Zack Snyder's Justice League is officially now an Oscar winner in the listings on IMDb. DC's Justice League movie experienced a notoriously troubled production process that saw Joss Whedon take over for Snyder as director, resulting in a theatrical cut that was panned by critics and audiences alike. After an enthusiastic fan campaign, the Snyder cut was released on March 18, 2021, on HBO Max, restoring the original director's vision for the film. Its warm reception inspired fans to start a new campaign, #RestoreTheSnyderVerse, urging Warner Bros. and DC to let the director back on board to make more Justice League movies.
The 94th Academy Awards, which aired this past Sunday on ABC, implemented several changes to the broadcast in an effort to bring its struggling ratings back up, including pre-recording several craft categories and airing them during the live broadcast. Another notable change was the introduction of two new awards decided by voting on social media, giving fans the chance for their favorite films to be recognized at the ceremony. Snyder's fans dominated both categories with The Flash entering the Speed Force in 2021's Justice League winning the #OscarsCheersMoment. The director's other film released in the past year, Army of the Dead, won the #OscarsFanFavorite award.
Now, after the winners of the two fan awards were unveiled during Sunday night's ceremony, both Zack Snyder's Justice League and Army of the Dead are officially listed as Oscar winners on IMDb. The website lists the DC film as the winner of the "Oscars Cheer Moment" for "The Flash Enters the Speed Force." The zombie flick is listed as the winner of the "Oscars Fan Favourite" award.
IMDb is not the ultimate authority on this matter, so the website's decision to list these two movies as Oscar winners will surely be a controversial one. Snyder's fans will undoubtedly rejoice, though his detractors and other purists will likely argue the fact that these awards were determined by fan voting and are therefore aren't actually Oscars, which are traditionally voted on by the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Still, Snyder sweeping both awards is a testament to his loyal legion of fans.
Snyder's wins are even more impressive considering the competition they were up against. Army of the Dead beat out Spider-Man: No Way Home, the highest-grossing movie of the year, and The Flash entering the Speed Force beat out an arguably more cheer-worthy moment from Avengers: Endgame. While history likely won't regard Zack Snyder's Justice League and Army of the Dead as actual Oscar-winning films, their "wins" will bode well for the unrelenting #RestoreTheSnyderVerse campaign and Snyder's burgeoning Army of the Dead franchise on Netflix.
Source: IMDb
