Zack Snyder was never one to give in to mass expectation or reduce the scope of his vision by conforming to studio demands and DCEU proves it.

For the better part of his career, Zack Snyder has led a rebellion against the established studio system in Hollywood that determines what goes into and comes out of the commercial production factory. The director stands against everything that is monotonous, formulaic, and predictable – even when it comes to intellectual properties like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League [Credit: HBO Max]

The holy trio of the DC comic book universe have reigned supreme since their origin in the late 1930s and early ’40s. Their origin stories have undergone countless iterations across different eras in the hands of various filmmakers. Yet, DC finds a way to bring back the immortal heroes in a new setting every decade.

Zack Snyder was one among many artists who have tried to imprint their vision on DC’s landscape. But to date, he remains the only director whose films were divisive enough to run a 100-year-old studio into the ground. All because he refused to fall in line with WB’s demands and DC’s overcooked formula.

Zack Snyder defied mass expectations with his DCEU

Justice League Snyder’s Cut [Credit: HBO Max]

Year after year, DC has tried to establish a stronghold in the live-action world of comic books with projects that started as early as the 1940s. Be it Adam West’s cartoonish recreation, Kevin Conroy’s timeless animated hero, Christian Bale’s dark crusader, or Robert Pattinson‘s brooding loner, Batman is the one character that has faced the most variable changes through the years.

Superman has meanwhile stayed somewhat formulaic despite his numerous iterations since no filmmaker had the cajones to mess with DC’s golden hero. However, Zack Snyder took a sledgehammer to the CBM universe by defying the values and principles that shape and define the superheroes of DC.

Snyder’s extended universe was not only R-rated but also bloodier, grittier, sexier, and dangerously addictive. His superheroes were not defined by set values and guiding principles that are useless in a corrupt world such as ours. Rather, they conformed themselves into vigilantes with morally questionable ethics to fight crime in a cruel and unjust world.

Zack Snyder openly defied Warner Bros. and DC

Henry Cavill as Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice [Credit: Warner Bros.]

For a director as clever and provocative as Zack Snyder, limitations and parameters do more harm than good while laying out an entire universe of characters filled with rich and untapped potential. DC presented a sandbox filled with comic book heroes whose mythology surpasses their individuality and Snyder used that aspect of DC’s legacy to carve out a whole new world.

In the DC Extended Universe, established properties like Superman and Batman tapped into their darker impulses and unleashed a more ruthless aspect of their identities that is otherwise unavailable in every other adaptation. For that, DCEU was hated as much as it was deified – for the unique strangeness and defiant traits of Snyder’s questionable superheroes.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker recapped his tenuous relationship with DC, Warner Bros., and the fans by addressing what went into the making of his highly divisive extended universe,

I never looked at it as the job, ‘Oh, I’m the architect of DC. I need to create entertainment for DC that sells toys and that is for the masses and fun for everyone.’ I didn’t care [about that]. I liked Batman, I liked Superman, I wanted to make something cool. You picked the wrong guy if you wanted a product.

On the contrary, the current DC chief James Gunn has adopted a mentality that could not be more different than Snyder. Gunn’s rebooted DCU honors the comic book industry’s century-old legacy by recreating the original blueprints of Superman, Batman, and every other hero to come.

Superman is slated to premiere on July 11, 2025.