Veteran director Zack Snyder talked about how the internal dealings and trades worked within Warner Bros. while he was making his 2021 film!

Zack Snyder is arguably one of the great directors in Hollywood with millions of fans and an equal amount of haters. The director is known for often breaking the rules while making a film.

Snyder is known for breaking rules | Credits: DC Entertainment

Well, not just once but Snyder may have broken the rules of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures twice throughout his brief time in the DCEU. These rule breaks, however, were nothing short of ordinary.

Zack Snyder refused to finish the movie

Not like a cliffhanger ending where nothing gets resolved but the 300 director refused to direct a film that had a satisfying end. This seemed to be the case for one of the most controversial films released: Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Jared Leto in Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

After the disastrous tragedy that happened in Zack Snyder’s life, the director left the production of Justice League and MCU director Joss Whedon had to step in and take over the project. The end result was a chaotic show where Aquaman made jokes about Batman while the color grading was haywire.

After Snyder was put on probation by the executives at Warner Bros., fans rallied, in support of the director and the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut became world-famous. As a result, the 2021 film Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released which featured a post-credit scene with Batman and the Joker in a dystopian world.

When the director sat for an interview with Vanity Fair, he revealed that Warner Bros. was quite hesitant in adding that scene. Snyder, however, had his own set of rules to follow.

They didn’t want me to suggest more films to come. They wanted me to cul-de-sac it as much as I could. I’m like, ‘Look, that’s just not the genre.’ It’s not the comic book genre to end the story, regardless if we ever make [another] one or not.

We do get it that Snyder had a fair assumption that his DCEU was going to end anytime soon. Despite not promising future movies, the director simply wanted to leave a bit of breathing room in case people changed their minds.

So, what was up with Martian Manhunter throughout the whole movie? It felt like his story was just about to be told but the end credits started rolling. Well, Snyder has a tale for that too.

What was up with the Martian Manhunter anyway?

It was… a compromise. An exchange deal, if you will. Zack Snyder wanted to debut the character of John Stewart (who took on the mantle of Green Lantern in the comics in the ’70s).

Harry Lennix as the Martian Manhunter in Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Credits: DC Films

As the interview with Vanity Fair continued, the Army of the Dead director further revealed the things that he had to endure during the reign of DCEU. Snyder even revealed that he wasn’t allowed to showcase Green Lantern in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and instead was given Martian Manhunter as compensation.

They were like, ‘We have plans for John Stewart and we want to do our own announcement.’ So I said all right, I’ll give you that. So [Martian Manhunter] was the compromise.

Although there were some ups and downs during the making and release of the iconic 2021 film, it was worth it in the end. Seeing Henry Cavill’s Superman in a black suit was enough for millions of fans.

The film received a rating of 7.9/10 on IMDb and an equally high of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes after its release. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is available to stream on Max in the U.S.