“We’re not tolerating any of that. That behavior is reprehensible no matter what franchise you’re talking about or what business you’re talking about. It’s completely unacceptable,” Sarnoff told Variety. “I’m very disappointed in the fans that have chosen to go to that negative place with regard to DC, with regard to some of our executives. It’s just disappointing because we want this to be a safe place to be.”
Sarnoff continued, “We want DC to be a fandom that feels safe and inclusive. We want people to be able to speak up for the things they love, but we don’t want it to be a culture of canceling things that any small faction isn’t happy with. We are not about that. We are about positivity and celebration.” As fans now mobilize on social media to demand more from Warner Bros., Sarnoff is shutting down buzz around further Zack Snyder “Justice League” projects. The CEO said the release of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” marks “the completion” of the director’s DC trilogy after “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman,” and that restoring Snyder’s “Justice League” universe is not in the cards despite fan demand. “We’re very happy we’ve done this, but we’re very excited about the plans we have for all the multi-dimensional DC characters that are being developed right now,” Sarnoff said. When asked about releasing David Ayer’s original “Suicide Squad” cut in the same way they released Snyder’s “Justice League” cut, Sarnoff said point blank: “We won’t be developing David Ayer’s cut.” Earlier this year, Zack Snyder spoke out against labeling his fans as “toxic” in an interview with “Release the Snyder Cut” author and CinemaBlend managing director Sean O’Connell. “It’s just a bunch of BS. In regards to that toxic fandom, or it’s ‘a win for toxic fandom,’” Snyder said. “In what world does this ‘toxic fandom’ raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for suicide prevention? How is that toxic fandom? They’ve probably achieved more than any other fan base, [and done more] good than any other group. So I don’t understand.”
During the social media campaign urging Warner Bros. to release the Snyder cut, the director’s fans raised over $200,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The reason Snyder left “Justice League” and was replaced by Joss Whedon is because his daughter Autumn died by suicide. The Snyder Cut is now streaming on HBO Max. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
