10 Comics to Read If You Miss Those Snyderverse Feelings

Fans of Zack Snyder‘s DCEU have a plethora of comic book stories to dive into for the same brand of storytelling as that of the polarizing filmmaker. To discuss Snyder’s DC movies Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League is to venture into one of the wildest and most divisive areas in superhero movies, especially with respect to the behind-the-scenes turmoil on Justice League that led to the Snyder Cut’s eventual release, along with Snyder’s unrealized plans for his two Justice League sequels. Snyder’s fans continue to advocate for these plans, comprising a five-film arc with a definitive end point in Justice League 3, to be concluded as Snyder intended. However, with the new DCU in full swing under James Gunn and DC Studios, Snyder’s story getting its intended conclusion does not seem to be on the horizon.

With that said, Gunn’s friendly social media picture with Snyder and the response to it is testimony to the fact that the Snyderverse will simply never die. That fact is also reflected in a look into some of the most popular comic book stories published by DC Comics, some of which served as clear inspiration for Snyder’s films, others of which operate on the same wavelength of storytelling, and all of which are crucial comic book reading for Snyderverse devotees. Here are 10 DC Comics stories for Snyderverse fans to check out that have the same grand scale, striking visuals, and mythic storytelling as Snyder’s DCEU movies and their unmade follow-ups.

1) The Dark Knight Returns

Snyder has made no secret of his love for the work of Frank Miller, with The Dark Knight Returns being both one of Miller’s most beloved comic book stories and a clear favorite of Snyder’s. Set in a dystopian future in which Batman comes out of retirement after a decade and finds himself in conflict with both the U.S. government and Superman, The Dark Knight Returns forms one half of the comic book source material of Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Ben Affleck’s rugged Batman flawlessly capturing the grizzled power of the Caped Crusader under Miller’s pen. Snyder has expressed interest in helming a direct adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, but the book is both a timeless comic book story in its own right as a great story to revisit for fans of Batman v Superman.

2) The Death of Superman

If The Dark Knight Returns represents one half of the comic book source material for Batman v Superman, the second half is undoubtedly the comic book game changer of The Death of Superman. With the unexpected arrival of the monstrous Kryptonian beast Doomsday, the vicious creature punches and claws past one DC hero after another until only the Man of Steel stands in his way, with Superman forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Doomsday. Of course, Superman eventually returned to life in Reign of the Supermen, and Snyder brought the Last Son of Krypton’s demise and resurrection to cinematic life through Batman v Superman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Superman’s death and return story was an unexpected twist for the arc of Henry Cavill’s Superman after Man of Steel, and Snyder fans should definitely go back and give a read to the tale that inspired it in The Death of Superman.

3) Final Crisis

Any Justice League story with Darkseid as the villain is bound to be an Earth-shattering conflict, and Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis is certainly that. Final Crisis zeroes in on Darkseid’s latest attempt to conquer all reality, with the Justice League and other DC heroes fighting an epic battle to stop him. The gripping tale and stellar artwork of Final Crisis make it a must read for both DC fans and Snyder aficionados, while also representing an apparent comic book precursor to Snyder’s plans for the Justice League sequels. Snyder has alluded to Justice League 2 and Justice League 3 being inspired heavily by Final Crisis, including in the heroic death planned for Ben Affleck’s Batman. For a comic book representation of Snyder’s vision for the Justice League sequels, Snyderverse fans definitely can’t go wrong with Final Crisis.

4) Justice League – New 52

The Justice League’s origin story has been told and re-told many times in DC Comics, and one of the most memorable and superbly executed is the Justice League’s origin that served as the launching pad for DC’s New 52 reboot. Naturally, Darkseid is the villain masterminding a plot to conquer Earth, with the new versions of each member of the Justice League bumping into each other and gradually forming a team to stop the warlord from Apokolips. The Justice League’s comic book relaunch is also a visible influence on Zack Snyder’s Justice League, particularly with the inclusion of Cyborg as a founding member of the League for the first time. The New 52’s Justice League origin remains a great Justice League story on its own, and one well worth revisiting as a major basis for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

5) Batman: Knightfall

The Dark Knight has faced enemies of both great mental and physical strength, but none who combine the two like the fearsome Bane, the villain infamous as the man who broke the Bat in the Knightfall story arc. The shocking image of Bane breaking Batman’s back over his knee in Knightfall along with the story itself would form the basis for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, but Zack Snyder fans will also appreciate the story for its thematic kinship with Ben Affleck’s unmade Batman solo movie (intended to take place between the first and second of Snyder’s Justice League films). While Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke is the villain of Affleck’s story, the revealed plot details of Slade Wilson breaking the Dark Knight mentally and physically suggest Affleck may have been looking to Knightfall as a partial story basis for his film, making the story one Snyderverse fans should return to for a re-read.

6) Daredevil – Born Again

It may seem counterintuitive to suggest that fans of Zack Snyder’s DCEU movies should read a Marvel Comics story for similar vibes, but the known story details Ben Affleck’s Batman solo movie exemplify its Snyderverse connective tissue. In Frank Miller’s Born Again, Matt Murdock enters his biggest showdown with the Kingpin, who methodically takes apart The Man Without Fear’s life, leaving him homeless and destitute, but nonetheless more determined than ever to defeat his arch-enemy. That story lines up almost perfectly with the conflict of Batman and Deathstroke in Affleck’s Batman movie as revealed by Joe Manganiello, with Slade Wilson seeking revenge on Bruce Wayne for a past grievance, and Slade destroying Bruce’s finances and slaying those dearest to him to force Batman in a final showdown, with the Dark receiving a helping hand from Batgirl. In essence, Affleck seems to have scripted an adaptation of Born Again that swapped Daredevil for Batman, which makes Frank Miller’s seminal Daredevil story the closest thing the world has to Ben Affleck’s epic Batman vs. Deathstroke movie.

7) Wonder Woman – Gods and Mortals

2017’s Wonder Woman sent Gal Gadot’s Diana on a sprawling adventure of leaving Themyscira behind and venturing into the world of man to try to stop the global conflict of World War I. While Wonder Woman has long been portrayed as a demi-goddess and Amazon warrior, the Wonder Woman story Gods and Mortals is well-known for helping to codify and cement the mythic backstory of Diana steeped in the pantheon of Greek gods and Amazonian lore. While Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is not a direct adaptation of Gods and Mortals, the story nonetheless provided an evident basis for Wonder Woman as one of the DCEU’s mythic foundational pillars combined with the epic high stakes of Diana’s mission in the movie, making Gods and Mortals another comic book story for Snyderverse fans to check out.

8) Superman: Earth One

The vast potential of the alternate Elseworlds continuity of DC Earth One not being realized remains every bit the frustrating missed opportunity of the Snyderverse’s own story not being completed, but the DC Earth One stories that were told were still consistently phenomenal. One of DC Earth One’s biggest highlights is the alternate reality of Superman: Earth One, in which a young Clark Kent does his best to keep under the radar, until a large scale alien invasion forces him to take to the skies as Superman. Arguably no comic book story is more heavily reflected in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel than is Superman: Earth One, to the point where the movie itself all but qualifies as a direct cinematic adaptation of the story. Details from Superman: Earth One both big (Superman being called to action by an invading alien party demanding his surrender) and small (Jonathan Kent taking a fragment of Clark’s Kryptonian ship to a scientist who cannot identify the alloy on the periodic table) are all over Man of Steel, making the book an absolute must read for all Snyderverse fans.

9) DC’s Absolute Universe

While Zack Snyder is well-known for deconstructing superheroes through a lens that raises big philosophical questions about them, another Snyder in the comic book world has much the same approach, namely Scott Snyder as architect of DC’s Absolute Universe. An off-shoot of DC’s main comic book continuity created from the energy of Darkseid, the Absolute Universe is a complete re-imagining of all things DC from the ground up. Every hero and villain has an all-new and completely wild backstory that has re-introduced Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern in new, edgier, and more mature ways. DC’s Absolute Universe has become nothing less than a phenomenon in the comic book world, and with Scott Snyder’s stewardship of the Elseworlds continuity thematically and philosophically akin to Zack Snyder’s, fans of the latter will surely have plenty to sink their teeth into in entire sandbox of the Absolute Universe.

10) Justice League: The Darkseid War

Darkseid is not the only multiverse-scale threat in DC Comics, with the Anti-Monitor more than earning that title, with Justice League: The Darkseid War bringing both together against Earth’s unity of heroes. The Darkseid War follows the Justice League in their efforts to stop both Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor’s conquests over reality, with the story referencing the numerous DC Comic continuity reboots as an actual pivot point and fulcrum of DC’s history and the two villains respective goals of conquering reality itself. The Darkseid War combines a vast cosmic threat with enthralling artwork in a comic book story that mirrors the enormous scale of the Justice League’s final battle leading the armies of Earth against Darkseid as envisioned by Snyder for Justice League 3. While Snyder has not indicated any major influences of The Darkseid War on his plans for the Justice League sequels, the epic totality of the League’s battle with Darkseid in the story is one Snyderverse fans should return to for a snapshot of the same kind of scope of Snyder’s Justice League sequel plans captured on the comic book page.

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