After helming comic book adaptations like 300 and Watchmen (both of which had previously been described as "impossible" to put on screen), Zack Snyder seemed a perfect fit to helm 2013's Superman reboot, Man of Steel.
The DC movie has a lot of fans, but also some highly divisive elements. The destruction of Metropolis, Superman's inability to save innocents, and the hero's decision to kill General Zod are chief among them. However, the death of Jonathan Kent is also a major sticking point.
In the movie, Clark Kent allows his adoptive father to die - at his behest - to stop the world from finding out he's Superman. The scene didn't have the impact Snyder expected, with many arguing that the Kryptonian could have quite easily rescued Jonathan.
Kevin Costner reprised that role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League. In an interview about his new movie Horizon: An American Saga, the legendary actor reflected on his stint in the DCEU and the now-infamous death scene.
"It's just my luck to be in a superhero movie and be the only person that's normal," Costner joked. "I was like, 'Really? I can't fly? And I can't put my first through the wall? Maybe I should have read this thing closer. I'm a farmer?' So I looked at that and I said, 'Ok, I can be that.'"
"I thought it was rooted in doubt," he said of Jonathan's fateful decision. "But there was no doubt that he puts his hand up and says, 'Stay there' to his son."
Back in April, Snyder shared his thoughts on the scene and argued that it was the right decision.
"The conversation is exactly what he says to Lois...I let my father die to protect the idea that my father was trying to protect," the filmmaker explained. "The idea that I wasn't ready to be outed to the world because I wasn't Superman. I'm just a teenager that could've made a mess of it. I have the power to do it, but have I ever used my powers in this way?"
"'I trusted that his vision for what I could be was bigger than him,'" Snyder added, talking from Clark's point of view. "'This little incident in Kansas was not the thing that was going to expose me to the world.'"
We expect to see a far more heroic Man of Steel in James Gunn's Superman, with Ma and Pa Kent still alive when the story takes place. You can hear more from Costner in the player below.