Zack Snyder: Visionary Or Hack?

Tone

It’s clear that Snyder’s a fan of the grey crayons. His projects tend to be dark and gritty affairs with little room for humor – bar 2004’s Dawn of the Dead. According to reports, though, Justice League is set to be a major departure as hope, optimism and lighter colors take center stage. The question is, how will he handle this new direction?

Much like Christopher Nolan, Snyder thrives in dark cinematic worlds. While he has shouldered most of the blame for the DCEU’s grim tone, it’s actually the studio’s fault for hiring him in the first place. It’s not like they didn’t know what he was famed for before they handed him the keys to the kingdom. It’s the equivalent of hiring Kevin James to star in a World War II drama, and then wondering where it all went wrong.

Risk-Taking

From Superman snapping Zod’s neck to Batman’s killing spree, Snyder invites controversy. After the storm surrounding Man of Steel‘s ending, he could’ve easily taken the safe road and delivered a more true-to-the-comic adaptation, but he didn’t. He takes big risks, and this pisses off a lot of people due to the treatment of the source material and characters.

Frankly, I think his risk-taking should be applauded as it shows guts to try to make a character your own. Much like a cover version of a song, we don’t want to hear the exact same song played exactly the same way by someone else – we want something fresh and new. Sure, his choices have been hit and miss at times, but isn’t all good art supposed to be divisive?