Justice League Director Zack Snyder Admits He Makes 'Difficult' Movies on Purpose

This week's release of Zack Snyder's Justice League likely marks the director's final DC film, continuing the story that was previously explored in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman. Both the past installments of Snyder's DC saga released to great controversy as they followed a much darker route than most of the comic book genre.

In the past, the filmmaker has rarely touched on the divisive reactions that surround his films compared to those from other directors, until today as he sat down to discuss his experiences working on the DC universe.

ZACK SNYDER ENJOYS MAKING CONTROVERSIAL FILMS

Zack Snyder recently spoke with The New York Times, discussing the troubled production of Justice League, from the original cut in 2017 to his vision finally becoming a reality today. The director was asked his thoughts on the more positive reviews and financial success that recent DC films like Aquaman and Shazam! saw compared to his. To which the director explained it “doesn't sting for me at all,” sharing his love for Batman V Superman as “the closest thing to a cult film” that can exist in pop culture: 

“I couldn’t be happier. It doesn’t sting for me at all. Those movies are cool, and they’re really well-made and excellent. But “BvS,” love it or hate it, it’s probably the most mentioned movie in hashtags and references. It’s the closest thing to a cult film that could exist at this level of pop culture.”

The director went on to share his desire to make movie's that aren't “nice and pretty for everybody” and are more “difficult,” describing himself as a bit of a provocateur:

“Am I a provocateur? A little bit. Is my job to make some pop-culture piece of candy that you eat and forget about the next day? Nah. I would rather [expletive] you up in a movie than make it nice and pretty for everybody. Let’s be frank, there’s no cult of “Aquaman.” Jason is a force of nature, and by all means, I want there to be 100 “Aquaman” movies because he’s an awesome guy. But it’s not controversial. And I have purposely, because I love it, made the movies difficult.”

Snyder went on to be asked if he believes it's possible the general fandom just chose not to accept his take on the DC universe. He explained that “could be” the case, calling his controversial Batman V Superman a film that “pokes holes in your heroes.” The director used Batman as an example as he is a “broken person” and people “don't want that Batman,” something Snyder says he “personally am [is] fine with that.”

“It could be. And that’s fine, too. I don’t have a dog in the hunt. When I made “Watchmen,” it’s deconstructionist. It’s a movie that pokes holes in your heroes. And “BvS” is the same thing. It’s meant to say, Oh, Batman’s drunk and taking painkillers, and he’s sleeping with some anonymous girl. He’s a broken person. He dresses up as a bat, and he goes out at night, and he beats people up. He has issues. I do think the movie came along at a point where everyone was like, oh, we don’t want that Batman. We want Batman to be the warrior-monk who’s cool. And I personally am fine with that.”

ARE SNYDER'S THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL COMIC BOOK FILMS?

The massive scale of the comic book fandom has always led to a spectrum of opinions regarding the major film releases. Even then, Snyder's have always proven to be more divisive than most with many disliking his films, however, they do still have a large cult following.

Years of viral calls for the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League are the only reason this film exists, after all, meaning the previous films have enough love surrounding them to warrant Warner Bros. green-lighting a multi-million dollar production.

Zack Snyder's Justice League will release on March 18, exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S. with international release details varying by region.