Warner Bros. recently commissioned a report that found a significant amount of support for the Snyder Cut of Justice League was actually generated by bots. Although it didn’t quite get memed as much as Morbius, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut was a rallying cry for DC fans in general and Zack Snyder fans specifically. The original version of Justice League had a troubled production, and eventually Zack Snyder stepped down as director. Joss Whedon stepped in to finish the film, and the end product left fans scratching their heads. It was a jumbled mess with characters who hadn’t been well-established.

Many people blamed Whedon, while others blamed Warner Bros. for leaving him to pick up the pieces. Eventually, fans started to ask for a cut of the film that was up to Zack Snyder’s original standard. Although it’s an unorthodox move (and Warner Bros. assured the internet it wouldn’t become a regular thing), they obliged and released Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max.

Justice League Zack Snyder
HBO Max
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Upon further inspection, Warner Bros.’ report now claims that an unusual amount of accounts using the hashtags #ReleaseThe SnyderCut and #RestoreTheSnyderverse are bots. They claim that instead of the usual 3 to 5 percent on a trending topic, at least 13 percent of the activity was fueled by bots.

Rolling Stone got their hands on a copy of this report; here are some of its findings:

After researching online conversations about the Snyder Cut of the Justice League's release, specifically the hashtags 'ReleaseTheSnyderCut' and 'RestoreTheSnyderVerse' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, [the analysts] detected an increase in negative activity created by both real and fake authors. One identified community was made up of real and fake authors that spread negative content about WarnerMedia for not restoring the 'SnyderVerse.'

Rolling Stone also asked three other cybersecurity companies to look into the allegations. The chief information officer of one of the groups said “there’s no question that bots were involved.”

Whoever was pushing Warner Bros., they did ultimately fund Snyder’s four-hour version of Justice League. It is still streaming on HBO Max in multiple versions.

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