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.