In a surprising turn of events, Zack Snyder found himself in the spotlight once again, but this time it wasn’t for a groundbreaking superhero movie. No, it was for a Barbie movie. That’s right, the iconic plastic doll took a jab at Snyder’s Justice League cut, and Snyder had some thoughts about it.
The joke came from one of the Barbie characters who, upon waking up from the patriarchy, mused, “It’s like I’ve been in a dream where I was really invested in the Zack Snyder Cut of Justice League.” It’s a clever nod to the infamous “Snyder Cut” that fans had been clamoring for, and it caught the attention of none other than Zack Snyder himself.
In an interview with Men’s Health, Snyder revealed that Warner Bros.’ co-CEO Michael DeLuca gave him a heads-up about the Snyder-Cut reference in Barbie. “They gave us a heads-up,” Snyder said. “And he said, ‘Hey, there’s a reference to Justice League in the movie. It’s cool and whatever, I hope you guys understand, we think it’s awesome.'”
Snyder took it all in good humor, expressing that he thought Barbie was “great” and that the joke was “pretty good.” It’s not every day that a director gets name-dropped in a Barbie movie, so Snyder was understandably taken aback. “The thing that I said to Debbie is—the thing that you need to take a second and think about is that your name is so seamlessly sewed together with a pop-culture phenomenon so big it can exist as a joke in a movie about Barbie,” Snyder said. “That’s pretty insane. You just need to step back for a second and go like, ‘Whoa, what did we do? What happened? How is that a thing?'”
But fear not, Snyder fans, as the director isn’t dwelling on Barbie jokes for too long. His next venture, Rebel Moon, is set to take the galaxy by storm. The Netflix movie follows the story of Kora, a mysterious stranger who becomes the best hope for survival when a peaceful colony is threatened by a tyrannical ruling force. With a band of warriors from different worlds, Kora leads a battle over the fate of a galaxy, forming a new army of heroes in the process.
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is slated for release on Netflix on December 22nd, followed by Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver on April 19, 2024. So, while Barbie may have had its fun with the Snyder-Cut joke, Snyder is focused on bringing his epic sci-fi fantasy to life.
In the end, it’s safe to say that Zack Snyder took the Barbie joke in stride, and maybe even found a bit of humor in it. After all, when your name becomes synonymous with a pop-culture phenomenon, even if it’s in a Barbie movie, it’s a testament to the impact and reach of your work. And who knows, maybe in a future Barbie movie, we’ll see a cameo from a certain Justice League. Just imagine Ken suiting up as Batman and Barbie wielding Wonder Woman’s lasso. The possibilities are endless.
