Zack Snyder Addresses BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE Rumors and His Role in the DC Extended Universe

Today, it was announced that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder is teaming up with Doritos for its final “Crash the Superbowl” campaign, set for the next Super Bowl. The goal is for filmmakers to create their own 30 second ad, and this year, the winner will collaborate with Snyder on the set of a DC movie.

To discuss this announcement, Snyder spoke with Yahoo!, and of course, the topic of Batman v Superman and the DC Extended Universe came up. Recently, the great Steven Spielberg recently suggested that superhero movies will eventually die out, like the Western genre. What does Snyder, a key driving force in a big superhero mega-franchise, have to say about this? “He might not be wrong. I think it puts more pressure on us, the filmmakers, to not just crank out superhero movies for the sake of it. To me, the one thing I love working in the DC universe is that Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman are American mythology. It’s not about making a superhero, it’s a mythological universe that we live in. That I hope stands the test of time. They stood the test of time. That’s hopefully the sort of magic bullet. But who knows what audiences will want in the future.” He adds, “To me it’s about the drama, the humanity of it. Those are like Shakespearean characters, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, they have inherent drama built into their makeup.”

One concern about Batman v Superman from fans is that the film will be too stuffed with DC characters, in its attempt to set up Justice League. Snyder assures, “I try and stay central. There’s something really fun about bringing the other characters in, but it’s really about staying central to the real core mythology is what I think the audience enjoys most.” As for his exact role in the DCEU, Snyder reaffirms that he will direct the two-part Justice League after his work on Dawn of Justice. He is also producing the rest of the DC movies, such as Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Aquaman. “I’m staying with Batman V Superman and Justice League and Justice League 2 — those are my main responsibilities, as well as producing the other movies. That’s the main line. Once you get Justice League, you’re pretty deep in it. But like I was saying, not to be a selfless promoter of our program, what it shows is that we have this giant berth of opportunity with the DC movies now to I think find the opportunities for even young filmmakers to even get involved because there are so many projects.”

Finally, Snyder addressed the countless rumors surrounding Batman v Superman. For a film of this scale, it shouldn’t be surprising that there would be so many rumors and speculative reports. Snyder comments on the validity of these rumors, as well as the lengths some of them would go to make them seem legitimate. “There are so many, it’s insanity. It’s funny because every now and then someone will touch on something that’s kind of true, but the next thing they say makes me realize that they took a wild guess. They’ll say something and I’ll say “Oh snap, they must have seen the script.” And then they’ll say, “And this happens!” And then I’ll go, They have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s fun for everyone to speculate and take shots and think of things and try to sell it. There’s an industry in selling your guess. [People think], “I’m going to make a fake script and look like I read the real one.” What length are you willing to go?”

Snyder takes the opportunity to deny one rumor. It was recently reported that the director’s son, Eli Snyder, would play Robin in Batman v Superman, presumably for one or more flashback sequences. However, Zack says that that is not true. “There’s a rumor that my son is [playing] Robin. It’s not true. Now there are all these images of him that people have made where he’s dressed like Robin. It’s fun to hear and see them.” Of course, many actors and directors over the years have attempted to debunk rumors such as this, only for the rumors to end up being true once the movie releases. This may or may not be one of those scenarios; we just have to wait until the movie comes out.

For more from Snyder and more details on the “Crash the Superbowl” campaign, click the link above.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is scheduled to hit theaters March 25th, 2016. The second installment in the DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter and Gal Gadot. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio and David S Goyer.