Zack Snyder is celebrating the 4th of July with the Man of Steel.
Snyder took to Instagram on Saturday at 8:06am his time to wish fans a “Happy 4th” by showing off his phone’s lock screen: a painterly image of Henry Cavill’s Superman, cape flowing, set against the American flag, with the post backed by Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”
Deborah Snyder is among the likes, and the comments filled up with SnyderVerse fans within minutes.
“Want him back!! #RestoreTheSnyderVerse,” reads one comment. “Restore the snyderverse. We cant be stopped,” reads another, with more fans posting “#RestoreTheSnyderVerse” and calling for Cavill’s return.
The Timing Says It All
Snyder knows his audience, and he knows the calendar. Consider everything happening right now.
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Paramount is reportedly targeting July 15 to close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and as CBN exclusively reported back in March, sources filled us in that Snyder is “gung ho” about adapting The Dark Knight Returns and finishing his Justice League arc once the deal is done, with the deep-pocketed backers behind the merger said to want to go big on the SnyderVerse.
Meanwhile, as we also reported, James Gunn’s DC Studios contract is expiring with the Paramount takeover looming, and David Ellison’s new regime has the receipts on woke Hollywood underperforming.
And the current DCU is not exactly giving Ellison reasons to keep the course: Supergirl just collapsed in its second weekend at the box office, this after the film swapped out the Superman Jor-El message.
Snyder Sits Down With Frank Miller July 18
Adding fuel to the fire, Snyder is set to sit down with The Dark Knight Returns creator Frank Miller on July 18 in Los Angeles as part of Miller’s “Storyteller” tour, just three days after the merger’s reported target close date and five days before San Diego Comic-Con.
So within a two-week window: the merger closes, Snyder appears on stage with the creator of The Dark Knight Returns, and Comic-Con kicks off.
Now Snyder posts Henry Cavill’s Superman wrapped in the American flag.
Maybe it’s just a screensaver. The fans certainly don’t think so.
CBN will be in attendance at the Miller event in LA and at San Diego Comic-Con, so stay tuned.
Matt McGloin is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Cosmic Book News, the independent entertainment news site he founded in 2008. He covers movies, comics, TV, video games and pop culture and has reported major industry scoops over the years, including revealing the Avengers: Endgame title ahead of its official announcement. Through Cosmic Book News, he helped Marvel Comics promote Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova through exclusive previews, artwork, and interviews, with the site also quoted in solicitations and on comic covers. He also reported on Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again retooling before it was later confirmed by the trades.