Zack Snyder wasn't paid for his director's cut of 'Justice League'.

The 54-year-old filmmaker - whose own version of the 2017 comic book blockbuster is set to launch on HBO Max on March 18 - was paid for his initial work on the project before stepping down as Joss Whedon took over, but he wanted creative control for the new release.

He told Vanity Fair: "I’m not getting paid... I didn’t want to be beholden to anyone, and it allowed me to keep my negotiating powers with these people pretty strong.”

Snyder has also revealed how Warner Bros. initially wanted the director's cut version to be a case of releasing the raw footage on his laptop.

However, he disagreed and pushed to be able to do his own vision justice rather than just putting out unedited material.

He added: “I was like, ‘That’s a no, that’s a hard no'. And they’re like, ‘But why? You can just put up the rough cut.’

"I go, ‘Here’s why. Three reasons: One, you get the internet off your back, which is probably your main reason for wanting to do this. Two, you get to feel vindicated for making things right, I guess, on some level.

"And then three, you get a s***** version of the movie that you can point at and go, ‘See? It’s not that good anyway. So maybe I was right.’

"I was like, No chance. I would rather just have the Snyder cut be a mythical unicorn for all time.”

Snyder has also admitted he couldn't have done the movie in the way Whedon did, and revealed he didn't see his cut.

He added: "How am I supposed to introduce six characters and an alien with potential for world domination in two hours? I mean, I can do it, it can be done. Clearly it was done. But I didn’t see it."