This might be a wild theory, but here it goes - Zack Snyder became so angry at the fan and critical response to his film and decided to punish us by not releasing the film on its premium format, that is in shifting aspect ratio of cinemascope and IMAX.
Also, in one interview, Snyder and WB did say (I do not remember the original article) that they were changing the tone of the future films not because they accept their faults in making the final edit of BVS, but because fans wanted a certain kind of film. Which basically means that he thinks we lack intelligence or are unable to appreciate finer aesthetics in films because his was poorly received. That’s an insult to us.
By the way, the extended cut for BvS was a completely different movie. Miles and miles better than the thetrical cut in my opinion. I’d go so far as to put it closer to ‘The Dark Knight,’ especially due to the way the plot is intelligently interwoven. The ext cut is more cohesive and makes the intentions and actions of the characters absolutely clear. Like TDK, it also now plays like a thriller. The theatrical cut in comparison feels like a pointless exercise.
Haha, think his wife said during the JL set visits a short while back that “people don’t like to see their heroes deconstructed”. So not quite as wild as you put it, especially given that the writer (Chris Terrio) has been teasing even before release that future films will be lighter.
But thing is though - it’s not an insult, that’s the demand of the marketplace. It’s not a question of appreciation, it’s about what people want to see in these big budget blockbusters and studios and filmmakers delivering on them, which is absolutely paramount with these sorts of films, not to mention for what’s apparently the most expensive movie of all time. I don’t feel the approach Snyder took is a faulty one - although from the perspective of the studio and other parties I can see that it may be. It’s ballsy as hell to take these iconic characters with their history and expectations and then apply such a divisive take to the material tonally - that’s what I appreciate. That’s the reason Alan Moore did Watchmen not with the actual Justice League, but with allegories of these characters. Taking the iconic characters and planting them firmly in our world not in a ‘grounded way’ the way Nolan did with Batman but literally dropping them into our cynical world, and crafting a political thriller out of it, that’s not what people expect…
And agreed on the extended cut, it’s fantastic. Don’t think we’ll ever get a 3hr operatic epic superhero film like this or Watchmen again. I’d guess Snyder was as unhappy as anyone at having to cut his film down even further for theatrical release (same happened with Watchmen too).