Regardless of how you feel about his filmography or what you think of the ongoing campaign to have his corner of the DCU resurrected and restored, Zack Snyder seems like a standup guy.
After all, it can’t be a coincidence that so many of his former collaborators have nothing but the highest praise for the filmmaker, with many of them repeatedly stating that he’s nothing but a complete and utter joy to work with. As a result, some SnyderVerse veterans were rightly apprehensive about returning to the superhero sandbox in his absence, with Michael Shannon one of them.
The primary antagonist of Man of Steel returns to the franchise in The Flash – but as he revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair – not only was he initially confused by the concept of the multiversal blockbuster, he wouldn’t do it without Snyder’s blessing after the way he was treated by Warner Bros. during the Justice League debacle.
“I was very upset by what happened to Zack in the Justice League and all that. Didn’t feel right to me. Now I know I probably don’t know all sides to this story, and I should probably just keep my mouth shut, but like I said, I really, really, really love Zack and really appreciated that opportunity.
But then I talked to Andy [Muschietti], who’s also a lovely guy and very, very creative and fun, and, you know, I said, ‘Hey, you know, I would really feel awkward about doing it without Zack’s blessing. So, until I get that, you’re just going to have to wait.’ So I reached out to Zack, and he gave me his blessing and said, ‘It’s okay. You can do it.’ And I appreciate that, and then I said yes.”
Snyder seems perfectly fine with The Flash – even if many of his more dedicated supporters most definitely are not – but he’s got plenty on his plate over at Netflix anyway with Rebel Moon gearing up for release later this year as long-gestating animated series Twilight of the Gods also takes a major step forward.