Director Zack Snyder’s DC movies are often labeled as one of the best movies in the franchise’s history. His dark theme and serious tones made his movies a treat for some fans. Even today, the director believes that his 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is more influential than all the new DC movies like Aquaman (2018) or Shazam (2019).
Unfortunately, his Snyderverse came crashing down when he had to quit Justice League (2017) due to a personal tragedy when it was in the post-production stage. Fans got to see his cut of the Justice League in 2021 but that also marked the end of his journey. Filmmaker James Gunn then took over and has been setting up his new DC Universe.
Zack Snyder thinks Batman v Superman is more valuable than Aquaman (2018)
In 2021, director Zack Snyder appeared for an interview with The New York Times and was asked if the success of Aquaman (2018) and Shazam! (2019) stings him. The director explained,
“It doesn’t sting for me at all. Those movies are cool, and they’re really well-made and excellent. But BvS, love it or hate it, it’s probably the most mentioned movie in hashtags and references. It’s the closest thing to a cult film that could exist at this level of pop culture,” adding, “Let’s be frank, there’s no cult of Aquaman. Jason is a force of nature, and by all means, I want there to be 100 Aquaman movies because he’s an awesome guy. But it’s not controversial. And I have purposely, because I love it, made the movies difficult.”
The director strongly believes that his movies were more influential because they were “controversial.” He is not wrong as Snyder’s approach to the franchise received criticism as well. Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a financial success, bringing in $873 million worldwide.
Why did Zack Snyder stop directing DC movies?
2017’s Justice League was a big project for Snyder but during the post-production stage, the director quit the project because of a personal tragedy. The director told CinemaBlend in 2021,
“I just was kind of done with it. I was in this place of [knowing] my family needs me more than this … and I just need to honor them and do the best I can to heal that world.”
The director lost his daughter to suicide, so after leaving the project, director Joss Whedon took care of the post-production duties and reshoots. The end result was terrible as the film was a box office bomb, receiving many negative reviews. Fans began signing petitions for the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which was finally released on HBO Max in March 2021.
