Edit (12/14/24): Welp, I never got around to this and don’t feel motivated to do it, now lol. I’m just going to leave it at the four DC comics films, and let that be that.
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Sadly, it seems that the opportunity for Zack to complete his five film saga for DC via live action has been permanently shut down by James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-CEOs of WBD. My guess is that they don’t want anything as grand, operatic, and epic as Zack’s JL 2 and 3 competing with their fledgling rebooted DCU scheduled to launch in 2025. And by grand I mean that ZSJL 2 and 3 would use the marquee A list DC characters including the trinity and the ultimate Big Bad, Darkseid. Furthermore, Snyder is an auteur filmmaker who took a giant swing artistically by commenting on superhero mythology itself via what amounts to a cinematic version of Zack’s own elseworld graphic novel. Gunn will feature Superman and Batman but it looks like he wants to try more intimate character studies that cleave to comic book sources.
But that being said, I think Gunn’s plan is also to provide fan service to Snyder “antis,” i.e., hardcore DC fans that are contemptuous toward what Zack was doing by first deconstructing then reconstructing superheroes because they perceive it as “not getting the essence of the characters.”
In doing this Gunn I believe will try to mimic what has worked from the MCU. But the MCU and Star Wars are both suffering from 1) general superhero film genre fatigue in pop culture, and 2) having become overly formulaic and dumbed down to the the common denominator fandom. The MCU and and Star Wars are owned by Disney after all! And if I am correct in these assertions then this will be a massive miscalculation by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Or whoever is calling the shots at WBD regarding the tone of the rebooted DCU.
In contrast, I think the DC fandom wants more bold, mature, serious, visionary artistry. That is the true fan base for DC films I believe. There are a lot more Zack Snyder fans out there than the superhero film genre normies want to admit. That’s why the DC films that have followed Zack Snyder have failed so miserably at the box office.
It should be noted that in terms of ticket sales there was one DC film that successfully aped the MCU, which was 2018 Aquaman. But in that case studio interference is obvious in a movement away from auteurism. James Wan’s original vision for that film was to make it a horror film similar to movies by John Carpenter and James Cameron.
In any case, I think the most realistic chance for Zack’s story to see a completion with JL 2 and 3 will take place some years down the road via animated films. That will require either 1) new leadership at WBD, or whoever ends up owning WBD when it is eventually acquired by another studio, or 2) the rebooted DCU succeeds well enough financially by “putting some points on the board” to paraphrase a recent comment by director David Ayer regarding possible release of his director’s cut of Suicide Squad. Regardless, by then the actors Zack hired will have moved on in their careers. Zack will be building out his Rebel Moon franchise. So I think JL 2 and 3 would be animated. Hopefully using the actors from Zack’s DC trilogy to voice their parts.
Animated films for JL 2 and 3 might be surprisingly satisfying. The possibility exists for state of the art animation technology to deliver a truly amazing film experience. It could serve as a way for Zack to be an innovative trendsetter in animation.
So… therefore this blog’s focus on featuring just Zack’s four DC films has become too limited imo. Over time I’m going to include essays on all of his films. And the CRPG Zack is designing for the Rebel Moon franchise as well.
Probably the first film I’ll analyze outside of the DC films will be Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. A few months ago I bought the blu ray because I’ve only watched it once. I definitely enjoyed Owls. And I’d like to explore what sorts of meta themes the film possibly comments on with regarding heroism, specifically as it relates to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey.
The Snyderverse 