There's no denying that Zack Snyder had a rough time of it with Warner Bros. After the studio attempted to force him into shooting new scenes for Justice League (written by Joss Whedon, they were a far cry from what he had planned for the superhero team), the filmmaker walked away from the movie and had to sit back and watch his vision be massacred.
Still, despite Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossing $874.4 million at the worldwide box office, the movie was considered a financial disappointment—it went way over budget—and was lambasted by critics. That goes some way in explaining the studio's decision, and it took years of fans demanding that they #ReleaseTheSnyderCut for Snyder's Director's Cut to be released on HBO Max.
Since then, many of those same fans have campaigned tirelessly for Warner Bros. to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse.
It was already a long shot, but the launch of DC Studios and the DCU has made it increasingly unlikely. However, with Snyder joining forces with Netflix—the streamer is among those considering buying Warner Bros. Discovery—we keep hearing pretty ridiculous rumblings about them giving his DC Universe another chance.
There's a slight problem with that, though. Netflix is getting out of the Zack Snyder business.
The filmmaker first worked with Netflix on a sequel to Dawn of the Dead, Army of the Dead. The movie was okay, and spawned a pretty bizarre prequel/spin-off, Army of Thieves. Plans for more movies and an anime follow-up were dropped in August 2024.
Then, there was Rebel Moon. Netflix went all-in on the original sci-fi franchise, with two PG-13 movies followed by a horrendously long R-rated version. Meant to emulate the same excitement as the Snyder Cut, all three efforts were deemed disappointing to outright terrible by viewers, and plans to build a Rebel Moon slate have quietly faded away.
Over the weekend, we brought you the news that the animated Twilight of the Gods series has been cancelled after one season. We've also known for some time that Snyder's LAPD-based action-thriller is dead at Netflix. The streamer similarly appears to have passed on The Last Photograph, Snyder's so-called "passion project" that stars Stuart Martin and Fra Fee, though it recently secured financing elsewhere.
Where does that leave the SnyderVerse? Well, even if Netflix does end up purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery, it seems the streamer feels it's sunk more than enough into the Man of Steel director's vision. All of the projects mentioned here have received mixed-to-negative reviews and, far more importantly for Netflix, they haven't been a ratings draw.
Not only does this suggest that Snyder's fanbase isn't quite as large as the internet would have you believe, but it's clear now that Netflix has nothing to gain from potentially sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into streaming-exclusive DC movies helmed by Snyder. Chances are, Warner Bros. Discovery feels the same, especially with James Gunn and Peter Safran successfully overseeing the DCU slate.
So, who will save the SnyderVerse? At this point, the filmmaker and his fans will need to hope that his story can be completed as a comic book or perhaps even in animation, though four years on from the movie's release on HBO Max, that ship has surely sailed.