerang, Sokka is shown wielding a club, a machete, a jaw blade, and eventually a black jian sword of meteoric iron capable of cutting through solid metal, identified as his "space sword". Sokka also receives a white lotus Pai Sho piece from his master, the symbol of the secret 'White Lotus' Society notable for disregarding traditional rivalries and hatreds between the nations; although most of the series' protagonists have had in-depth interactions with members of the White Lotus, Sokka is the only one to receive this implied invitation.


title: Sokka

text: Sokka's character has appeared in three THQ video games for the show, which are , "" and "". Like Aang, Sokka also appears on some Avatar T-shirts sold by Nick, as well as in Tokyopop's films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga).


title: Sokka

text: Sokka was played by Jackson Rathbone in the live-action adaptation "The Last Airbender". His name in the film is pronounced "SOH-kuh". Unlike the show, this version of Sokka has a serious demeanor, with most of his immature and humorous qualities either toned down or removed entirely. Significant criticism was pointed at the character difference. Rathbone received the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his role in the film.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (, ', modern Greek '), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice Troglodytica along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, including the modern-day Sindh region of Pakistan and southwestern regions of India. The text has been ascribed to different dates between the first and third centuries, but a mid-first-century date is now the most commonly accepted. While the author is unknown, it is clearly a first-hand description by someone familiar with the area and is nearly unique in providing accurate insights into what the ancient Hellenic world knew about the lands around the Indian Ocean.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: A periplus (, "períplous", "a sailing-around") is a logbook recording sailing itineraries and commercial, political, and ethnological details about the ports visited. In an era before maps were in general use, it functioned as a combination atlas and traveller's handbook.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The Erythraean Sea (, "Erythrà Thálassa", "the Red Sea") was an ancient geographical designation that always included the Gulf of Aden between Arabia Felix and the Horn of Africa and was often extended (as in this periplus) to include the present-day Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean as a single maritime area.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The 10th-century Byzantine manuscript which forms the basis of present knowledge of the "Periplus" attributes the work to Arrian, but apparently for no better reason than its position beside Arrian's much later "Periplus of the Black Sea".


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: One historical analysis, published by Schoff in 1912, narrowed the date of the text to AD5962, in agreement with present-day estimates of the middle of the 1st century. Schoff additionally provides an historical analysis as to the text's original authorship, and arrives at the conclusion that the author was a "Greek in Egypt, a Roman subject". By Schoff's calculations, this would have been during the time of Tiberius Claudius Balbilus (who coincidentally also was an Egyptian Greek).


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Schoff continues by noting that the author could not have been "a highly educated man" as "is evident from his frequent confusion of Greek and Latin words and his clumsy and sometimes ungrammatical constructions". Because of "the absence of any account of the journey up the Nile and across the desert from Coptos", Schoff prefers to pinpoint the author's residence to "Berenice rather than Alexandria".


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: John Hill maintains that "the Periplus can now be confidently dated to between AD 40 and 70 and, probably, between AD 40 and 50." This dating corresponds with the argumentation of L. Casson ("between A.D. 40 and 70") in his key book The Periplus Maris Erythraei text with introduction, translation and commentary


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The work consists of 66 sections, most of them about the length of a long paragraph. For instance, the short section 9 reads in its entirety:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: In many cases, the description of places is sufficiently accurate to identify their present locations; for others, there is considerable debate. For instance, "Rhapta" is mentioned as the farthest market down the African coast of "Azania", but there are at least five locations matching the description, ranging from Tanga to south of the Rufiji River delta. The description of the Indian coast mentions the Ganges River clearly, yet after that it is ambiguous, describing China as a "great inland city Thina" that is a source of raw silk.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The "Periplus" says that a direct sailing route from the Red Sea to the Indian peninsula across the open ocean was discovered by Hippalus (1st centuryBC).


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Many trade goods are mentioned in the "Periplus", but some of the words naming trade goods are found nowhere else in ancient literature, leading to guesswork as to what they might be. For example, one trade good mentioned is ""lakkos chromatinos"". The name "lakkos" appears nowhere else in ancient Greek or Roman literature. The name re-surfaces in late medieval Latin as "lacca", borrowed from medieval Arabic "lakk" in turn borrowed from Sanskritic "lakh", meaning lac i.e. a red-coloured resin native to India used as a lacquer and used also as a red colourant. Some other named trade goods remain obscure.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Ships from Himyar regularly travelled the East African coast. The "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea" describes the trading empire of Himyar and Saba, regrouped under a single ruler, "Charibael" (probably Karab'il Watar Yuhan'em II), who is said to have been on friendly terms with Rome:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The Frankincense kingdom is described further east along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, with the harbour of Cana (South Arabic "Qana", modern Bir Ali in Hadramaut). The ruler of this kingdom is named Eleazus, or Eleazar, thought to correspond to King Iliazz Yalit I:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Ras Hafun in northern Somalia is believed to be the location of the ancient trade centre of Opone. Ancient Egyptian, Roman and Persian Gulf pottery has been recovered from the site by an archaeological team from the University of Michigan. Opone is in the thirteenth entry of the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea", which in part states:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: In ancient times, Opone operated as a port of call for merchants from Phoenicia, Egypt, Greece, Persia, Yemen, Nabataea, Azania, the Roman Empire and elsewhere, as it possessed a strategic location along the coastal route from Azania to the Red Sea. Merchants from as far afield as Indonesia and Malaysia passed through Opone, trading spices, silks and other goods, before departing south for Azania or north to Yemen or Egypt on the trade routes that spanned the length of the Indian Ocean's rim. As early as AD50, Opone was well known as a center for the cinnamon trade, along with the trading of cloves and other spices, ivory, exotic animal skins and incense.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The ancient port city of Malao, situated in present-day Berbera in north central Somaliland, is also mentioned in the Periplus:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Aksum is mentioned in the "Periplus" as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: According to the "Periplus", the ruler of Aksum was Zoscales, who, besides ruling in Aksum also held under his sway two harbours on the Red Sea: Adulis (near Massawa) and Avalites (Assab). He is also said to have been familiar with Greek literature:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Recent research by the Tanzanian archaeologist Felix A. Chami has uncovered extensive remains of Roman trade items near the mouth of the Rufiji River and the nearby Mafia island, and makes a strong case that the ancient port of Rhapta was situated on the banks of the Rufiji River just south of Dar es Salaam.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: In recent years, Felix Chami has found archaeological evidence for extensive Roman trade on Mafia Island and, not far away, on the mainland, near the mouth of the Rufiji River, which he dated to the first few centuries. Furthermore, J. Innes Miller points out that Roman coins have been found on Pemba island, just north of Rhapta.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Nevertheless, Carl Peters has argued that Rhapta was near modern-day Quelimane in Mozambique, citing the fact that (according to the "Periplus") the coastline there ran down towards the southwest. Peters also suggests that the description of the "Pyralaoi" (i.e., the "Fire people") – "situated at the entry to the [Mozambique] Channel" – indicates that they were the inhabitants of the volcanic Comoro Islands. He also maintains that Menuthias (with its abundance of rivers and crocodiles) cannot have been Zanzibar; i.e., Madagascar seems more likely.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The "Periplus" informs us that Rhapta, was under the firm control of a governor appointed by Arabian king of Musa, taxes were collected, and it was serviced by "merchant craft that they staff mostly with Arab skippers and agents who, through continual intercourse and intermarriage, are familiar with the area and its language".


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The Periplus explicitly states that Azania (which included Rhapta) was subject to "Charibael", the king of both the Sabaeans and Homerites in the southwest corner of Arabia. The kingdom is known to have been a Roman ally at this period. Charibael is stated in the Periplus to be "a friend of the (Roman) emperors, thanks to continuous embassies and gifts" and, therefore, Azania could fairly be described as a vassal or dependency of Rome, just as Zesan is described in the 3rd-century Chinese history, the "Weilüe".


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Trade with the Indian harbour of Barygaza is described extensively in the "Periplus". Nahapana, ruler of the Indo-Scythian Western Satraps is mentioned under the name "Nambanus", as ruler of the area around Barigaza:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Under the Western Satraps, Barigaza was one of the main centres of Roman trade in the subcontinent. The "Periplus" describes the many goods exchanged:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The lost port city of Muziris (near present day Kodungallur) in the Chera kingdom, as well as the Early Pandyan Kingdom are mentioned in the "Periplus" as major centres of trade, pepper and other spices, metal work and semiprecious stones, between Damirica and the Roman Empire.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Damirica or Limyrike is Tamilagam (Tamil தமிழகம்) – the "Tamil country". Further, this area served as a hub for trade with the interior, in the Gangetic plain:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The "Periplus" also describes the annual fair in present-day Northeast India, on the border with China.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Sêsatai are the source of "malabathron". Schoff's translation mentions them as "Besatae": they are a people similar to Kirradai and they lived in the region between "Assam and Sichuan".


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The "Periplus" claims that Greek buildings and wells exist in Barigaza, falsely attributing them to Alexander the Great, who never went this far south. This account of a kingdom tracing its beginnings to Alexander's campaigns and the Hellenistic Seleucid empire that followed:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The Greek city of Alexandria Bucephalous on the Jhelum River is mentioned in the "Periplus", as well as in the Roman Peutinger Table:


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The "Periplus" was originally known only through a single manuscript dating from the 14th or 15th century, now held by the British Museum. This edition proved to be a corrupt and error-ridden copy of a 10th-century Byzantine manuscript in minuscule hand. The 10th-century manuscript placed it beside Arrian's "Periplus of the Black Sea" and (apparently mistakenly) also credited Arrian with writing it as well. The Byzantine manuscript was taken from Heidelberg to Rome during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), then to Paris under Napoleon after his army's conquest of the Papal States in the late 1790s, then returned to Heidelberg's University Library in 1816 where it remains.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: The British manuscript was edited by Sigmund Gelen () in Prague and first published by Hieronymus Froben in 1533. This error-ridden text served as the basis for other editions and translations for three centuries, until the restoration of the original manuscript to Heidelberg in 1816.


title: Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

text: Schoff's heavily annotated 1912 English translation was itself based on a defective original; as late as the 1960s, the only trustworthy scholarly edition was Frisk's 1927 French study.


title: Tobruk

text: Tobruk or Tobruck (; , "Antipyrgos"; ; ; "Ṭubruq"; also transliterated as "Tobruch" and "Tubruk") is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.).


title: Tobruk

text: Tobruk was the site of an ancient Greek colony and, later, of a Roman fortress guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica. Over the centuries, Tobruk also served as a waystation along the coastal caravan route. By 1911, Tobruk had become an Italian military post, but during World War II, Allied forces, mainly the Australian 6th Division, took Tobruk on 22 January 1941. The Australian 9th Division ("The Rats of Tobruk") pulled back to Tobruk to avoid encirclement after actions at Er Regima and Mechili and reached Tobruk on 9 April 1941 where prolonged fighting against German and Italian forces followed.


title: Tobruk

text: Although the siege was lifted by Operation Crusader in November 1941, a renewed offensive by Axis forces under Erwin Rommel the following year resulted in Tobruk being captured in June 1942 and held by the Axis forces until November 1942, when it was recaptured by the Allies. Rebuilt after World War II, Tobruk was later expanded during the 1960s to include a port terminal linked by an oil pipeline to the Sarir oil field.


title: Tobruk

text: King Idris of Libya had his palace at Bab Zaytun. Tobruk was traditionally a stronghold of the Senussi royal dynasty and one of the first to rebel against Colonel Gaddafi in the Arab Spring.


title: Tobruk

text: Tobruk has a strong, naturally protected deep harbour. It is probably the best natural port in northern Africa, although due to the lack of important nearby land sites it is certainly not the most popular. The city is effectively surrounded by a desert lightly populated with nomadic herdsmen who travel from oasis to oasis.


title: Tobruk

text: There are many escarpments (cliffs) to the south of Tobruk (and indeed in all of Cyrenaica, the eastern half of Libya). These escarpments generally have their high sides to the south and their low sides (dip slopes) to the north. This constitutes a substantial physical barrier between the north and south of Libya in the Tobruk area.


title: Tobruk

text: Previously, Tobruk was some from Benghazi through the Libyan Coastal Highway, but this distance was shortened to after the construction of the Charruba–Timimi Road between the years 1975 and 1985. Construction of the Tobruk–Ajdabiya Road reduced the distance between those two cities from to about .


title: Tobruk

text: Because it is approximately away from Egypt by land, Tobruk is also an important hub for merchants from both Egypt and Libya, and for travellers between the two countries as well as those from Bayda and Derna.


title: Tobruk

text: However, Tobruk suffers a serious saltwater intrusion problem. A factory for the desalination of sea water has been built there.


title: Tobruk

text: An Ancient Greek agricultural colony, "Antipyrgus" (, "Antipyrgos") was once on the site of modern Tobruk, and the ancient name is still occasionally in use. The name roughly meant "across from Pyrgos", referring to a location in Crete across the Mediterranean Sea from Antipyrgos. In the Roman era, the town became a Roman fortress guarding the Cyrenaican frontier.


title: Tobruk

text: With the spread of Christianity, Antipyrgus became an episcopal see. Only one of its ancient bishops is known by name: Aemilianus, who took part in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. No longer a residential bishopric, Antipyrgus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.


title: Tobruk

text: At the beginning of World War II, Libya was an Italian colony and Tobruk became the site of important battles between the Allies and Axis powers. Tobruk was strategically important to the conquest of Eastern Libya, then the province of Cyrenaica, for several reasons.


title: Tobruk

text: Tobruk had a deep, natural, and protected harbour, which meant that even if the port were bombed, ships would still be able to anchor there and be safe from squalls, so the port could never be rendered wholly useless regardless of military bombardment. This was of critical importance, as it made Tobruk an excellent place to supply a desert warfare campaign. It was also heavily fortified by the Italians prior to their invasion of Egypt in November 1940.


title: Tobruk

text: In addition to these prepared fortifications, there were a number of escarpments and cliffs to the south of Tobruk, providing substantial physical barriers to any advance on the port over land. Tobruk was also on a peninsula, allowing it to be defended by a minimal number of troops, which the Allies used to their advantage when the port was under siege. An attacker could not simply bypass the defenders, for if they did, the besieged would sally forth and cut off the nearby supply lines of the attacker, spoiling their advance.


title: Tobruk

text: But Tobruk was also strategically significant, due to its location with regard to the remainder of Cyrenaica. Attackers from the east who had secured Tobruk could then advance through the desert to Benghazi, cutting off all enemy troops along the coast, such as those at Derna. This advance would be protected from counterattack, due to escarpments that were quite difficult for a military force to climb, running generally from Tobruk to Suluq. Due to the importance of maintaining supply in the desert, getting cut off in this area was disastrous. Therefore, whoever held both Suluq and Tobruk controlled the majority of Cyrenaica.


title: Tobruk

text: Finally, south of the port was the largest airfield in eastern Libya. This was significant due to the importance of air power in desert warfare.


title: Tobruk

text: Italian forces (and their native Libyan allies—about two divisions of the latter) invaded Egypt in early September 1940 but halted their advance after a week and dug in at Sidi Barrani. In early December, British Empire forces—an armoured division and two infantry divisions—launched a counterstrike codenamed Operation Compass. The Italians had previously invaded Albania and occupied part of the south of France, and had now made a military incursion into a British protectorate.


title: Tobruk

text: The counterstrike involved the British pocketing two of the Italian camps against the Mediterranean, forcing their surrender. This led to a general Italian retreat to El Agheila. Tobruk was captured by British, Australian and Indian forces on 22 January 1941.


title: Tobruk

text: Italy called on her German ally, which sent an army corps, under the name "Deutsches Afrika Korps" (DAK). Italy also sent several more divisions to Libya. These forces, under Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel, drove the Allies back across Cyrenaica to the Egyptian border, leaving Tobruk isolated and under siege. The defenders of the fortress consisted of the Australian 9th Division, the Australian 18th Brigade and some British tanks and artillery. They were later reinforced and replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division, Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade, a Czechoslovak battalion and a British tank brigade. The siege lasted until December, when Operation Crusader pushed the DAK and Italians back out of Cyrenaica.


title: Tobruk

text: Rommel's second offensive took place in May and June 1942. Tobruk was taken in an outflanking attack on 21 June 1942, capturing the largest number of British Commonwealth troops after the fall of Singapore earlier in the year, where over 80,000 were captured. Rommel was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall, shortly thereafter and was the youngest in the Wehrmacht Heer to achieve this rank. The following units were deployed in Tobruk on 20 June 1942, and most of them were captured by the Axis forces:


title: Tobruk

text: Tobruk remained in Axis hands until 11 November 1942, when the Allies captured it after the Second Battle of El Alamein. It remained in Allied hands thereafter. Although not as much a reason for its strategic significance, the British built a rail line from El Alamein to Tobruk during the course of the war. This rail line was significant both for purposes of supply and as a sense of pride to the Allied troops, as the rail line was built through a little-populated, inhospitable desert.


title: Tobruk

text: At the outset of the 2011 Libyan Civil War, the city quickly came under the control of the NTC. In September 2014 the internationally recognized government of Libya relocated to a Greek car ferry in Tobruk harbor. A rival New General National Congress parliament continued to operate in Tripoli. In October 2014 they again re-located, to a hotel named "Dar al-Salam" also known as the Al Masira Hotel in Tobruk. In November 2014 that government was declared illegal by Libya's highest court.


title: Tobruk

text: Professor Omar El Barasi (b. 1951), who once managed the Libyan branch of Society of Petroleum Engineers, and later became a deputy of Libya PM Abdurrahim El-Keib is from Tobruk and gained his doctorate in petroleum engineering from Waseda University, Japan.


title: Tobruk

text: Abulgassem Tayeb AL-Sharef (1943-2019), who had managed several oil companies and was once the "youngest" General Manager of the international Marketing of oil products in Libya (Elbrega Company), also he was the General Manager of the Petroleum Industries in the National Oil Corporation .


title: Tobruk

text: One of the founders of the Mellita oil complex, west of Libya, which was considered the largest gas project in the world at the time ,


title: Tobruk

text: He was a Member of the French Libyan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representing the Libyan oil sector .


title: Tobruk

text: Eman al-Obeidi, a Libyan woman who was abused by the Gaddafi government during the Libyan Civil War, is from Tobruk.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The 2017 film "Justice League" had a troubled production history. Its script and photography underwent major changes both before and during production, and there was a change in directors. This resulted in the theatrical release of a version that was markedly different from how the film had been conceived of during pre-production and principal photography.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Most of the changes were driven by the negative reception to the previous installments of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) "" and "Suicide Squad". "Justice League" had been directed by Zack Snyder through most of its production, but Snyder stepped down in May 2017 during post-production following the death of his daughter, and Joss Whedon took over at that point, completing the film as an uncredited co-director. Whedon oversaw script rewrites, reshoots and other changes that added a brighter tone and more humor to the film, and cut the runtime down to 120 minutes in accordance with a mandate from Warner Bros. Pictures. The theatrical release of "Justice League" was a commercial failure, and was met with a mixed reception from critics and audiences, leading Warner Bros. to re-evaluate the future of the DCEU.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: When details surfaced about the film's troubled production and the state of the film before Snyder stepped down, some expressed interest in the idea of releasing an alternate cut that would be more faithful to Snyder's vision for the film. Fans of Snyder's works, members of the cast and crew, and other film industry figures petitioned for the release of this "Snyder Cut". At the time, Warner stated that they had no plans to release an alternate cut of "Justice League". However, on May 20, 2020, Zack Snyder personally confirmed that it would be released on HBO Max as "Zack Snyder's Justice League" during a watch party for "Man of Steel". The film was released on March 18, 2021.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Following the release of "Man of Steel" (2013), director Zack Snyder outlined the basis of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which centered around a five-film arc including "Man of Steel", "Batman v Superman" and a Justice League trilogy. As interpreted by Stephen M. Colbert of "Screen Rant", the structure of the franchise would have been the "inverse" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead of solo films culminating in cross-over "Avengers" films, DC's take would have primarily been cross-over films with occasional solo films on the side set at different points in time. Snyder's original vision for the series was to have "Batman v Superman" be one of the darkest in the franchise, and have the films become more hopeful in tone from there. Despite this, Snyder describes his original "Justice League" script written with Chris Terrio as "dark" and "scary". According to concept art, the scenes involving Apokolips and the New Gods were heavily influenced by sci-fi and the work of H. R. Giger.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: According to Snyder, at least part of the film was set to explore Bruce Wayne's "Knightmare"—the scene in "Batman v Superman" where Bruce Wayne has a vision of a post-apocalyptic future Gotham, followed by the Flash appearing to tell him that Lois Lane is "key" and worries that he is "too soon". In the early script for "Justice League", the continuation of the "Knightmare" had Darkseid use a boom tube to teleport into the Batcave and kill Lois Lane. This would have made Superman susceptible to Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation, the fictional mathematical formula from the comic books for controlling the minds of sentient beings. With Superman under Darkseid's control, they take over Earth and create the post-apocalyptic future from Wayne's "Knightmare". Batman and Cyborg worked together to create a time machine to send Flash back in time to save Lois and prevent Superman from falling under Darkseid's control. The Flash has two possible destinations in time, one of which resulted in his "too soon" speech in "Batman v Superman". This version of "Justice League" was never filmed and no footage of it exists. However, scenes of Superman mourning the corpse of Lois after Darkseid kills her did eventually end up in "Zack Snyder's Justice League", as visions that Cyborg has before the Justice League resurrects Superman.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: "" received generally negative reviews from critics (holding a 29% approval rating and an average rating of 4.94 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences gave the film a mixed reception (holding a "B" rating with CinemaScore). Common critiques of the film centered around its dark tone, lack of humor and slow pace. This reaction caused Warner Bros. Pictures and Snyder to re-evaluate upcoming films in the DCEU, particularly "Suicide Squad", which had already wrapped principal photography, and "Justice League", which was a month away from filming. Snyder and Terrio had always planned on having the DCEU films become progressively more light and positive in tone, but the reaction to "Batman v Superman" caused them to rewrite "Justice League" as even more hopeful in tone than originally planned. In cinematographer Fabian Wagner's first meeting with Snyder, he said he wanted to "get away from the stylized, desaturated, super-high contrast looks of other films in the franchise."


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Warner hired Jon Berg and Geoff Johns to oversee the DCEU, with their first task being to help with "Justice League" rewrites to make the film more hopeful and optimistic. Batman actor Ben Affleck was hired to help with script re-writes and also serve as executive producer on "Justice League", mainly to ensure continuity between the film and "The Batman", which he was expected to star in and direct at the time. Jeremy Irons, the actor who portrayed Alfred Pennyworth and was an outspoken critic of "Batman v Superman", said the "Snyder Cut" script was simpler, smaller and more linear than its predecessor. The rewrites also resulted in a month delay of shooting for Justice League as it began in May instead of April as initially planned. Principal photography was shot entirely using 35 mm film and wrapped in December 2016. Months later, multiple cuts of Snyder's "Justice League" were shown to Warner executives, in addition to friends and family of Snyder. A final run-time and picture lock were achieved, though the cuts had incomplete VFX shots and partial audio mixing. Composer Tom Holkenborg completed his score for the film before stepping down. During an event, Snyder said that he had multiple cuts that were essentially "done", only needing "a few CG tweaks" to complete, but that it was ultimately up to Warner to release it. "Forbes" contributor and film screenwriter Mark Hughes reported that the cut was more than 90% complete, while "The Telegraph" cited a VFX expert as estimating that the studio would need another $30–40 million to finish the film. This mostly finished version of "Justice League" is what is often referred to as the "Snyder Cut". Citing several members of "Justice League"s crew "at various levels" as his source, Kevin Smith described the state of the cut, saying:


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: "When people hear 'Snyder Cut' in their heads, they think about, like, a DVD they've seen of an extended cut or something that's finished. The 'Snyder Cut' that, again I haven't seen, but the one I've heard everyone speak of was never a finished film. It was a movie that people in production could watch and fill in the blanks. It was certainly not meant for mass consumption."


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The "Snyder Cut" is 214 minutes (about three-and-a-half hours) while the assembly cut was nearly five hours long. The basic framework of Snyder's "Justice League" story was largely maintained for the theatrical release: Batman and Wonder Woman seek out the other metahumans, form a team, resurrect Superman, and defeat Steppenwolf in a final battle in Russia. However, dozens of additional scenes, backstories, mythos, worldbuilding elements, new characters, and teases for upcoming films were present in the "Snyder Cut" but not the theatrical release. The time-travel aspect of Snyder and Terrio's original draft was maintained for the "Snyder Cut", but on a smaller scale. In this version, Cyborg fails to stop "The Unity" and Flash travels back in time to give him a second chance. It spent more time introducing the three new main characters to the DCEU: Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. The "Snyder Cut" also introduced several new supporting characters from the source comic books, including: Justice League antagonist Darkseid (played by Ray Porter), master torturer Desaad (played by Peter Guinness), Aquaman's mentor Nuidis Vulko (played by Willem Dafoe), scientist Ryan Choi who takes on the mantle of Atom in the comics (played by Ryan Zheng), Cyborg's mother Elinore Stone (played by Karen Bryson), Barry Allen's love interest Iris West (played by Kiersey Clemons), and the shapeshifting alien Martian Manhunter (played by Harry Lennix). Other side characters had additional screen time and more important roles in the "Snyder Cut", including: Superman antagonist Lex Luthor (played by Jesse Eisenberg), Cyborg's father Silas Stone (played by Joe Morton), Atlantean warrior Mera (played by Amber Heard), reporter and Superman love interest Lois Lane (played by Amy Adams), and Wonder Woman antagonist Ares (played by Nick McKinless).


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Warner executives who saw his cut noted that Snyder made significant efforts to lighten the tone following the criticism of "Batman v Superman", but thought it did not have enough humor. After the release of "Aquaman", while the film was lighter than the anticipated tone from the "Snyder Cut" the character of Aquaman was said to be more consistent with Snyder's depiction than it was with Joss Whedon's. Despite this, Warner was still unhappy with the results and insider reports said sources in Warner Bros. considered the cut "unwatchable". The first two trailers for "Justice League" used footage from the "Snyder Cut" before Whedon's contributions, and were subject to a mixed reception. Neil Daly, who oversaw the test screenings, said test audiences ranked Batman and Superman the lowest of the main cast. However, one of the editors for the movie, David Brenner, claimed Warner Bros. never screened Snyder's cut to any test audience back in 2017 after a shortened 2 and a half hour rough cut was assumed as not funny enough by executives. They then started interviewing writers to see who could be hired on to help inject humor. In July 2018, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that Warner had no plans of releasing an alternate cut of "Justice League". In November 2019, both "The Hollywood Reporter" and "Variety" independently reported Warner had no plans to release the "Snyder Cut", with the latter quoting an inside source as saying, "That's a pipe dream. There's no way it's ever happening."


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Immediately after the theatrical release of "Justice League", fans created an online petition to release the "Snyder Cut" that gained more than 180,000 signatures. The movement, which uses the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut on social media, began before fans had any knowledge that a cut of Snyder's "Justice League" film actually existed in any capacity. The movement was ignited by the divisive reaction toward the theatrical cut, knowing that Snyder left directorial duties and the final cut of the film in the hands of Joss Whedon and the assumption that Whedon created an inferior film. The circumstances have been compared to a similar situation with the film "Superman II" (1980). Both "Justice League" and "Superman II" feature a director that was replaced, for different reasons, before completion of a film, which led to a second director coming in and making substantial changes to the tone of each film. Although the reasoning behind each director's departure differs, Richard Donner was able to complete his in 2006. Some assumed that an alternate cut of "Justice League" was inevitable because historically several of Snyder's films have been re-released as extended cuts for home media ("Watchmen", "") which are seen by some critics as superior to the original version.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Scripts for two sequels to follow Snyder's "Justice League" were never written and never had writers assigned to them, but Snyder had a plan for their stories and comic-book artist Jim Lee drew breakdown boards for them. Production was expected to begin shortly after the release of "Justice League", but work on the first sequel, tentatively titled "Justice League: Part Two" was stopped when Snyder stepped down in May 2017 and was pushed back indefinitely in December 2017 in favor of a stand-alone Batman film titled "The Batman" starring Ben Affleck, which similarly never came to fruition and was converted into a separate, standalone project entirely. After the commercial flop of "Justice League" caused Warner to re-think their DCEU strategy and move away from Snyder's vision, Snyder and members of the cast and crew slowly began leaking details about his "Justice League" trilogy plan. Those details include:


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: In January 2019, Snyder released a T-shirt as a reward for donating to a crowdfunding campaign, with all proceeds going toward the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. His design, which resembles the Kabbalah Tree of Life, is said to contain the plot of his five-film arc including a planned Justice League trilogy within a mosaic of cryptic symbols and phrases. The reverse side of the shirt has a quote from Joseph Campbell, American literature professor famed for his creation of the Hero's journey, which reads: "All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you". "The Dreamscapes Of Zack Snyder's Justice League Exhibition" in downtown Dallas revealed an outline for "Justice League Parts 2" and "2A" by Snyder, lettered by Geoff Johns, and with art by Jim Lee; it showed costumes and props that were used in the additional photography for "Zack Snyder's Justice League".


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: In February 2021, Snyder stated that as far as he knew, Warner Bros. had no interest in hiring him for further "Justice League" sequels or any DCEU movies overall. Snyder revealed at Justice Con 2021 that he had cast Wayne T. Carr as John Stewart / Green Lantern and filmed footage with him for the film's epilogue but was turned down by the studio.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: After disapproving of the direction of the "Snyder Cut", Warners and Geoff Johns hired filmmaker Joss Whedon to re-write the script and help with extensive re-shoots. (However, he may have been hired earlier than reported, to join a larger writer's room.) Whedon had gone to Warner Bros. with a pitch for a Batgirl movie, to which Johns accepted his pitch and was working with him on developing that movie. Johns then saw this as an opportunity to help with additional rewrites and reshoots for "Justice League". Soon, the studio gave Whedon more power as he was also given power to help direct reshoots. When Snyder and his wife left the project after their daughter's death, Whedon took over as director and directed reshoots for approximately 55 days. Then-Warner CEO Kevin Tsujihara mandated that "Justice League's" length was not to exceed two hours, something the studio had been pushing for throughout principal photography, but Snyder himself never took seriously, saying it was near impossible to tell his story in two hours. The film company also reportedly decided not to push back the release date (which would have allowed the filmmakers more time to properly complete "Justice League"), partly so that executives could keep their annual bonuses, and partly because they were concerned that AT&T might dissolve the studio after an upcoming merger, which might result in the incomplete film getting scrapped altogether.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Snyder may also have turned down an offer to delay the release date. He was expected to film the scenes that Whedon re-wrote, and they were working together to fix the film in accordance with the studio's requests when Snyder's daughter, Autumn Snyder, died by suicide in March 2017. He continued to work on "Justice League" for two months after the tragedy to distract himself, before finally stepping down in May 2017. His wife Deborah Snyder who was producing "Justice League" also stepped away from the project. Some reports, however, say that Snyder may have been quietly fired from the project in January or February 2017, a month or two before his daughter's suicide and several more before his official departure from the project. Once Snyder left, Whedon assumed full control over the completion of the theatrical cut of "Justice League". Warner COO Toby Emmerich said at the time:


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: "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 the 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."


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: In accordance with Warner's run-time limitations, the "Justice League" theatrical cut is exactly 120 minutes (two hours) long including credits. Whedon added nearly 80 new pages to the script. Wagner, who did not work on Whedon's reshoots, roughly estimates that the theatrical cut uses only about 10% of the principal photography he shot. Holkenborg had completed his score before being replaced by Danny Elfman ("", "Batman") mid-way through post-production, although he had only composed for about two hours worth of film as Warner Bros. wanted the movie to be around that runtime. Recalling the situation, Holkenborg stated that he had one meeting with Whedon and decided not continue on the project due to Whedon's negative attitude towards Snyder and the film; before he could step down, he was informed that Whedon had chosen to go with Elfman anyway.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: All of the re-shot scenes were filmed digitally, using an Arri Alexa XT. Wagner was briefly contacted to return, but was busy shooting another project that was being shot in the same area and briefly visited the set, finding the atmosphere very different from the original production, corroborating statements made by Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot about the experience on set of the reshoots. Wagner also said the reshoots lasted about 55 days or 7 weeks, and said the studio brightened up the color palette of the film when Snyder was working in post and went further in this with Whedon. The scenes that Whedon wrote or re-shot for the theatrical release added a brighter tone and humor, and reduced the level of violence seen in Snyder's darker direction. Fisher has also said nearly every Snyder shot scene had a Whedon addition spliced in except the scene on the GCPD roof top with the League and Commissioner Gordon. To meet the mandated run-time, more than 90 minutes of footage from the "Snyder Cut" was removed, but the result still adhered to the basic outline of the story established by Snyder. While the "Snyder Cut" was poorly received by test audiences, the early screening of Whedon's cut scored as high as "Wonder Woman" did with test audiences, so Warner decided to move forward with it. However, the film's editor David Brenner has since contested this.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Upon release, the theatrical cut of "Justice League" was met with mixed to negative reviews. Several critics described it as a "Frankenstein" film, in that similar to Frankenstein's monster that is composed of different humans' body parts, "Justice League" was very obviously the work of two different directors with competing visions for the finished product. Warner decided to move away from Snyder's vision for a shared universe of interconnected films and focus on stand-alone films and solo franchises instead. The previously announced sequel to "Justice League" scheduled for a 2019 release was pushed back indefinitely. Similar to the fallout after "Batman v Superman", Warner initiated a shakeup of executives between late-2017 and mid-2018, ahead of the release of the next DCEU film, "Aquaman". Both Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, who were hired as co-chairmen and co-runners of the DCEU after "Batman v Superman" to get the franchise back on track, departed DC Films at the end of 2017. In early 2018, Berg and Johns were replaced by Walter Hamada ("It", "The Conjuring") and Chantal Nong. Warner's head of casting Lora Kennedy departed in May 2018. "The Hollywood Reporter" quoted an insider familiar with the station as saying Hamada "walked into a shitshow, and he's trying to clean it up". Several DCEU actors are no longer attached to the franchise following "Justice League", with several others currently in question.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: An anonymous Warner Bros. executive stated in February 2021 that even the studio did not like the "stupefying" changes Whedon brought to Snyder's film, criticizing the Black Clad and the Russian family as goofy and pointless additions to the film. The executive affirmed that the finished film felt "awkward" because the studio did not want to admit what "piece of shit" it had become.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The following is an overview of reported major differences between the "Snyder Cut" and the theatrical cut of "Justice League". It is not an exhaustive list and dozens of other major and minor changes have been reported.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The theatrical cut entirely removed at least 10 comic book characters from Snyder's original script, among others. The "Snyder Cut" included a short scene where Flash saved Iris West from a car accident. Ryan Choi / Atom appeared as a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist working with Silas Stone. Cyborg's mother Elinore Stone appeared in some flashback scenes. Aquaman's mentor Nuidis Vulko appeared in an underwater scene and a cut post-credits scene. Justice League antagonist Darkseid appeared in four different scenes. Master torturer and follower of Darkseid in the comic books Desaad played a minor role. Harry Lennix's character Calvin Swanwick from "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman" was planned to appear in a scene revealing he was secretly the shapeshifting alien Martian Manhunter all along. The supporting characters Silas Stone, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Mera, Ares, Zeus and Antiope had multiple scenes cut or reduced, but still appear in the theatrical release.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Marc McClure, the actor who played Jimmy Olsen in the Christopher Reeve "Superman" films, played Lois Lane's bodyguard throughout the entire "Snyder Cut" but only makes a cameo appearance in the theatrical cut. Snyder had a non-speaking cameo in a cafe. Actor Sam Benjamin said he filmed 20–30 minutes worth of scenes for a military subplot that was cut from the theatrical release.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Several scenes introducing and exploring in more depth the mythologies of the three new characters to the DCEU—Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg—were removed from the theatrical cut. In the "Snyder Cut", Barry demonstrates the ability to reverse time by briefly surpassing the speed of light in a new version of the final battle, and his relationship with Bruce Wayne was established as being "between someone who is naive and excited and someone who is experienced and jaded." In the theatrical cut, much of this is removed or replaced by "forced jokes" and a scene in which Flash saves a Russian family during the final battle.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Cyborg was described as the "heart" of the film and the original script had included additional scenes of his origin story, learning to use his abilities and connecting with his cybernetic enhancements. Ray Fisher later voiced his displeasure with Whedon and the studio removing much of Cyborg's backstory, among other allegations, leading to a months-long feud that culminated in Whedon being investigated and Fisher leaving his role as Cyborg in 2021. Aquaman had additional scenes exploring his backstory and Atlantean lore including the Dead King of Atlantis' throne and a scene involving Vulko and Mera that directly connected to "Aquaman". In November 2017, Jason Momoa defended the removal of these scenes, stating: "There was no need for it because you're going to see it in "Aquaman". It's not an Aquaman movie, it's a Justice League movie."


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Most of Henry Cavill's Superman scenes were re-shot by Whedon. Cavill's reshoots were scheduled around Paramount's "", a film for which he was contractually obligated to keep his moustache. Originally, the filmmakers of the movie agreed to let Cavill shave for the reshoots in exchange for 2-3 million dollars to temporarily shutdown production on "Fallout". However, Paramount executives stepped in and vetoed the idea. So Warners decided to digitally remove his moustache, but under a tight deadline and the film being close to its release, the visual effects team did not have the time to properly apply the CGI; the finished product was criticized for looking awkward. Nearly all of Superman's scenes throughout the entire film feature the CGI lip, suggesting they have all been re-shot. Following the young Superman portrayed in "Man of Steel" and the conflicted Superman portrayed in "Batman v Superman", the version of Superman that appeared in the "Snyder Cut" was described as coming closer to completing his story arc and becoming more like the "true" Superman as depicted in the comics after being reborn, and donning a black costume as opposed to the standard costume seen in the theatrical version. Superman's behavior at the end of the "Snyder Cut" in the final battle was described by storyboard artist Jay Oliva as "unhinged".


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Snyder had originally intended for the hero to wear his iconic black and silver lined suit as famously first depicted in 1992's "The Death of Superman" comic storyline. However, due to the criticism of the "darkness" of Snyder's previous DC Films by critics, Warner Bros. did not allow him to use the suit since it gave the impression of a darker film - a tone they wanted to avoid. So Snyder and his visual effects team did some testing to see how easy it is to dial the color of the suit in color correction to black. They then made some slight physical alterations to the suit to make this process easier. So throughout the filming of the movie, all of Superman's footage was shot in the classic suit with Snyder hoping to convince Warner Bros. in post-production to go for the black suit.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Snyder's reasoning behind using the black suit is that it resembles Superman's character more inwards, specifically his Kryptonian heritage while the blue suit resembles his role on Earth, as humanity's protector, hero, and leader. Superman choosing the black suit is an indication that his character journey is not yet complete as Snyder's originally planned vision for his DC films was a 5-6 film arc that focused on Superman with the character at the end of the arc becoming the classic iconic Superman from the comics.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: While their arcs are mainly the same in both versions of the film, many of Batman's and Wonder Woman's scenes were reshot by Whedon, including when Diana explains the first invasion of Earth to Bruce. In addition, their dynamic is changed: while Snyder's version of the film portrays Bruce and Diana with a good working relationship and subtly hints at their mutual romantic interest, Whedon introduces a subplot in the theatrical cut in which the two characters bicker constantly, which many critics saw as a borrowed element from "The Avengers", which Whedon had also directed. Batman's characterization is noticeably changed, as Whedon made him more indecisive, oafish, and obsessive in the theatrical cut, whereas Snyder's original version portrayed him with newfound resolve and optimism after witnessing Superman's sacrifice in "Batman v Superman".


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, who portrayed Batman and Wonder Woman, respectively, both voiced displeasure working with Whedon during the reshoots, and were among the most prominent supporters of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. In fact, Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote in a review of the theatrical cut that Affleck "looks like he'd rather be almost anywhere else but here." Affleck's experience on the set of "Justice League", especially during the reshoots, was cited as one of his reasons for stepping down from the role of Batman before he changed his mind and returned for additional shots for "Zack Snyder's Justice League" and "The Flash". Gadot also disagreed with Whedon's choices for her character, including a controversial scene in which Flash falls on Wonder Woman's breasts, but Whedon retaliated by threatening to "make [her] look stupid" in the film. Though Gadot reported Whedon to studio executives to resolve their conflict, many of Wonder Woman's scenes and soundbytes in the final theatrical cut ultimately appear to sexually objectify her, which viewers noted was done in a similar fashion to Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in "The Avengers" and its sequel "". Conversely, Snyder's director's cut portrays her in a more dignified manner. In addition, both Batman's and Wonder Woman's action scenes have been restored in the "Snyder cut".


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: As with Superman, many of Steppenwolf's scenes were reshot by Whedon and the character was drastically altered. Originally conceived as a monstrous, horned alien, Steppenwolf was given a more humanoid form and "cheesier" lines and was inserted in numerous scenes originally featuring Darkseid. Snyder's version of the film utilizes the character's original design, with the character speaking more "poetically" but less frequently, resulting in a more intimidating and menacing presence. Steppenwolf is also given a more complex armor capable of moving with his emotions, in addition to numerous gadgets, while his relationships with Darkseid and DeSaad are explored in-depth. While the theatrical cut seemingly portrays him like a "Saturday-morning cartoon villain", the director's cut depicts him as a tragic villain and "space knight" in similar fashion to a "fallen angel", as he is aiming to escape his role of servitude under Darkseid and regain his commander's favor.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The musical soundtracks of both cuts are significantly different with very little overlap. The theatrical cut was ultimately scored by Danny Elfman—this score was more orchestral and upbeat in sound to reflect the theatrical version's intention to have a lighter, more family friendly tone compared to the preceding DCEU films like "Man of Steel" and "", both of which were scored by Hans Zimmer with assistance from Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg). Junkie XL had been scheduled to return as composer for the theatrical cut of Justice League, but was dropped in favour of Elfman when Joss Whedon took over from Snyder in post production. For his Justice League score brought back the iconic Superman March by John Williams from the 1978 film series and also his own "The Batman Theme" originally used in the first two films of the "Batman" 1989 film series (which were both directed by Tim Burton and scored by Elfman) for the theatrical cut of Justice League. Elfman also reworked Zimmer's Wonder Woman theme into a more orchestral form. An excerpt from Zimmer's work on "Man of Steel" can be heard during the theatrical version of the film itself but is not included in the commercially released soundtrack for the theatrical cut. Elfman stated he wanted to keep things simple when scoring the film by using musical lemotifs for individual characters rather than full musical themes only developing one main theme to represent the Justice League as a whole team.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: When Holkenborg was rehired by Zack Snyder to score his directors cut of the film he mostly disregarded the material Elfman had used for 2017 version as the 'Snyder Cut' would have a darker, grittier tone similar to "Batman v Superman" and "Man of Steel" on which Holkenborg had worked with Hans Zimmer and used his and Zimmer's previous DCEU work as a starting point. Holkenborg's new score overall is much less whimsical and less traditionally orchestral than Elfman's score for the theatrical version. It focuses on orchestral elements such as brass, percussion, electronica, piano, and electric guitar, similar to the approach he and Zimmer used in their previous DCEU work, in order to further emphasize the "Snyder Cut" having a similar feel to the first two DCEU films. Holkenborg also created new themes for established characters such as Batman and Wonder Woman.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The flashback scene illustrating Steppenwolf's first invasion of Earth against the Olympian Old Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, Green Lantern Corps and humans was altered for the theatrical release. The "Snyder Cut" was longer, included a younger version of Darkseid named Uxas instead of Steppenwolf, a battle between Ares and Darkseid, additional footage of the Green Lantern Yalan Gur, and included dialogue from most of these characters that was removed from the theatrical release. When Steppenwolf strikes his axe into the ground, it creates a glowing red symbol. In the "Snyder Cut" this was explained to be a representation of the Anti-Life Equation, but the theatrical cut never addresses what the symbol is.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The final battle between the Justice League and Steppenwolf's army of Parademons was largely redone. Whedon added the reddish hue coloration, the root-like structures growing out of the ground, a redesign of Steppenwolf's base of operations inside the cooling tower, and the Russian family that Flash saves. The Russian family sidequest/subplot and Whedon's coloration changes are completely removed from the Snyder Cut. Batman played a larger role in the action in the "Snyder Cut". In the theatrical cut, Steppenwolf showed fear at the prospect of defeat, causing his Parademons to attack because they are drawn to the smell of fear—a plot device Whedon introduced both in this scene and the opening scene with Batman and the burglar. In the "Snyder Cut", Wonder Woman decapitated Steppenwolf before he could escape through a boom tube and on the other side of the tube was Darkseid, teasing his appearance in a sequel. This is after The Flash (whose role was reduced in the theatrical cut) was able to reverse the Justice League's initial defeat (caused by the Mother Boxes becoming unified) by reversing time through use of the Speed Force to a point in time before the Mother Boxes synched together and terraformed the world thus giving the Justice League a second chance to prevent this from happening.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The Knightmare sequences in "Zack Snyder's Justice League" establishes that following Darkseid's victory in the hypothetical "Justice League Part Two," Aquaman and Wonder Woman have died, and that Superman has turned evil following the death of Lois Lane. Batman has formed a makeshift Justice League with Flash, Cyborg, Deathstroke and Mera. In the film, Batman is mocked by the Joker for failing to save those close to him, including Robin, while also trying to form an alliance with the Justice League against Darkseid and Superman, who has turned evil following the death of Lois Lane. The scene ends with the Justice League being ambushed by Superman.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The Knightmare sequence in the epilogue was filmed by Snyder specifically for "Zack Snyder's Justice League", with Affleck, Miller, Fisher, Manganiello, Heard and Leto reprising their roles from earlier installments in the DCEU; Cavill was digitally imposed into the scene using archive footage from "Man of Steel".


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: The post-credits scene featuring Lex Luthor and Deathstroke was initially supposed to tease Ben Affleck's original version for "The Batman", in which Deathstroke would have played a pivotal role. The sequence originally filmed back in 2016 during principal photography had Deathstroke and Luthor discussing about what to do with Batman. When Affleck stepped away from directing "The Batman" in January 2017 (before Matt Reeves took over as director and rewrote the film to no longer be set in the DCEU) and Joss Whedon was hired to replace Snyder a few months later, the sequence was redone with a reshoot of Jesse Eisenberg's dialogue to instead tease a planned "Justice League" sequel not planned by Snyder or set in his universe involving the Injustice League by rewriting Luthor's dialogue.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Another early iteration for the post-credits scene planned by Snyder had the Green Lanterns Kilowog and Tomar-Re visiting Bruce Wayne at his lake house at night to further tease the then upcoming "Green Lantern Corps" movie and "Justice League" sequels. Another iteration of this was Green Lantern, clarified by Snyder to be John Stewart, visiting Bruce at the lake house. In principal photography in London, Snyder only shot half of the scene with green lights shining on Affleck, with the Green Lantern side to be filmed later. Snyder likely planned to finish the scene in pickups later in post production but left the project. When Zack Snyder's Justice League was green-lit, Snyder finished shooting the scene on his driveway at his house with actor Wayne T. Carr playing John Stewart, and also included Martian Manhunter, with the two speaking to Bruce Wayne about Darkseid, setting up Justice League sequels and the "Green Lantern Corps" movie, instead of Kilowog and Tomar-Re. However, Warner Bros. did not like the idea of Snyder introducing John Stewart as they have their own plans for him elsewhere; a compromise was made and Snyder repurposed and reshot the scene to instead only include Martian Manhunter. Snyder also said an early idea was Ryan Reynolds (who previously portrayed Hal Jordan in the unrelated 2011 film "Green Lantern") playing the "additional Lantern" in that scene but it never went beyond an idea and he never talked to Reynolds directly about it at the time.


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: On May 20, 2020, Snyder officially announced that HBO Max would be releasing his cut of "Justice League" as "Zack Snyder's Justice League" on their service on March 18, 2021. It reportedly cost more than $70 million to complete the special effects, musical score, and editing, as well as filming additional scenes with the cut also being presented in an open matte aspect ratio of .


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Snyder stated this version is not intended to affect the future of the DCEU continuity, but that it takes place in a slightly alternate universe. Despite previous reports describing it as a mini-series, Snyder described his cut as being a four-hour movie to be viewed in "one shot."


title: Production of Justice League (film)

text: Affleck, Fisher, Miller, Heard, and Manganiello, along with Harry Lennix and Jared Leto, returned to their respective roles for additional photography, in order to finish the project. Characters who were intended to debut in Snyder's original version of the film before their scenes were cut also appear in the film, such as Darkseid (portrayed by Ray Porter), DeSaad (portrayed by Peter Guinness), Iris West (portrayed by Kiersey Clemons), and Ryan Choi (portrayed by Zheng Kai), as well as several Green Lanterns. Sam Benjamin was part of an estimated 20–30 minutes military subplot that was cut from the 2017 theatrical release.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: The Kings of Summer is a 2013 American independent coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring Nick Robinson, Moisés Arias, Gabriel Basso, and Nick Offerman. The film premiered under its original title Toy's House on January 19, 2013, at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by CBS Films in a limited release on May 31, 2013.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: Joe Toy, on the verge of adulthood, finds himself increasingly frustrated by the attempts of his single father, Frank, to manage his life. After a family game night that ends with Joe calling the cops on Frank for false reasons, he declares freedom once and for all. Escaping to a clearing he found in the woods with his best friend, Patrick, also sick of his life at home with his annoying parents, and a strange kid named Biaggio who just happened to tag along.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: Joe announces that they are going to build a house there, free from responsibility and parents. Once their makeshift abode is finished, the three young men find themselves masters of their own destiny, alone in the woods. Joe declares himself and Biaggio to be the hunters, while Patrick gathers fruit. Several weeks pass and Patrick and Joe are reported missing, appearing on multiple news channels. Frank finds a Monopoly piece from the game night in Joe's bookbag that was left on a bus and believes that Joe is taunting him.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: Conflict arises between Patrick and Joe when Joe invites his crush Kelly to come see the house they built. After a while, she takes a liking to Patrick and they begin a relationship. Joe passively confronts Patrick in a Monopoly game by teaming up with Biaggio to trade land and buy hotels in the orange Monopoly in front of Patrick's piece, leading him to lose on the very next turn.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: The two get into a scuffle. Joe calls Kelly a "cancer" and a "bitch" who ruined the peace and harmony the three of them had and eventually makes her walk out of the house in despair. Joe, realizing that Patrick feels bad for Kelly, taunts him to go after her and stomps on his previously broken foot. Patrick leaves the house and goes after her, comforting her with a kiss. Biaggio, who has become good friends with Joe, is told to leave as well, leaving Joe to live alone.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: About a month later, Joe is still living alone in the woods. Short on money, he sets out to hunt his own food, eventually leading him to kill and eat a rabbit. Not disposing of the body properly, he attracts a snake into the house. Meanwhile, Kelly goes to a concerned Frank and offers to take him to Joe. When they arrive, they find him cornered by the venomous snake that appeared the night before.


title: The Kings of Summer

text: Biaggio asks his father, who is shaving, if you go to Hell for leaving your friend, to which his father replies "Of course." Biaggio comes barging in the makeshift house and attempts to kill the snake with his machete, but is bitten by it on the ankle instead and collapses, becoming violently ill. Frank, Kelly and a mildly feral Joe rush Biaggio to the hospital. Joe and Frank reconcile. Biaggio survives and tells Joe that he saw heaven and if he had to do it all over again, he would do, but then changes his mind.