Zack Snyder offered a version of the DC Universe inspired by darker interpretations of Batman and Superman. The director specifically based his characters on subversive takes on the superhero genre, such as Batman from the iconic “The Dark Knight Returns” miniseries (by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, and John Constanza). In the past, Snyder directly referenced the work of Alan Moore, the legendary writer of “Watchmen,” another more mature comic book the director adapted, while saying those who expect heroes not to commit atrocities and do bad things were living in a dream world.
“It’s a cool point of view to be like, ‘My heroes are still innocent. My heroes didn’t lie to America. My heroes didn’t embezzle money. My heroes didn’t commit any atrocities.’ I’m like, ‘That’s cool, but you’re living in a f****** dream world.’ The cool thing is like mythologically speaking, I’m 100 percent fine — and by the way I love more than anything Superman and Batman — but in the same way that Alan Moore was fed up with the f****** like, ‘Okay no, they do this,’ clearly this is a response.”
Ultimately, Snyder’s vision was based not on the classic interpretations of Superman and Batman but on ones that deconstructed them and didn’t adhere to rules about strict moral codes. He stuck with his vision of the heroes and made films based on how they may be viewed in the real world — negative impacts and all. Even if you don’t like or enjoy his darker versions of Superman and Batman, Snyder should be commended for sticking to his guns.
