It's interesting that a lot of people are surprised by that, which means in a lot of people's minds, the delineation was Whedon = lighter, jokier / Snyder = darker, grimmer. But Whedon's past work showed us that he absolutely loves the dark and grim stuff; in fact, making his characters tortured people is kind of his thing. It's just that Whedon wants you to see them as flawed people, hence all the banter and insecurities and guilt stuff. Snyder wants you to see them as icons, who just need to step up and be "the best of the best."
I thought this bit from a Variety review summed it up real well:
This is no better demonstrated than in the critical scene in which Bruce, Diana, Barry, Victor, and Arthur decide to use the motherbox to bring Clark back to life. This scene also exists in the Snyder cut, but Whedon re-wrote and re-shot it completely to make the discussion into an argument, between Bruce (who believes Clark needs to be resurrected, ethics be damned) and Diana (who believes meddling with death is a bad idea). That argument turns personal when Diana evokes Bruce’s guilt at Clark’s death, and Bruce mentions Diana’s long dead love Steve Trevor — basically because, as Victor puts it, he’s “an asshole.”
The contentious nature of the scene evokes a similar sequence in Whedon’s “The Avengers,” when the MCU superheroes devolve into a lengthy argument about their purpose and motivations. But the kind of interpersonal squabbling that feels right in a Marvel movie doesn’t really work in “Justice League.” In Snyder’s version, the heroes’ big concern is that awakening the motherbox to resurrect Superman will allow Steppenwolf and the parademons to find it and use it to remake the world; the tension isn’t in a fight over the ethics of resurrecting a single dead hero, but in deciding to risk bringing about armageddon. You know, god stuff.
no subject
I thought this bit from a Variety review summed it up real well:
This is no better demonstrated than in the critical scene in which Bruce, Diana, Barry, Victor, and Arthur decide to use the motherbox to bring Clark back to life. This scene also exists in the Snyder cut, but Whedon re-wrote and re-shot it completely to make the discussion into an argument, between Bruce (who believes Clark needs to be resurrected, ethics be damned) and Diana (who believes meddling with death is a bad idea). That argument turns personal when Diana evokes Bruce’s guilt at Clark’s death, and Bruce mentions Diana’s long dead love Steve Trevor — basically because, as Victor puts it, he’s “an asshole.”
The contentious nature of the scene evokes a similar sequence in Whedon’s “The Avengers,” when the MCU superheroes devolve into a lengthy argument about their purpose and motivations. But the kind of interpersonal squabbling that feels right in a Marvel movie doesn’t really work in “Justice League.” In Snyder’s version, the heroes’ big concern is that awakening the motherbox to resurrect Superman will allow Steppenwolf and the parademons to find it and use it to remake the world; the tension isn’t in a fight over the ethics of resurrecting a single dead hero, but in deciding to risk bringing about armageddon. You know, god stuff.
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/justice-league-snyder-cut-comparison-joss-whedon-version-1234934246/