Although the DC Extended Universe has always been on rocky ground in one form or another since its debut movie, Man of Steel, was met with polarizing reception, late 2017 was a particularly rough period for the franchise. That was when the theatrical version of Justice League was released, with nearly all of that movie’s footage coming from the reshoots helmed by Joss Whedon following Zack Snyder’s departure. More than half a decade after this Justice League’s run on the big screen, former DC president Diane Nelson has admitted Whedon’s cut of the movie was “terrible,” although she didn’t go so far as to totally back Snyder.
Nelson was among the guests interviewed as part of The Wall Street Journal’s podcast series With Great Power: The Rise of Superhero Cinema, where she discussed her time being involved with the making of Justice League. As those who followed the movie’s development closely know, Snyder exited during the postproduction process, and Whedon, who’d already been tapped for rewrites, was selected to take over directorial duties in his place. Here’s what Nelson, who ran DC Entertainment from 2009 to 2018, said about the product the director behind the first two Avengers movies put together (via Bleeding Cool):
