With James Gunn’s DCU on the way, there’s an ongoing and less-than-civil online discourse between fans of James Gunn and Zack Snyder. I’m here to offer some much-needed context for the feelings of the latter group. James Gunn’s Superman is just weeks away from hitting theaters (as of this writing), and yet much of the attention of the media, fans, and even the general audience seems to be focused on how hung up Zack Snyder’s fans are on the unceremonious end to the era of the DC Extended Universe. To his credit, Gunn categorizes said fans as a vocal minority without painting the entirety of the Snyder fanbase with the same brush; although the same cannot be said of much of the coverage relating to Snyder fans.
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It’s an obvious and upfront caveat that there are Snyder fans who have behaved in unacceptable and overzealous ways towards Gunn, other fans, and journalists. However, I also think it is pertinent – indeed even crucial – to bear in mind that Snyder’s fanbase has been put through the ringer like few fandoms before it. Whether one is excited, skeptical, or indifferent to Gunn’s unfolding plans for the new DC Universe, the cinematic history of DC since Man of Steel (2013) shows quite clearly that Snyder’s fanbase didn’t become angry simply because they liked a set of superhero movies that other people didn’t. Rather, it was because of a series of tumultuous and frankly unfair events that are pretty easy to comprehend in full context, and explain why the Snyderverse is different from virtually any other abandoned movie franchise.
The Snyder DCEU Discourse Was Extremely Brutal & Over-the-Top
It’s easy to forget just how intense the discourse around the DCEU was in its earliest days, but I remember. Man of Steel definitely struck a nerve, but it was the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that became the definition of “love it or hate it” for DC fans (and most general moviegoers). I fell into the former category, but the people who hated Batman v Superman really, really, REALLY hated it, and made sure anyone and everyone knew it.
Some fans went as far as to launch Change.org petitions for Snyder to be fired from Justice League, and the online sphere was full of reviews and editorials lamenting in bitter, angry terms how much Snyder either hated, didn’t understand, or shouldn’t be allowed to tell DC stories (about Superman in particular). More than a few of these ventured into Snyder’s character and worldview being incompatible with the heroism of Superman, or taking out of context comments made by Snyder during the Watchmen press tour as an indication that he wanted to show Batman being assaulted in prison. My own social media was flooded with negativity about Batman v Superman to such an extent that it made it all but impossible to talk about liking the movie without being insulted or getting dogpiled.
All of that was bad enough, but what made it worse was that Warner Bros. bent over backwards to rework Suicide Squad, Justice League, and the entire DCEU to meet the demands of its harshest critics – and largely to no avail. The re-shot theatrical cuts of Suicide Squad and Justice League are still garnering terrible reviews, and the entire post-Snyder DCEU (save for 2018’s Aquaman) failed to come anywhere near the commercial heights of his tenure. Essentially, Warner Bros. destroyed all the promise of the DCEU’s beginnings to address the highly venomous and arguably hyperbolic backlash to Batman v Superman. That kind of history weighs on you when you’re a fan of something, and it doesn’t go away overnight.
The Circumstances of Justice League & the DCEU’s Mishandling Is Going To Take a Long Time To Heal From (If Ever)
One point I often wonder about during discussion of the Snyderverse fandom is: what if Warner Bros. had not overreacted to Batman v Superman‘s backlash as they did? What if they had released Justice League without all of the behind-the-scenes drama and extensive reshoots? What if it had been more or less the movie that Zack Snyder’s Justice League ended up being in 2021? If Snyder’s Justice League had been a John Carter-level bomb that forced WB to pull the plug on the DCEU, most Zack Snyder fans woulda have likely made their peace with that outcome. It would have been far from ideal or desirable, but Snyder’s vision for the DCEU, in that scenario, would have been given a comprehensive and fair shot, and been a complete block of content, before Warner Bros. decided they were done throwing money at it.
Instead, the DCEU circa 2016-2017 is chock-full of stories (and outright accusations) about movies being revamped at the last minute, cast and crew members being horribly mistreated, the reworking of Justice League happening while Snyder was grieving a terrible family tragedy, and the studio’s management covering it all up. And there’s plenty to add to the pile on top of that: Warner Bros. management (at the time) rather blatantly undercutting the Snyder Cut’s eventual release with comments labeling a “storytelling cul-de-sac” and turning away from the subsequent surge in mainstream interest. The famed 1.5 million #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Twitter explosion just doesn’t happen without people beyond Snyder’s core fanbase responding positively to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, with some calling it arguably the best DC movie ever made. The studio also cut off Henry Cavill’s eventual return as Superman at the knees, just when Snyder fans had regained hope.
All of the above, along with a great deal of non-stop social media snark and mockery, has been the reality for Snyder fans for the past 12 years. There’s also no end to said snark and mockery in sight, given how much Gunn’s Superman has frequently been leveraged by fans and even some in the media as a societal antidote to Snyder’s vision for Superman and DC. There remains a lot of healing to do for those of us enamored with the Snyderverse, and I can guarantee that trying to push them into simply getting excited for Superman, with all of the emotional baggage still in full view, is as much of a conversation-stopper as it would’ve been asking Gunn fans to just accept that his vision for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would never come to pass after his (brief) firing. That also leads into the unnecessarily acrimonious debate over the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse phase of this debate.
Seriously, What’s So Bad About Fans Asking To See Snyder’s Justice League Story Finished?
The aforementioned #RestoreTheSnyderVerse calls kicked off as soon as the world saw Zack Snyder’s Justice League; that renewed wave of enthusiasm has gradually been re-framed as not just misguided hope, but something to be treated with scorn, derision, and outright offense. And I can’t help but ask why.
Yes, reviving Snyder’s planned ending to his intended five-movie arc would be complex, and would involve convincing numerous cast members to return to the franchise, and coordinating elements like scheduling, budgeting, and so much more. With that said, long-awaited comebacks have all but become the new trend with DC and Marvel. Michael Keaton, Hugh Jackman, Wesley Snipes, Dafne Keen, Jennifer Garner, Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Krysten Ritter, Jon Bernthal, the growing ensemble casts of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and the list goes on. All of them were retired or departed DC and Marvel alumni who have come back into the game in the last two years. Is it really that absurd for Snyder’s fans to advocate the same for his Justice League cast, especially since the entire endeavor wouldn’t be a long-term comeback, but one explicitly intended to finish Snyder’s Justice League saga – a story that has the ending already baked into it?
It’s not even like the Snyderverse would or should represent a threat to Gunn’s burgeoning DCU. Gunn has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to having projects like Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise stand alongside the DCU Batman in the classic “Elseworlds” tradition. Indeed, Gunn has even given a dash of hope to Snyderverse fans with his friendly social media selfie with Snyder in DC Studios – and if anyone genuinely believes Snyder and Gunn didn’t know or expect that would kick off an immediate wave of “Is the Snyderverse coming back?” speculation and rumors, I have a bridge to sell you.
Fans of Zack Snyder’s DCEU have been through a lot in the last 12 years. Trust me, I’m one of them. Sure, some Snyder fans have flown off the handle; however, the DCU is now rolling in, and the bitterness at the 12-year rollercoaster that was the DCEU is showing no signs of receding. A good place to start, in creating a better discourse, might be acknowledging that Zack Snyder fans didn’t become angry in a vacuum, and have plenty of justification for feeling so let down by DC and Warner Bros.
Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League are all available to stream on HBO Max, and James Gunn’s Superman will be released in theaters on July 11th.
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