Will Zack Snyder Learn From Batman v Superman?

Is Zack Snyder capable of realizing what can be improved from Batman v Superman?

I would think even the most ardent fan of Batman v Superman would admit the film has some problems that can be learned from and improved upon for the pending release of the upcoming Justice League film.

Asking if Zach Snyder is capable of learning from the mistakes that Batman v Superman made is a fair question that a lot of DC fans are asking.  Snyder seemed to have had an unexpected amount of control over Batman v Superman and because of that a lot of the blame for its reception rests on his shoulders.

Snyder made many creative mistakes with both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. Perhaps the most glaring mistake was found not in Batman v Superman but Man of Steel. The history of Superman is one that predates Snyder’s “vison” by many decades and is something that the majority of DC fans do not want to see changed. Snyder made the creative choice to have his Superman appear dark and menacing and in the end snap someone’s neck. Okay I get it he had no choice he did it to save the human race and so on…    Yes most of that is true but the director and the script made the decision to make Clark Kent as dark as Batman and set up that scene in the first place. Superman is supposed to be the boy scout a hero above killing the worst of villains. Snyder’s creative choices in portraying him should have been our first clue that the DC universe is in trouble.

Fast forward several years and Batman v Superman may be the biggest box office disappointment of any super hero film in the last few years. While it made a lot of money opening weekend it came nowhere close to meeting expectations and may have lost its audience. While its always nice to please the critics they are much more difficult to please oftentimes then the fans leaving a little leeway for judging a film based solely on its reviews. In this case it fell short both for critics and for the fans leaving a lot of questions about Snyder’s creative choices.

Was Batman v Superman’s failures the wake up call that Zach Snyder needed?  The recent creative differences reported along with the fact that Affleck was given more control over the the film points to the fact that Snyder still has not learned. It seems that when you are met by failure its time to try something new. After all insanity is “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  While I still hold out hope that the DC film universe can right itself I have my doubts that Snyder will ever be able to learn from his mistakes.

A lot has been made of an older interview with Snyder in which he said the following:

“You could call it “high-brow” comics, but to me, that comic book was just pretty sexy! I had a buddy who tried getting me into “normal” comic books, but I was all like, “No one is having sex or killing each other. This isn’t really doing it for me.” I was a little broken, that way. So when Watchmen came along, I was, “This is more my scene.”

This single quote may sum up what is pulling DC films down right now. Snyder seems to have a very odd fascination for movies full of sex and over the top violence. While there are comic book films that might be perfectly suited for this (Sin City, The Boys); Superhero films are generally about heroes that are likable and are actual heroes…   Snyder’s versions of Batman and Superman relate Snyder’s feelings toward comic book movies, although gladly he was limited to keeping it under an R rating. While there are some obvious exceptions to this rule (Deadpool) often super hero flicks are reliant on being able to attract a highly varied audience. What Snyder seems to fail to grasp is that this audience will include a lot of young viewers, many of whom their were reports of leaving theaters crying after seeing Batman v Superman. Which might be fine if it wasn’t marketed towards children. But the toys and cereals and other marketing tie-ins say otherwise.

Snyder’s inability to understand this as well as his seeming fascination with making dark characters darker and movies that are full of sex and gore do not bode well for future DC films. While there is a place for darker and more serious super hero films Man of Steel was not one of those, add in Batman v Superman’s failures and  it shows how out of touch Snyder truly is with his audience.

While I was hopeful that Snyder would learn from these mistakes the recent rumors of Snyder and the higher ups having “creative differences” seems to end these hopes all together. Snyder has shown a continued lack of understanding both of the characters he is trying to portray as well as being almost oblivious to his audience. Neither of these things will change as long as Snyder is given continued power over the DCEU.