Original Justice League director Zack Snyder threw some shade at DC’s former President Geoff Johns at his recent Snyderverse fan event.
Another franchise Snyder was involved with is Watchmen, which the filmmaker adapted in 2009. Just like his DCEU projects, the movie wasn’t loved by the masses—but there was a dedicated group of fans who loved it.
In the comics, there’s actually a big crossover event between the two worlds written by Geoff Johns. This storyline was called Doomsday Clock and basically served as a sequel to the original Watchmen comics.
So was adapting the event ever in the cards for Zack Snyder and DC Comics?
According to Snyder himself, it doesn’t seem like it was ever in the cards.
Throwing Shade at Geoff Johns
At a recent fan event for Zack Snyder's time in the DCEU, the former DC creative found a moment to throw some shade at former DC Entertainment President and CCO, Geoff Johns.
A fan asked the panelists if adapting the comic series Doomsday Clock was ever something they thought about doing.
When asked to clarify which story the fan was talking about, the audience member noted that it was a crossover event written by Johns himself.
After the name was spoken, two panelists jokingly walked off stage, leaving Snyder laughing about the performative reaction. The director then noted that it was “probably not” ever in the cards.
The full interaction can be watched below:
Funny enough, Johns was actually President and CCO of DC Entertainment President and CCO from July 2016 to June 2018, which was at least partially within the window of the Doomsday Clock comics originally being published (November 2017 to December 2019).
This reaction isn’t all too surprising, as Johns’ name has been brought up in the many controversies surrounding Snyder’s time with the DCEU.
Sources of the Rolling Stone claimed that Snyder blamed both producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg for his removal from the DCEU in 2016.
Snyder even reportedly threatened to drag Johns' name through the dirt if his producer credit wasn’t taken off his new Justice League cut. The filmmaker did eventually get his way, as the credits were adjusted.
Actor Ray Fisher also seemed to have a personal vendetta against Johns, having claimed on social media that the producer belittled him and made a “thinly veiled threat” to the actor’s career.
Was Doomsday Clock Ever In the Cards?
It’s hard to imagine that the idea of adapting the big crossover didn’t come up at least once.
Though, it likely would have never gotten anywhere, no matter what the standing between Zack Snyder and Geoff Johns was.
At the time, Warner Bros. was still having trouble getting its big DC Comics properties to land well. Trying to take on the baggage of The Watchmen universe while juggling the studios’ messy work with its DC characters would have been a disaster.
Another adaptation of The Watchmen did get made, though, in the form of David Lindelof's HBO series. The show was a full-out sequel to the events of the original comics and was critically raved.
Sure, there’s no Batman or Superman, but anyone who loves that world should make sure to check it out.
