{"id":305790,"date":"2026-02-28T02:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T02:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/305790\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T02:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T02:11:07","slug":"zack-snyder-defends-toxic-fans-and-batman-v-superman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/305790\/","title":{"rendered":"Zack Snyder Defends Toxic Fans and ‘Batman v Superman’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tZack Snyder<\/a> joined the \u201cHappy Sad Confused\u201d podcast to mark the 10th anniversary of \u201cBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice<\/a>,\u201d his highly-divisive comic book movie that opened to negative reviews on March 25, 2016 but went on to gross a mighty $874 million worldwide. The tentpole was Snyder\u2019s sequel to the already-polarizing \u201cMan of Steel,\u201d which sent comic book fans into a tizzy for depicting Superman killing Zod, and \u201cBvS\u201d only divided fans further with Batman killing criminals, the two heroes bonding over their moms both being named Martha and more. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy 100% honest reaction to \u2018BvS\u2019 and how it\u2019s received in the world is\u2026 Do you really want a movie that\u2019s had all the edges shaved off it by the focus groups?\u201d Snyder said in defense of the movie 10 years later. \u201cDo you really want a movie where the decisions have been made in a boardroom, or tested ideas have been rendered for your enjoyment? Do you really want the Kmart version of your story? Is that what you really want?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBatman v Superman\u201d was the second movie in Snyder\u2019s DC Universe, dubbed the \u2018SnyderVerse\u2019 online by his legion of fans. \u201cJustice League\u201d came next with its own polarizations after Snyder left the production due to a family tragedy and the studio brought in Joss Whedon to rewrite scenes and conduct reshoots. This led to a social media movement of Snyder fans calling Warner Bros to release the \u201cSnyder Cut\u201d of \u201cJustice League,\u201d which the studio permitted. \u201cZack Snyder\u2019s Justice League\u201d debuted on HBO Max in 2021.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love the mythological journey we went on in these three movies,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cThe intensity of where we ended up with \u2018Justice League\u2019 and how it evovled and where it came from. That whole insanity. When we were trying for the PG-13 rating on \u2018BvS,\u2019 the MPAA kept kicking the movie back to us saying, \u2018It\u2019s still an R.\u2019 I remember someone saying we got a report from the MPA saying, \u2018We just don\u2019t like the idea of Batman fighting Superman. That kind of makes it an R. He really hits him hard with that sink. That\u2019s rude. That feels like an R.\u2019 I\u2019m just like, \u2018Okay\u2026 let\u2019s just pretend it\u2019s not Batman vs. Superman for one second.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou realize then that we were kicking the zeitgeist in the nuts and that we were going to anger people,\u201d Snyder continued. \u201cNot only do they not want their heroes deconstructed, they don\u2019t want their heroes battling each other on a road to deconstructing the why of their existence. That\u2019s another sacrilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Snyder Verse ended before Snyder got to make two more \u201cJustice League\u201d movies, although he admitted on the podcast that he\u2019s \u201cabsolutely talked about\u201d bringing those two movies to life somehow in other mediums like a comic book or animation. Snyder added: \u201cWe live in a world where all that is possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would never say there is no way,\u201d Snyder said when asked about his fans\u2019 continued pleas for the SnyderVerse to continue. \u201cI was on the ride that created \u2018Justice League,\u2019 and if you were in my shoes there were numerous times, dark times, when there was no chance that there will ever be my version of it. It will never exist. It can\u2019t\u2026 cost, politics, everything stood against. And yet it exists. The fans should never forget they did that. They also raised a ton of money for suicide prevention. They did a lot of good. They catch a lot of flak for being toxic or whatever, but they literally saved human lives. You can go fuck yourselves if that\u2019s what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe DC Universe has since been revived at Warner Bros. under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran. Gunn directed a new \u201cSuperman\u201d movie that was greeted with a mostly positive critical and fan reception upon release last year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJames is cool. I wish them all the best. It is what it is,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cThat three movie trilogy is a weed that just won\u2019t die. It grows on its own. It has its own life. It\u2019s not concerned with James\u2019 Superman, which is amazing and all the best to them. I can\u2019t wait to see the next movie. It\u2019s awesome. To me, it\u2019s not the same thing. It\u2019s a different thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch Snyder\u2019s full interview on the \u201cHappy Sad Confused\u201d podcast in the video below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zack Snyder joined the \u201cHappy Sad Confused\u201d podcast to mark the 10th anniversary of \u201cBatman v Superman: Dawn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[109627,156,409,111,139,69,66250],"class_list":{"0":"post-305790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-zack-snyder"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}