Zack Snyder has marked the 10th anniversary of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with a not-so-subtle defense of the film and a few revealing stories about how controversial it was even before it hit theaters.
Appears on Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder looked back at the 2016 cartoon tentpole, which opened to largely negative reviews on March 25 of that year but still managed $874 million worldwide.
A decade later, the director shows no signs of second-guessing his choices.
“My 100% honest reaction to BvS and how it’s received in the world is… Do you really want a movie that has had all the edges shaved off the focus groups?” he said.
“Do you really want a movie where the decisions have been made in a boardroom or tested ideas have been reproduced for your enjoyment? Do you really want the Kmart version of your story? Is that what you really want?”
After reflecting on the wider reaction to the film and his approach to the DC characters, Snyder was philosophical.
“You realize then that we kicked the zeitgeist in the n—ts and that we wanted to make people angry,” he said.
“Not only do they not want their heroes deconstructed, they don’t want their heroes fighting each other on a path to deconstructing the why of their existence. That’s another sacrilege.”
Batman v Superman was the second film in what became known online as the SnyderVerse, after Man of steel and leads in Justice League, a production that took on a life of its own after Snyder left due to a family tragedy and Joss Whedon was brought in to finish it.
The subsequent fan campaign to release Snyder’s original clip became one of the most vocal movements in modern cinema history, eventually resulting in Zack Snyder’s Justice League debuts on HBO Max in 2021.
Snyder spoke warmly of these fans and pushed back against criticism of their reputation.
“The fans must never forget that they did it. They also raised a ton of money for suicide prevention. They did a lot of good. They catch a lot of flak for being toxic or whatever, but they literally saved lives. You can f—k yourself if that’s what you think.”
SnyderVerse ultimately ended before he could complete his planned trilogy Justice League film, though he hasn’t completely closed the door on revisiting these stories in other formats.
“We live in a world where anything is possible,” he said, confirming that he’s “definitely talked about” bringing these unmade films to life through animation or comics.
