DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn responded to a Zack Snyder fan, clarifying his past comments about the director's potential superhero future.
Ever since Gunn took over DC Studios, SnyderVerse fans have been more vocal than ever against the filmmaker. It even led to a select sect starting trends to get him fired twice - once shortly after his hiring and again after the ten-project slate announcement.
The SnyderVerse fans have made particular efforts in a movement to "Sell the SnyderVerse to Netflix" to continue the franchise at Max's rival streamer where the director is currently developing multiple projects.
James Gunn Responds to Zack Snyder Fan Backlash
Back in February, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn offered an update on director Zack Snyder's potential superhero future, and now, the filmmaker has been pushed to clarify his comments after they were seemingly contradicted.
Earlier in the year, Gunn responded to a Twitter user sharing the viral "Sell the SnyderVerse to Netflix" hashtag. Not only did he confirm the streamer hasn't shown interest in such an acquisition, but he also revealed Snyder "hasn't expressed any interest" either:
"I have to say, this has got to be the wackiest hashtag ever since 1) Netflix hasn’t expressed any such interest (although we’ve discussed other stuff) & 2) Zack hasn’t expressed any interest & seems to be happy doing what he’s doing (and, yes, we too have talked)."
Gunn added how Snyder "contacted [him] to express his support" about the DCU reboot slate, adding how the filmmaker appeared to be "really happy" with the work he is now doing building the Rebel Moon universe at Netflix:
"He contacted me to express his support about my choices. He’s a great guy. Again, he seems really happy with the massive world building he’s doing now."
The topic has been a dicey one among SnyderVerse fans ever since given the divisive DC filmmaker has, in fact, revealed during public Q&As and interviews that he would be willing to return to finish his Justice League epic.
During a Q&A portion of April's "Full Circle" event - via Geekosity - Snyder was asked whether he would be interested in continuing his DC saga into the planned and abandoned Justice League sequels, to which he noted he would in "whatever medium or whatever way" that would be able to happen:
“I love the world and obviously I’ve not put a small amount of effort into this mythology and you know we have done not also a small amount of work towards the eventualities of these scenarios might be... And so, yes, would I be interested in whatever medium or whatever way these ideas would be made, of course, I would! Yeah, and in the meantime we forge ahead and we do what we do.”
Responding to a Threads post from Gunn, user Shay Lonsdale highlighted the DCU boss' previous words stating Snyder "hasn't expressed any interest" alongside a clip from the "Full Circle" charity event.
Replying to the Q&A clip, the DC Studios co-CEO clarified his comments, noting how he "meant Zack hadn't expressed any interest to [him]" in returning to the superhero franchise:
"I would think it was obvious that I meant Zack hadn’t expressed any interest to ME in our discussions, so you can quit spamming this on every single post!"
Will Zack Snyder Ever Actually Return to DC?
While Zack Snyder once had major plans at DC that included two Justice League sequels - the plot details of which are definitely... something - those plans now appear to be in the rearview mirror for both the director and the blue brand.
DC Studios is now diving headfirst into the new soft rebooted DCU with only a select few Elseworlds projects set to continue alongside it. Meanwhile, Snyder's focus continues to be over at Netflix where he is focused on expanding his sci-fi Rebel Moon and post-apocalyptic Army of the Dead universes.
Looking at the budgets for Snyder's three DCEU movies - Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League - the costs ranged from $225 to $300 million. So, finishing out this story in its originally intended form would be no cheap endeavor, never mind the difficulties involved in bringing back the cast.
Granted, the chances of Snyder reuniting with Warner Bros. to develop his Justice League sequels are close to zero, despite the online movement. Perhaps the only likely possibility for seeing the story conclude would be through a comic storyline or maybe an animated project from Snyder.
As of now, it certainly appears Snyder is content and busy with the work he is doing building out multiple of his own franchises at Netflix. So, even if Warner Bros. were to seek his DC return anytime soon, the filmmaker probably wouldn't be able to commit to anything superhero-related for several years to come.
With the SnyderVerse tale seemingly crushed in favor of a reboot, if the filmmaker were to ever come back, it would likely have to be through a DCU project, although that may not even be something he would be interested in.
But since he reached out to Gunn to express his support of the new DCU slate, Snyder clearly remains as big a DC fan as ever, while also seemingly holding onto a solid relationship with the studio and its filmmaking boss.
Zack Snyder will return to screens with Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, which will be released on Netflix on December 22 to be followed by Part Two: The Scargiver on April 19, 2024.
