Justice League Writer Reveals He Fell Into Depression After Leaving DC Movie

Zack Snyder's Justice League has been out in the open for a good while now, giving DC fans the version of the film that they have awaited for so long.

The overall success of the rerelease of Justice League is still up in the air though, as reports suggest that Warner Bros' recent Godzilla vs. Kong majorly outperformed the Snyder Cut during its opening weekend. That hasn't stopped avid Snyder supporters from hoping for future films, with the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse movement flooding social media and being backed by some of the film's stars.

Despite the initial hype cycle being over, fans are still learning even more about the film's production. The Snyder Cut wasn't completely free of studio meddling, as Warner Bros. prevented the use of Green Lantern in the post-credits sequence. Concept art was even drafted up of the emerald-colored superhero, who would have appeared as the John Steward incarnation.

Screenwriter Chris Terrio has now discussed the development of the original Justice League from 2017 and the effect that it had on his wellbeing...

THE IMPACT OF 2017'S JUSTICE LEAGUE

In an interview with Vanity Fair, screenwriter Chris Terrio opened up about the effects that Justice League (2017) had on him and his mental health, which led him into a "depression when the film was taken away."

Simultaneously, the Justice League writer felt guilty over his feelings, due to the personal tragedy that Zack and Deborah Snyder were going through at the time:

"I went into such depression when the film was taken away and rewritten. But I didn’t even feel entitled to be depressed, because Zack and Debbie [Snyder, his wife and coproducer] were dealing with their family tragedy. Measured against that, losing the film that you wrote seems like nothing at all. But it did hurt. It hurts to think that I cared so much about these characters and worked on nothing else for a very long time."

Terrio described the events that led to him watching the Whedon cut of Justice League, which prompted him to disassociate from the project completely:

"I was in L.A. at the time working on Star Wars [The Rise of Skywalker]. I was on the west side of Los Angeles working with J.J. [Abrams] at the time, and I drove to the studio and I sat down and watched it a couple of weeks before release. I immediately called my lawyer and said, “I want to take my name off the film.” [The lawyer] then called Warner Bros. and told them that I wanted to do that."

When asked about whether the release of Whedon's Justice League negatively affected Terrio's reputation, the screenwriter agreed. On top of that though, Chris Terrio went on to say that it also affected his confidence as a writer:

"Yeah. It hurts your reputation, but more importantly, it poisons your soul and your confidence, especially when this other version of the film wasn’t seen."

WILL CHRIS TERRIO BOUNCE BACK?

It is a shame that studio interference not only affected the creative works of the individuals involved in Justice League but also in their mental health and wellbeing.

Zack Snyder has been incredibly open about the impact Joss Whedon's cut had on him, but this seems to be the first time that Terrio is publicly speaking on this. Hopefully, the Justice League scribe has been able to regain confidence in his abilities and move past this darker time in his life.

The question now lies in what Chris Terrio will do next. Being behind the script for various underperforming blockbusters like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a difficult position to be in, potentially requiring a lot of convincing for future work. However, the overall critical success of the Snyder Cut could be just what Terrio needs to get his next big gig.