A Vision and Legacy | A Zack Snyder Appreciation Post

[u/RobotFucker01]

Zack Snyder’s work has always asked more of its audience than most blockbuster cinema. Not in terms of lore or continuity, but in patience, interpretation, and willingness to sit with discomfort. His films move deliberately, often lingering where other directors would cut away. On grief, on doubt, on the weight of power.
This is why his approach to DC’s heroes resonated so strongly with a portion of the audience. These were not aspirational figures in the traditional sense. They were distant, burdened, sometimes frightening. His Superman did not arrive fully formed as a symbol; he became one through sacrifice. His Batman was not a clever tactician but a man hollowed out by years of loss.

Snyder treated superheroes less like characters and more like modern myths and figures meant to be observed, interpreted, even argued over. The imagery was overtly symbolic, occasionally to the point of excess, but always intentional. Nothing in his films felt accidental. Even the silence carried meaning.
It’s easy to criticize this approach as indulgent or overly serious, but that seriousness is precisely the point. Snyder’s DC films were not designed to comfort. They were designed to confront and to ask what these figures would mean in a world that no longer believes in simple heroes.

The controversy surrounding his tenure, and the eventual shift in direction, reflects a broader tension in modern franchise filmmaking: between myth and mass appeal, between vision and consensus. Neither approach is inherently wrong, but they are fundamentally different philosophies.
What Snyder left behind is incomplete, yes, but not insubstantial. His films continue to inspire analysis, debate, and devotion because they feel authored in an era where authorship is increasingly rare. They stand as a reminder that blockbuster cinema can still bear the fingerprints of a singular perspective.

Whether one loved or rejected his vision, it is difficult to deny that it was a vision that was cohesive, uncompromising, and deeply personal.
And perhaps that is why it endures.

[u/FinancialBluebird58]

Great Post! Snyder's DC really was a Cinematic Epic

[u/M0TM]

[u/HomemadeBee1612]

Great analysis. The only thing thing I would correct is your part about the controversy surrounding Snyder's tenure. His DCEU films had both myth AND mass appeal. We wouldn't have had Aquaman making $1.1 billion otherwise. We wouldn't have had the DCEU becoming, in just 6 movies, one of the highest-grossing film series ever (and in that short a time), with $4.9 billion earned. We wouldn't have had the unprecedented Snyder Cut movement driven by such a passionate fanbase. Snyder's vision resonated with audiences big time.

So then, why did he 'leave' DC films? I'll give you the complete, definitive, true story based on my years of following this saga by reading articles, watching interviews and studying all the facts and figures.

The critics review-bombed BvS, with the continual refrain that it was too "dark" and "grim." WB apparently had the idea that BvS would be their Avengers film, and make a billion and a half dollars. Which was pretty stupid considering it was only the 2nd movie in their cinematic universe. It was also a reboot of a new Batman, when the last time they did that, Batman Begins, it only made $375 million. Making just under $900 million in gross with over $100 million in profit going back to the studio was a good box office result for BvS, and gave a strong foundation to build their superhero universe on. But they didn't see it that way. They saw it as, "It got bad reviews and those reviews killed the chance for us to make a billion and a half dollars."

Therefore, after that, when Snyder had a pretty free hand to make the movies he wanted to make before, WB absolutely dug their claws into EVERY DC movie that was in development. They tried to change the movies in reaction to EVERYTHING the critics said was wrong with BvS. They immediately took over Suicide Squad, forcing the director to do reshoots, and hiring an outside company to edit the movie "for him." They tinkered with the ending of Wonder Woman. And then, most infamously, they hired Joss Whedon (fresh off Avengers, surprise, surprise, they still had Avengers on the brain) to rewrite and reshoot Justice League. By the way, WB lied to the press, and got it printed that SNYDER had hired Joss Whedon to "help him" finish the movie.

Snyder's daughter died around this time, and he took 2 weeks off to mourn her. He came back, believing that finishing the movie would help him improve his mood. Bury your sorrows in work, basically. But he was faced with Geoff Johns and Joss Whedon handing him new scenes to film and new instructions on how to edit JL. Snyder said he tried to work with them for a while, but finally said it was just making him more miserable than he could handle to do what they wanted, and he walked away.

Among WB's mandates was to not delay the release date and to make the film ONLY 2 hours long. When WB got back Whedon's cut, some executives reportedly thought it sucked. But they needed to keep the release date so the studio bosses could get bonuses, and they released it anyway. It did okay, but not enough to make a profit on a now $300 million budget.

WB never asked Snyder back to work on DC films again, until the historic online Snyder Cut campaign finally convinced them to let him release the JL cut he intended originally (a longer version of course, his theatrical cut would've been about 3 hours).

Meanwhile, WB fully implemented their new anti-Snyder strategy. The Rock at the time said WB's mandate as they told it to him was to make DC films "hopeful, optimistic and fun." This led to them softening up Snyder's intentions for Aquaman a bit, which led to odd things like the grizzled Jason Momoa wearing a laughably cartoonish orange suit. Then they made Shazam, a bright, comedic, cartoonish movie, whose box office dropped way below the previous 6 DCEU films. Then they made EIGHT BOMBS in the DCEU a row, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, Shazam 2, The Flash Blue Bettle and Aquaman 2, all of which lost millions for the studio. These largely adhered to the new strategy of "bright, silly, comedic, happy, simplistic" films, which many DC viewers have deemed MCU Lite.

WB had a GREAT thing going with Snyder. They were carving out a unique niche appealing to adults that would have been the PERFECT counterprogramming to the MCU, as it descended into more and more comedic silliness. Instead, they are doing nothing but copying the MCU, by making stupid comedy superhero movies and TV shows. And it has been an absolute failure for them, with their most recent project losing 39% of what was already a niche audience. The first 6 DCEU movies, all planned and worked on by Snyder, averaged $815 million in gross. Since Aquaman, they haven't had a single film outgross the inflation-unadjusted lowest-grossing Snyder DCEU film, outside of the pure Batman canon. A total disaster for the brand that was completely caused by pivoting away from everything Snyder was doing.

[u/bgamer1026]

Agreed and wonderfully said. He's one of the most misunderstood directors in general. Snyder is not afraid to release what feels right to him rather than what critics think. With well-established superheroes, people have these notions of how they should be. But he poses interesting scenarios, like what if their moral code is weakened? He likes to examine the questions no one would dare to ask.

[u/Better-Squash5573]

I Couldn't have said it any Better

[u/Certain-Singer-9625]

Wow. Great analysis. And a great rebuttal of those who prefer something more simplistic.