The Snyderverse

The Man of Steel came out in 2013, and so began the Snyderverse.

Zack Snyder began his career in the entertainment industry by directing commercials and music videos. His big break into the movie industry was 2004’s Dawn of the Dead. Snyder received critical acclaim for 300 in 2006 and The Watchmen in 2009.

The Warner Bros. reboot of the Superman franchise came in 2013 with Man of Steel. Snyder was given the reins to direct a script written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan. Snyder’s vision of a darker, edgier, more brooding Superman was a first, and appealed to many. Those loyal to both that version of Superman and to Snyder are known as “Snyder Bros.” Maybe you’ve met one. If you have, I’m sure you regret the encounter.

English actor Henry Cavill, also a Snyder Bro favorite, was given the cape for Man of Steel. Not as tall as past actors who played Superman, but he worked his butt off in the gym and got jacked. Amy Adams played Lois Lane, and is my least favorite portrayal of that character ever. Michael Shannon played General Zod. As an actor, Shannon is a beast, and he steals every scene he’s in. Two other actors whose work I enjoy appear as side characters in the film: Henry Lennix and Christopher Meloni both play U.S. Army officers. Diane Lane is cast as Martha Kent and does a wonderful job.

And then, there is Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. This was an excellent casting choice and I believe one of Costner’s best roles. A scene, which I’m sure was heavily influenced by Christopher Nolan, about the death of Jonathan, is worth watching again and again. It shows the sacrifice Jonathan Kent makes to keep Clark’s powers a secret, and Costner plays it beautifully. It’s one of the most powerful movie scenes I’ve ever seen. I’ve posted it above for your enjoyment.

Man of Steel is an origin story, starting with Krypton and the circumstances surrounding the planet’s destruction, to Clark learning about who he is from his father, Jor-El, portrayed by Russell Crowe, and then to Metropolis, where he takes on General Zod and his Kryptonian soldiers.

As different as Man of Steel was, I liked it. The film had lots of action and fight scenes, and I’m all about that. What I didn’t like was how Snyder handled Clark Kent, Superman’s alter ego. He’s basically Superman in a collared shirt.

Snyder would go on to direct two more movies featuring his version of Superman - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017). Snyder stepped down as director of Justice League after a family tragedy, and Warner Bros. brought in Joss Whedon, who had directed Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). The reason behind this hiring is that the executives believed Justice League was too dark (a Snyder staple), and they counted on Whedon to lighten it up by writing and filming new scenes. The result ended up being, in my opinion, a disjointed mess.

Fans of Zack Snyder (see Snyder Bros above) flooded the internet with demands that the “Snydercut” of Justice League be released. So, in 2021, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released by HBO. This was the original vision of Zack Snyder, which took the story in a much different direction. I thought it was better, but there’s so much going on in the film that it's hard to keep track.  

These are my opinions, and I’ll leave it to you all to make up your minds about the movies in the Snyderverse. Personally, I’m not a fan of the brooding Superman version.

Tomorrow (July 11^th) I will see James Gunn’s Superman and will post a “No-BS” assessment of the film. Stay tuned for that.