Before James Gunn, Zack Snyder’s DC tenure was on the horizon with several exciting versions of cool characters in the mix at DC Studios. Of course, his DC tenure is over and Warner Brothers or James Gunn is very unlikely to bring him back for a project as his style was very different. Still, the director has produced one of the most memorable versions of DC’s fan favorite Superman played by Henry Cavill. But beyond his Superman project, one DC film from the director has been a classic, and the movie was praised by none other than Christopher Nolan. As most DC fans would guess, the movie in talks here is Watchmen.
Christopher Nolan Hailed Zack Snyder’s Watchmen
Billy Crudup in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen. Image Credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Christopher Nolan who also has his astounding DC credit for directing one of the most acclaimed and memorable DC trilogies of all time, The Dark Knight Trilogy, has previously hailed the Zack Snyder-directed Watchmen. “I’ve always believed Watchmen was ahead of its time,” Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter via email. “The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn’t yet a thing in movies. It would have been fascinating to see it released post-Avengers,” the Oscar winner added.
Of course, it would be nothing but languish for many devout fans of Watchmen when critical reception comes into the picture. Is Watchmen underrated? We have every reason to think so, and so would every DC fan. No one can blame them for their mild revolt against the 65% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics.
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Understandably, Watchmen is dark, gritty, and terrifying but in Snyder’s defense, it was the first attempt at the project that was deemed unfilmable by many directors in Hollywood since the 1980s. Based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1986 seminal graphic novels of the same name, what Snyder did with the project was unthinkable while the filmmakers including Terry Gilliam and Darren Aronofsky have reportedly made failed attempts. Nolan’s comment on the movie is justified, Watchmen is undoubtedly one of the best movies ever made by Snyder which before him was just a dream for several filmmakers.
Zack Snyder Once Hinted Watchmen Was Darker Than Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins
Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson in Watchmen. Image Credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Christopher Nolan’s take on The Dark Knight trilogy has been a massive influence on pop culture but the narratives were also dubbed as too dark by many. Obviously, it was the demand of the vision of the director but when Watchmen came out in 2009, fans got another treat of darkness in a superhero movie. It was chaos all around, gritty mysticism haunting every way to look at it but one can’t close their eyes as every frame a meticulously designed by Snyder.
Now, as far as the darkness in the movie is concerned, the Man of Steel director believed Watchmen was even darker than Nolan’s Batman Begins, the first installment of his DC trilogy. “Everyone says that about Batman Begins,” Snyder once told Entertainment Weekly. “‘Batman’s dark.’ I’m like, okay, ‘No, Batman’s cool.’ He gets to go to a Tibetan monastery and be trained by ninjas. Okay? I want to do that. But he doesn’t, like, get r–ped in prison. That could happen in my movie. If you want to talk about dark, that’s how that would go. I believe that pop culture is just, like, so ready for Watchmen.”
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Of course, Snyder who recently directed Rebel Moon movies for Netflix that did not impress critics as it was expected, has envisioned the heroes in Watchmen like it was the perfect hammering on the nail. The movie was also visually stunning with the classic retro vibe complementing the essence of the narrative. But the character arc, as Nolan hailed the movie, was a stunning sight to witness throughout the runtime.
Stream Watchmen and The Dark Knight trilogy on Max.
