‘Batman v Superman’ Director Snyder Calls Marvel’s Films Bubblegum and ‘Flavor Of The Week,’ More

Zack Snyder sure knows the right things to say. Even if I feel his ambitions rarely match his output, I can always tell that he really does feel strongly about the films that he makes. In an in-depth conversation with The Daily Beast, the director touched on various topics near and dear to fans everywhere: How DC’s films will tonally set themselves apart from what Marvel Studios has been doing, how the superhero genre can survive this onslaught of films set within it, and responds to people concerned that Batman is the true star of Dawn of Justice– which was originally planned as a sequel to Man of Steel.

On the subject of DC’s superheroes, and how DC and Warner Bros are handling the films in contrast to what Marvel and Disney are doing, Snyder said this:

“It’s a tricky process, setting up the DC universe, or Justice League. The credit goes to [Batman Begins director] Chris Nolan because he set the die for the DC Universe in a great way that I tried to emulate. I look at it as more being mythological than, say, bubblegum. And I think that that’s appropriate for Batman and Superman because they’re the most mythological of our superheroes.”

Did you catch that subtle dig at Marvel’s films for lacking substance? Snyder seems to think DC’s characters are far more grandiose and mythological.

On the so-called doomsday proclamation made by Steven Spielberg that the superhero genre will die someday, similar to the western, and become a rarity:

“It goes to the mythological nature of the movies that we’re making. Ifeel like he’s right. But I feel like Batman and Superman are transcendent of superhero movies in a way, because they’re Batman and Superman. They’re not just, like, the flavor of the week Ant-Man—not to be mean, but whatever it is. What is the next Blank-Man? Didn’t he say it was kind of like the Westerns? But there are still great Westerns. I think it’s whenever anything becomes a ‘genre,’ you have to sort of look at it and try to understand it.”

Wow. This time the dig wasn’t quite so subtle, was it? Snyder seems to think that it’s Marvel that’s going to be the one to dilute the very genre that it’s helped elevate to insane levels.

And what about the star of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? When the film first came to be, it came from a conversation about including Batman in the Superman sequel. Over time that morphed into the film, seemingly, becoming a vehicle for Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight. What does Snyder think about that balance, and is that perception even accurate?

“Only in that because it’s a different Batman than the Batman that was in the Chris Nolan movies, so we have a little bit more explaining to do—and you just had a whole Superman movie. But I think only in that way, because you need to understand where Batman is with everything. And that’s more toward the beginning, but it evens back out as it goes on.”

So that more or less confirms that Batman is getting the majority of the spotlight in this film.

Snyder then touches on what most fans already know, which is a philosophical look at what makes these two heroes tick:

“They’re actually opposite sides of the same coin. It’s interesting because Batman’s a man and Superman’s a god, if you think about it in those terms. So their relationship is very contentious. What Superman sees as Batman’s limits, Batman sees as Superman trying to control him, acting like an absolute dictator. What we went after was the humanity of each character. We tried to say, ‘What would Batman have to do to unravel Superman, and what would Superman have to do to unravel Batman?’ Their conflict is based on each others’ understanding of the other’s weakness. The fun of that is when you’re dealing with these mythological creatures—to make them human again, bring them back to earth. And to do that you have to know the rules before you can break them. They have to go all the way to the stratosphere before you can bring them back down.”

Overall, Snyder sounds very excited about the way that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will sort of act as a battering ram that breaks open the floodgates to the entire DC universe:

“Chris Terrio and I worked on the script, and he did an amazing job. It’s great fun, but it also has an eye toward the future—it’s going toward Justice League. Early on, once we decided that we were going to put Batman in the movie, then I was like, ‘Okay, good! Because you know what that means? It means the floodgates can open!’”

There’s certainly a lot of meat to Snyder’s comments in this interview. Plenty to think about it. What do you think of the director’s remarks? I will say I find it amusing this his answer when it comes to “Marvel vs DC” questions tends to be, “Yeah, but…Superman and Batman!” Yes, we get it. You have the two biggest and best superheroes ever created, but isn’t there more than that? Shouldn’t there be? Marvel has made a living getting mainstream audiences excited about B and C-level heroes. You’re working with guaranteed icons, where even if you play it safe, you’re going to have a hit movie. What happens when it’s time to make Aquaman or Cyborg? That’ll be the real challenge.

What do you think? Sound off below! I’ll be watching.

SOURCE: The Daily Beast

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