Warner Bros. Reportedly Regrets Torching Zack Snyder's DC Universe and Battling With Him on Justice League

A Warner Bros. executive expressed regret over battling Zack Snyder on his vision for DC, according to the director.

In a new interview with Variety , Zack Snyder spoke about the implosion of his DC universe, calling it a "low point." The director revealed that a former Warner Bros. executive told Snyder that he was "right about everything" and expressed remorse over battling him on his vision for the DC universe.

"I met with this executive at Warner Bros. who’s long gone since — I won’t say who it was — and he said to me, 'You know, Zack, I’ve got to tell you one thing: You were right about everything.' And I was like, 'That’s kind of you.' And he goes, 'We were fighting you, and in the end you were right.' [...] They did this attempt to control it — and I’m just talking about the regime that was there that’s no longer there.

"They had this massive IP that’s worth a ton, and I can understand wanting to protect it as best they could since all their jobs depended on it working, and they’d put it in the hands of a madman — or so they thought — so the part of them thinking that, and this is going to sound horrible, 'This thing that happened to Zack is a window for us to take the movie back now.'"

Warner Bros. spent years battling with Snyder on his DC universe, as the director wanted to tell darker, more grounded stories that broke the established rules of a lot of these iconic characters. Man of Steel ended with Superman snapping General Zod's neck, Batman v Superman sees Batman killing and branding people, and there were plans to turn Superman into a violent ruler of Earth in future films. Once fans started to respond negatively , WB started to push back and compromise Snyder's vision.

Snyder also noted that he's never seen the theatrical cut of Justice League, which was a Frankenstein-ed version of Snyder's original movie and another version by Joss Whedon. Whedon was brought in to lighten the film's tone, bring it under 2 hours, and also remove a variety of elements, such as the presence of Darkseid, who was seemingly being built up as DC's Thanos .

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Snyder's wife, Deborah Snyder, was a producer on his DC films and saw Whedon's cut ahead of its release. She warned him to never watch it, seemingly realizing that it would break his heart knowing it was no longer his vision. The film was critically panned, bombed at the box office, and for all intents and purposes, killed the DC universe as we knew it then. Although it would hobble along for a few more years, the synergy and cohesion that fans expected was gone, as studio heads tried to find a path forward while talent like Ben Affleck fled.

"I’ve never seen it," said Snyder. "There was a point when the movie was released that was a low point for me because the pile-on effect was so insane. Not only did I lose my daughter, but also they’ve released this version of the movie that I had nothing to do with and my name is on a movie that I didn’t make.

Snyder shot the entire film, but had to step away during post-production after his daughter committed suicide. After years of fan pressure, Snyder was able to eventually finish and release his vision of Justice Leauge, which was four hours long. While it's not for everyone, most fans agree that it is a much better movie than Whedon's cut .

DC was properly rebooted last year with James Gunn's Superman, which was followed up by 2026's Supergirl. Snyder noted he hasn't seen either, deeming his relationship to DC "too personal."

"I haven’t seen the movies," said Snyder. "It’s a little bit too personal for me. Too soon, I guess you could say. I do like James [Gunn]. And I do have an appreciation for his [vision].

Snyder has moved on from superheroes and is gearing up for a proper release of his latest passion project, The Last Photograph. IGN saw the film at TIFF and gave it a 4/10 , slamming it for a lack of substance.

"A film that points at big ideas about image-making without ever moving towards them, Zack Snyder’s passion project The Last Photograph is a languid, plodding revenge saga," reads an excerpt from the review. "Despite trying to frame beauty and brutality side by side, it’s rife with the kind of ugliness it isn’t ready to confront, rooted in dimensionless characters who are too similarly stoic to make for a meaningful or engaging journey."

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.