Credit: DC/Warner Bros.Will Zack Snyder fans be happy about this one?
One of the main driving forces behind the now-defunct DC Extended Universe was Zack Snyder. In fact, he arguably started the whole thing with Man of Steel (2013), followed by many popular hits like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and the film that fans won over from Warner Bros Discovery: Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021). Now, the director is defending one of the most controversial moves in the former DC Extended Universe.
Cut off in what many would deem its prime, the former DC Extended Universe was starting to gain some traction with Snyder’s Justice League. Fans were excited to see what was going to come next for the franchise and to see where they would take the newly reformed squad of heroes, including Henry Cavill’s Superman, Ben Affleck’s Batman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t go all that far.
Soon after the installation of James Gunn and Peter Safran as CEOs of DC Studios, Henry Cavill was officially let go as Superman, and while the official word hasn’t been given for the reset of the former Justice League, things after The Flash (2023) aren’t looking good for the DC Extended Universe Alumni. At the very least, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot will still get some screen time in the already-planned DC movies, but who knows for how much longer?
Regardless of how long they stick around and how much Gunn and Safran promote their new vision for DC, there will still be plenty of fans hoping for the return of Zack Snyder and his vision for the characters, except perhaps for this next point. According to comments reported by The Direct, there’s one controversial plotline of the old DC Extended Universe that the director still defends.
In the comments, Snyder upheld and explained his reasoning behind an early draft of his Justice League offering, in which Bruce Wayne (Affleck), not Clark Kent (Cavill), was the romantic interest of none other than Lois Lane (Amy Adams). Snyder defended his position, saying that both were available after Superman’s (Cavill) death, and it only made sense, but ultimately cut the plotline after fan backlash.
So, why include it in the first place? The reason is actually pretty engaging. Zack Snyder explains how it would have created an interesting conflict between the three:
“…how do you deal with that? And that was kind of… I was super into that concept that, ‘Oh no, Superman can be brought back to life. So now what happens with with this?’ And it was that, Lois was like, ‘I’m still in love with Superman. You were kind of a thing.’ But then at that point, Batman had already fallen in love with Lois and was like…”
Relating the plot to war movies where a husband goes off to war, is presumed dead, then returns to find his wife already moved on, Snyder wasn’t backing down from his initial decision. As The Direct points out, it certainly would have made for a much different dynamic between the reunited Justice League and would have set up future conflict if the franchise were to continue along those lines.
Related: Zack Snyder Officially Returning to DC Despite SnyderVerse Controversy
As it is, not only this plotline but the entire DC Extended Universe is no more, and fans won’t see what could have been. Instead, they’ll have to wait for new DC offerings like Superman: Legacy (2025) and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (?), both of which will be key players in the first chapter of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe. Who knows? Maybe there’s a DC Elseworlds out there somewhere with Bruce Wayne (Affleck) and Lois Lane (Adams) still together…
What do you think of Snyder’s comments? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!