The Snyder Cut’s homage to Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” mythos
A conversation with literary scholar David Ting
I wanted to write about the Snyder Cut, but I realized I didn’t have the necessary level of DC Comics expertise. So I reached out to David Ting, a literary scholar and avid reader of DC Comics. We talked about how Zack Snyder’s Justice League (ZSJL) points to the wider DC comics mythology constructed by influential comics creator Jack Kirby in the 1970s. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
HARRISON BLACKMAN: It’s been a couple of weeks since Zack Snyder’s Justice League (ZSJL) came out on HBO Max. How do you compare it with the 2017 version of Justice League, under Joss Whedon’s supervision? How has your reaction evolved from first watching it to reviewing it again?
DAVID TING: I remember turning to my brother while watching Whedon’s Justice League in November 2017. Shaking my head, and saying, “No way this was Zack Snyder’s original plan” — because of the altered framing, color grading, lines of dialogue. The tone was changed entirely. So many changes were evident — even in the trailers that led up to the release! These have all been very well-documented on YouTube, Reddit posts, even more so now that the two finished films can be compared side-by-side. Each character gets more of a chance…
