Die-hard Justice League fans bereft over grim reviews and an underperforming opening weekend have already found someone to blame for the film's cratering, namely Joss Whedon, who stepped in to direct reshoots of the film following the departure of original director Zack Snyder.

Now a Puerto Rican fan has launched a petition to restore a mythical director's cut of the film, driven by the vaguely baseless belief that a better film exists in a vault somewhere.

Roberto Mata, who set up the petition on Change.org a week ago, claims that the film underwent so many changes on the back of Snyder's departure from the project that his vision for the film is now unrecognisable. He also condemned the decision to replace original composer Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL) with Danny Elfman.

In the unbearably lengthy essay accompanying the petition, including nine straight paragraphs written in all caps, Mata claims that the released Justice League is "half a film" in comparison to what he believes was Snyder's original cut, and blames Warner Bros executives and Whedon himself for failing to respect Snyder's "vision".

"People like you expect a film to be filled with exposition and unintelligent cheesy dialogue," Mata writes, "but Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Wonder Woman made something special as described already.