Suddenly, #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix Is Looking Like A Great Idea!

Zack Snyder’s fans have advocated for his planned Justice League sequels in several ways, including selling the rights to them to another studio or streamer (we’ve all seen the #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix cries on social media), and recent developments within Warner Bros. Discovery are making that look like a fantastic idea.

The Snyder Cut

Following the historic release of the Snyder Cut (officially titled Zack Snyder’s Justice League) in 2021, Snyder’s devoted fanbase has made ongoing calls for Snyder’s intended five-movie DCEU arc to be completed, first kicking off with the hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse in the immediate aftermath of the Snyder Cut’s release.

Following the announcement of James Gunn’s upcoming DCU reboot under the new WBD silo of DC Studios, many fans shifted to a new proposal of #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix, due to Zack Snyder’s working relationship with Netflix.

As it turns out, the idea isn’t an absurd one – and, in fact, might be something Warner Bros. Discovery should seriously consider with the company’s recent financial woes and stock prices that continue to sink like a stone.

The Online Debate Over #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix

In the always contentious online debate of all things Zack Snyder, the #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix hashtag has been met with as much derision and scepticism as the original #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag, but the discussion about it has seldom gotten into the weeds on what the idea itself is suggesting.

To begin with, despite its title, #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix isn’t actually proposing a “sale”, as it is traditionally understood, of the DC or Justice League IPs as a whole, but rather a licensing agreement between corporate entities. In a nutshell, #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix is suggesting WB/DC strike a licensing agreement with Netflix to produce the remainder of Snyder’s five-movie story.

Licensing The SnyderVerse: A Common Hollywood Practice

In that respect, the idea of “licensing” the SnyderVerse to Netflix or another third party really isn’t that radical. In fact, it happens all the time in Hollywood. Marvel’s various Netflix shows are one such example that could be cited, along with DC’s own Batman: Caped Crusader animated series on Amazon, and numerous other examples.

The basic framework of one studio granting another license to a pre-determined set of movies or shows deriving from one studio’s legally owned intellectual property certainly would require plenty of parameters, financial breakdowns, and contractual stipulations of which studio handles production, which handles distribution, along with the revenue split between them to be drawn up among the negotiating parties. However, it’s an entirely realistic proposal with plenty of precedent behind it. Moreover, Warner Bros. Discovery may be a lot more motivated than ever before to give it some actual thought.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Financial Struggles Under David Zaslav

It’s fair to say that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s stewardship of the company has been controversial, to say the least. From decisions like cancelling movies like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme for tax write-offs to the entire DCU reboot itself, Warner Bros. Discovery (and, by extension, DC Studios) has been on shaky ground almost as soon as the merger of the two companies was finalized. That situation also has shown no signs of improving, and is actually getting visibly worse with WBD’s stock currently sitting at $6.96 per share as of this writing. By contrast, WB’s pre-merger stock had a high point of $77.27 in March of 2021 (ironically right as Zack Snyder’s Justice League was being released, no less.) Reporting on WBD’s financial situation increasingly takes the angle of Zaslav as an embattled CEO under pressure to improve a cash-strapped corporation’s financial struggles, with further talk of yet another WB sale or merger becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Amidst all of that, the suggestion of WBD licensing its IPs to other studios and streamers is beginning to enter mainstream coverage of the company, as seen in recent reports by CNBC and IGN, with the latter reporting that WBD is indeed considering such licensing deals for major IPs like Batman and Harry Potter owned by the studio. That reporting also comes in the wake of a generally horrific picture being painted of WBD’s current financial situation, with the company taking a gargantuan $9.1 billion loss in its quarter two 2024 earnings (via Variety).

The DCU

Such unsure financial footing at the corporate level is hardly the kind of foundation that inspires confidence in any 10-year plans that haven’t even gotten rolling yet. That isn’t to say that the DCU is dead on arrival, but as a wing of Warner Bros. Discovery, DC Studios is very unlikely to be spared any of the turbulence (or pending effects of yet another merger) afflicting the rest of the company.

It’s obvious that WBD needs to make a lot of quick bucks as quickly as possible – and this is where the idea of licensing the SnyderVerse could really begin to look like a financially appealing option.

Why #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix Makes Sense

With WBD already reportedly considering licensing agreements as an immediate fix to their cash flow problems, Zack Snyder’s Justice League sequels could be the exact kind of agreement that could give Snyder’s fans what they’ve spent years clamouring for, finally allow WB to close the book on Snyder’s DCEU story with the definitive ending that Snyder himself had always intended for it, and in the process, give the studio some much-needed money right when they need it. The SnyderVerse licensing idea also wouldn’t need to be exclusive to Netflix either. Presuming, of course, Snyder himself was on board, and he could persuade his cast to return to Netflix, Apple, Amazon, or any other studio or streamer that could be the entity to pass the DCEU SnyderVerse onto.

Obviously, that also entails very strict and specific contractual parameters being set for what Snyder and the third party would be permitted to make under the agreement, though the general outline of Snyder’s planned Justice League sequels with their built-in endpoint would surely be the foundation of it. A release of David Ayer’s cut of Suicide Squad along with Ben Affleck’s Batman vs. Deathstroke movie and The Rock’s envisioned Black Adam vs. Superman showdown being somehow incorporated into such an agreement would also undeniably sweeten the deal for fans (presuming, of course, that Affleck, Joe Manganiello, The Rock, and Henry Cavill were similarly open to return under such circumstances.)

In any case, the idea of licensing the SnyderVerse outside of the walls of Warner Bros. or DC Studios has never been an insane proposition but simply a hypothetical Hollywood transaction that would require Zack Snyder to be able to get the Justice League band back together and he and WBD/DC Studios to come to an amenable agreement with whichever other studio or streaming platform would write the check to WBD – and it is finally a check that WBD may well be increasingly incentivized to cash.

Tell us, do you support the #SellSnyderVerseToNetflix movement?