Zack Snyder's wife told him never to watch Joss Whedon's Justice League — he still loves the 'I tried' sign under his credit

Right, here's one for the DC fans who enjoy a bit of filmmaking fallout. Zack Snyder, yes, the one who first brought his gloomy touch to the DC universe, has finally shared his true feelings about Joss Whedon's version of Justice League—and it's a bit stranger (and less bitter) than you'd expect.

Snyder and That 'Other' Justice League

Snyder’s own Justice League journey is infamous by now: he left the original film after a family tragedy, Whedon took over, reshot half the thing, and the result somehow pleased no one. As for Snyder, he still hasn’t seen the final theatrical cut. That’s not dramatic puffery—he literally never put himself through it. According to Snyder, his wife Debbie watched Whedon's take and immediately nixed the idea of him watching it for himself. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder recounted the experience.

Here’s how Snyder described Debbie's reaction after she’d seen the Whedon cut:

“When Debbie came back to me after watching the cut of Justice League, the Joss cut of Justice League, and she said, ‘You are to never see that movie,’” Snyder recalled.

That bit of advice, apparently, put a full stop on Snyder’s time working with the DC movie stable. Still, he couldn’t dodge learning about one particular detail from the Whedon version—thanks, of course, to the internet's meme obsession.

Read more: Zack Snyder has sold his Fountainhead series twice — both buyers backed out within a week

The 'I Tried' Moment

Though the man himself never pulled up a chair for Whedon’s edit, one odd moment from the film made its way back to Snyder: a shot buried in the title sequence. As it turns out, there’s a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo by a homeless character holding a sign that reads 'I tried', right as 'Directed by Zack Snyder' flashes up on screen. Snyder picked up on the gag through memes doing the rounds on social media rather than first-hand viewing. You’d expect him to be miffed. He actually found it grimly amusing.

During his chat at the Toronto International Film Festival, Snyder explained:

"On my where it says directed by Zack Snyder, there is a homeless person that has a I think they have a thing that says I tried," Snyder explained during the Toronto International Film Festival conversation.

Instead of calling it petty, he reckoned it was—dare I say—'cool'. For Snyder, it would have stood as a tongue-in-cheek full stop on his DC run, had his now-famous directorial Zack Snyder’s Justice League not eventually seen the light of day on streaming.

Read more: Go on, guess — Zack Snyder’s favourite DC movie is the obvious one

Snyder’s Next Moves

This TIFF appearance wasn’t just nostalgia. Snyder premiered his indie project, The Last Photograph, at the festival and—because he’s apparently the busiest ex-DC director around—hinted at a slew of other gigs. He confirmed development on a 300 prequel series, and a remake of Escape from New York, and mentioned that he’s planning to direct at least some episodes for TV. Not content to just dabble in existing brands, Snyder also revealed he’s already written scripts for ten of twelve episodes for his adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead, which, considering how long that one's been floating around, is mildly surprising.

Snyder wrote 10 out of the 12 scripts for his planned Fountainhead limited series.