In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Zack Snyder opened up a bit about the WB/DC’s philosophy when it comes to the tone of its upcoming slate of films. Much has been made about there being some sort of mandate that the film’s all be sort of serious, dark, and gritty. When asked about this, Snyder says that there is no hard and fast rule about tone at the studio. 

Snyder revealed that each film, whether it be JUSTICE LEAGUE, AQUAMAN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS, or CYBORG, is going to be its own animal- and he even name-dropped a couple of specific examples:

“ZACK SNYDER: The mandate is that we try and make the best movies we can. If you’re making a Flash movie with Ezra Miller, it’s like millennial Flash. It’s going to be a little lighter than making a World War I epic with this feminist icon like Wonder Woman. The films do live in a united universe. I feel like the danger is — and I think that the studio would acknowledge this — when you start to mimic things like tone. Then, when you go to the movie, you pretty much know the experience you’re going to have.”

Snyder and his wife Deborah, who co-produces these films with him, also revealed that the studio’s policy is to allow these films to be driven by the directors hired to make them:

DEBORAH SNYDER: “Zack and [DC chief creative officer] Geoff Johns have outlined a timeline of where everybody is based off of, where our characters go in Justice League. So there’s a framework. But it’s filmmaker-driven, in that we want to hire direc­tors who still have a point of view and that have latitude because we don’t want all the movies to feel the same. David Ayer has a certain tone and feel to what he brought to Suicide Squad, as does Patty [Jenkins] to Wonder Woman. They have freedom to tell their story in the way that it needs to be told.”

ZACK SNYDER:  “Batman v Superman was always a step­pingstone for Justice League, and it was a way to bring the worlds together without being too jarring. Once you say Batman and Superman exist in the same universe, you’re also saying that Wonder Woman can exist in that world and Flash and Cyborg and Aquaman. Our philosophy, though, is it’s filmmaker-driven. A lot of it comes from the idea of ‘do unto others.’ How would I feel if I was told, ‘Listen, this is your movie, but shoot it like we say’? It’s not fun and cool, and I don’t think you get the best work from everybody. To understand that, there is a bigger storyline, and let’s all support that and not blow up the entire universe because you have an idea that you think is awesome but doesn’t make sense with the bigger thing.”

While some of that may sound like an indirect dig at Marvel Studios- who famously do things in a more by-committee collaborative fashion- Snyder says the whole DC v MARVEL thing is really just for fanboys, and not something they consider.

“ZACK SNYDER: You have these two giant comic book powers, and it would make sense that they would in some ways be compared to each other. It’s like comparing Downton Abbey and Mr. Selfridge. Like Star Wars and Star Trek. Those are things that you could compare, but no one ever does. Those [DC versus Marvel] conversations are fun for the Internet. But in truth, it represents such a small group of people who are actually versed in the difference between DC and Marvel. The average moviegoer doesn’t know. Like my dad would be, “Is Spider-Man ever going to be in any of your films?”

Also of note, the piece made it pretty clear who the DC brain trust is for these films- which is something that’s been somewhat muddled in the minds of fans. While they can point to Kevin Feige at Marvel, and Simon Kinberg at Fox, the power structure at DC has always been a little fuzzy. In the THR piece, you walk away with the idea that the people- not person– in charge are the Snyders, Geoff Johns, Charles Roven, Wesley Coller, Jon Berg, and Greg Silverman. While Deborah concedes that Zack and Geoff handle the bulk of the creative duties, it does seem that there are many people with a voice in the process. 

We’ll get to see the first phase of their ambitious world-building plans when BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE arrives in theaters a week from today.

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SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter