Credit: Warner Bros.Justice League director Zack Snyder is officially siding with fans: he’s over the superhero era.
Zack Snyder is famous (or infamous) in the superhero community for directing the Warner Bros. and DC Extended Universe (DCEU) versions of Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017). His direction for the Justice League set up the events of the subsequent films, including Aquaman (2018), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), The Flash (2023), and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).
Basically, he had a heavy hand and role to play within the DCEU. Unfortunately, in its attempt to gain the success and fan base that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had, DC only saw a series of disappointing releases and a convoluted universe that failed to reach fans in the same way that Marvel once did. The last several releases, especially the four releases this year alone, were major disappointments for Warner Bros. and DC.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and the most recent, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, all seemed to fight each other for the title of worst-performing DC movie. Although they had some competition with Marvel also severely underperforming this year, DC still came out on top for the biggest disappointment of 2023. In the last few years, both studios have struggled to reach the success that Marvel had in once seen during the height of the Avengers franchise.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) are not only the top earners for Marvel Studios but are also some of the highest-grossing films of all time. Since then, Marvel has seemed to struggle with subsequent releases, with two of its three releases this year also vying for the worst-performing release. In the last couple of years, the string of consistent, disappointing releases has led to what is being called the “superhero fatigue era,” with many claiming that they are ready for the superhero genre to pass the box office domination off to something else.
In a recent interview with The Atlantic, it seems as though Zack Snyder agrees with the critics.
“I have the same fatigue,” Snyder told me. Comic-book adaptations, he said, are “a cul-de-sac now,” no longer interested in, or capable of, telling self-contained stories. “No one thinks they’re going to a one-off superhero movie.”
Zack Snyder’s most recently released project was Rebel Moon, a movie heavily inspired by Star Wars and comes from an idea Snyder had had for his canceled Star Wars movie. Although it was severely panned by critics, it resonated decently with fans, and became one of the most popular releases on Netflix this year, reaching the number one spot at one point. He’s already at work on a sequel to the release, and it’s clear that this is a passion project for the director.
While some fans have also started crying Star Wars fatigue, or even Disney fatigue, Snyder seems to have leaned into the genre, putting his superhero projects behind him. Although his Star Wars movie will never see the light of day, fans were able to get a glimpse at what could’ve been with Rebel Moon. Snyder has also directed some of the biggest hits from Hollywood in recent decades, including 300 (2007), Watchmen (2009), and Sucker Punch (2011).
With James Gunn now at the helm of the newly formed DC Studios and newly rebooted DC Universe, only time will tell if the former Guardians of the Galaxy director will be able to bring success back to the studio or if superheroes really are at an end. Without the Justice League or other future DC projects to invest in, Snyder is able to get back to a variety of other projects, and it certainly seems as though he is more than ready for the task.
Are you ready for the end of the superhero genre or do you think Marvel and DC will make a comeback?