JUSTICE LEAGUE Director Zack Snyder Reveals Which Of His Comic Book Movies He's The Proudest Of

JUSTICE LEAGUE Director Zack Snyder Reveals Which Of His Comic Book Movies He's The Proudest Of

Zack Snyder's comic book movies remain incredibly divisive among fans (particularly in the DC Universe), but which of them is he proudest of? The filmmaker's answer might just end up surprising you...

By JoshWilding - Sep 20, 2024 07:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Justice League
Source: ComicBook.com

Dawn of the Dead (which, somewhat ironically, was written by DC Studios boss James Gunn) was Zack Snyder's first feature, but 300 undoubtedly put him on the map as a filmmaker.

The movie, deemed unfilmable by some, was a surprise hit and gave the future Justice League helmer the chance to later tackle another tricky adaptation: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen

The likes of Terry Gilliam and Darren Aronofsky had tried and failed to do something with the property, and Snyder's Watchmen - which was strikingly comic accurate outside of the giant squid's absence - was released to mixed, albeit mostly positive, reviews in 2009. 

Unfortunately, it grossed just $185 million on a then-sizeable $120 million budget. The movie hasn't quite managed to achieve cult classic status in the years since, but Watchmen still has more than its fair share of fans. 

Talking to ComicBook.com about Netflix's Twilight of the Gods, Snyder was asked which of his comic book movies he's proudest of and singled out Watchmen as a clear favourite. 

"Well, weirdly, I kind of look at it in two ways. Like one I think, of course, Man of Steel, BvS, Justice League, is its own thing...I don't know necessarily, whether it's a comic book movie in the classic sense, for me. But I can understand how people would say that because those are comic book characters and whatever, but, that's just based on ideas that I had about comic book characters."

"I would have to say Watchmen, probably for me, just like the process of adaptation from comic book to movie design, all the things as we went from comic books to movie. I think Watchmen is like the cleanest, and kind of most satisfying, transition to adapted material."

HBO's Watchmen sequel was a critically acclaimed hit but a recent animated version of the story appears to have come and gone with little interest from fans of the original graphic novel. 

There's room to explore these characters on screen in future projects but whether that's a priority for DC Studios given their loose connection to the DC Universe remains to be seen. 

Last November, The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan offered high praise for Snyder's Watchmen when he said, "I’ve always believed Watchmen was ahead of its time. The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn’t yet a thing in movies. It would have been fascinating to see it released post-Avengers."

Watchmen is now available wherever you get your movies. 

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DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 9/20/2024, 7:25 AM
Good. Good.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/20/2024, 7:26 AM
I kinda expected 300, since it's way more Snyder-y. That said Watchmen is a great adaptation. It feels like the comic book, but still does it's own thing.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/20/2024, 7:29 AM
@bkmeijer1 - me too but it makes sense that it’s Watchmen I feel

It was considered unadaptable for awhile if I’m not mistaken but he proved it could work
LSHF
LSHF - 9/20/2024, 7:26 AM
I liked it.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 9/20/2024, 7:27 AM
Say what you like about Snyder (I know he's a controversial entity) but he pulled it off with Watchmen. Then I pulled it off. While men watched.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 9/20/2024, 9:19 AM
@ObserverIO - that day stained me forever
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 9/20/2024, 9:51 AM
@lazlodaytona - I apologize. No more Vodka for me.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 9/20/2024, 7:33 AM
Not crazy about Snyder, but damn Watchmen was so good.
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 9/20/2024, 8:02 AM
@ModHaterSLADE - im right there with you on that. i did enjoy is army of the dead netflix movie as well... but Watchmen is his best
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/20/2024, 7:41 AM
I get what he means…

Regardless of how people feel about it , his DCEU trilogy was his own take & ideas on those characters which others have done too while not necessarily directing adapting a particularly run , series or graphic novel unlike Watchmen which was translating a specific story from page to screen hence what he means by it being a comic book movie in a classic and pure sense for him.

I agree with Watchmen since I do think it’s his best “comic book movie” thus far , not because of him directly adapting images from page to screen & such but because it felt like the comic (for the most part) but did it’s own thing well also imo.

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dragon316
dragon316 - 9/20/2024, 7:48 AM
300 and watchmen where good Batman vs Superman was good but slow at times watchmen was slow but Batman vs Superman slower
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/20/2024, 7:48 AM
@dragon316 - look of doomsday suck with powers
JobinJ
JobinJ - 9/20/2024, 7:48 AM
Batman vs Superman had its problems, but the fight scenes in that movie were amazing. The doomsday battle was one of the best comic book fight scenes ever filmed.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 9/20/2024, 9:21 AM
@JobinJ - I was WAY underwhelmed with Bat's and supe's fight. I don't get why people thought that fight scene was so great.
JobinJ
JobinJ - 9/20/2024, 10:00 AM
@lazlodaytona - I thought it was pretty good. The doomsday fight for me is still something I can watch over and over and over. It’s just a great battle. Despite doomsday, lackluster design.

For me, it’s the seriousness of these fights and battles. The marvel movies are great and I love them, but when there are high stakes fights, where people are dying and world are being destroyed, the fart jokes and goofs every three minutes, just take me out of the seriousness of it all. I felt like Snyder did a really great job of, putting in the context of this was really happening.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/20/2024, 7:49 AM
I still haven’t checked out the Snyder Cut and have no real interest to do so but I personally do think that while I didn’t care much for MOS overall , it’s definitely the best of his trilogy imo…

At the end of it , I felt that take and universe still had potential but it was BVS that dropped the ball hard for me.

Snyder actually did have some good or atleast interesting ideas but it’s the execution that would be normally lacking imo.

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elgaz
elgaz - 9/20/2024, 7:50 AM
Loved Watchmen. Snyder definitely has hit some duds along the way but I still don't quite get some of the absolutely vitriolic hate he gets online, I see more directed at him than the likes of fellow director and child rapist Roman Polanski. People he's worked with are very positive about him.
JobinJ
JobinJ - 9/20/2024, 7:57 AM
Man of Steel is an amazing movie in my opinion. Watchmen is top notch. 300 is cool.

Batman v Superman, despite its problems is one of my favorite superhero films. The fight scenes in that movie are amazing, the soundtrack is top-notch. Ben Afflecks take on Batman is awesome. I think. And I really liked Wonder Woman’s appearance.
fanboy03191
fanboy03191 - 9/20/2024, 8:04 AM
@JobinJ - Man of Steel made me like Superman as a character. Controversial I know but he never did anything for me as a character. Too damned powerful and the character just seemed hokey.
SummersClan
SummersClan - 9/20/2024, 10:33 AM
@fanboy03191 - Then you still don’t like him. Snyder presented a fundamentally different character.
fanboy03191
fanboy03191 - 9/20/2024, 2:12 PM
@SummersClan - Yeah considering I read Superman now gonna say you’re wrong there, honey.
SummersClan
SummersClan - 9/20/2024, 3:01 PM
@fanboy03191 - Still doesn’t change the fact MOS Superman is a totally different character from classic Superman. Also, you could’ve just started reading the books. It’s not like the movies changed what was in them. :/
J0RELLC00LJ
J0RELLC00LJ - 9/20/2024, 8:40 AM
I know I'm jinxing it by even saying it aloud, but I believe this is the longest I have seen a Snyder post go without it being ripped apart by the borderline autistic "Anti-Snyder Equation" folks out there, LOL

I do believe at times that he needs an editor who doesn't mind telling him "No" (prego zombies, I'm looking at you) but the majority of his work I really like watching. Dawn if the Dead I can watch anytime, and Rebel Moon wasn't as bad as everyone bitches about. Even with changes, Watchmen rocked!
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 9/20/2024, 9:25 AM
@J0RELLC00LJ - I know Snyder's had some duds, but overall, I've liked most of his stuff. Heck, I LOVE Suckerpunch and, to this day, still have no clue what it's about :D
FinnishDude
FinnishDude - 9/20/2024, 8:44 AM
It's kinda insulting how many actually great/promising directors were put on the director jail after one failure/underperformer, yet this guy kept gettig high-profile big budget work.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 9/20/2024, 8:47 AM
The movie was overindulgent crap, and a pale imitation of the comic.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 9/20/2024, 8:56 AM
I hadn't read the Watchmen comics before watching the Snyder film, so I went in with no preconceptions. I thought the movie was a disjointed mess. I did like the casting, however.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 9/20/2024, 9:04 AM
I'll answer for him. It's Watchmen. Then 300, that was peak Snyder. Maybe if he stuck to ONLY directing, he'd be better off. For some reason, he thinks he's a writer
ChristAlrighty
ChristAlrighty - 9/20/2024, 9:10 AM
One word. Sucker punch.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 9/20/2024, 9:27 AM
@ChristAlrighty - that's two words.

My two words: LOVED IT
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 9/20/2024, 9:13 AM
I think watchmen was great underrated adult comic book movie… 300 was great too. Those are my top two Snyder films.
Man of Steel was the best DCEU movie he did and BvS was ok, wish they could’ve had a better Lex and changed the “Martha” part to something else but overall.
If he could just learn to use slow mo a little sparingly I think that’d help his films run time and pacing.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 9/20/2024, 9:29 AM
I've always believed what Nolan said too. This film was WAY ahead of its time (about a decade or so).
HermanM
HermanM - 9/20/2024, 9:29 AM
WATCHMEN is his best film.

It's pretty good.

The motion comic is the best adaptation of the book ever though, and he helped produce that, so I'm glad we have that, at least.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 9/20/2024, 9:47 AM
Sadly he didn’t understand Watchmen
Fogs
Fogs - 9/20/2024, 10:25 AM
Watchmen was great. 300 was great. And Dawn of The Dead as well.

Plus Avengers lives rent-free in his brain 🤣
Patient2670
Patient2670 - 9/20/2024, 1:22 PM
I've always liked Snyder's movies - at least from a visual standpoint. Dawn of the dead was a great introduction to his ability. Both 300 and Watchmen were great adaptations (IMO). I loved man of Steel as well, but, yeah, he's become pretty self indulgent. He's great when he's given a solid script ( that he wasn't involved with writing) and now, he's also acting as his own Director of Photography. Never a good Idea as far as I'm concerned - not just him, but any filmmaker on a large scale production. Army of the Dead and Rebel Moon both suffered because of it.
HulkisHoly
HulkisHoly - 9/20/2024, 1:46 PM
Apart from the slo mo prison fight, he adapted it pretty well.

I was fortunate enough to meet Dave gibbons and actually ask him what he thought of the movie and he said he thinks WB did the best possible adaptation anyone could have done with the material.
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