In another recent case of the pot calling the kettle black, it seems Zach Snyder has felt the need to weigh in on comments made recently by Steven Spielberg regarding the super-hero genre and its eventual decline, using the opportunity to put down Marvel in general, and ‘Ant-Man‘ in particular. Here’s his comments:
“I feel like he’s right. But I feel like Batman and Superman are transcendent of superhero movies in a way, because they’re Batman and Superman. They’re not just, like, the flavour of the week Ant-Man – not to be mean, but whatever it is. What is the next Blank-Man?”
Considering that Snyder took an “icon” like Superman and created ‘Man of Steel,’ he should be careful about assuming iconic status is enough to save a movie. ‘Man of Steel’ is not the worst superhero movie to come out in recent memory, but it is far from the best, and definitely has a lot of detractors. As for “flavor of the week” ‘Ant-Man,’ does he not understand that making lesser known characters into household names through quality movies is exactly what has made Marvel and the MCU the success it is? Warner Bros has three of the biggest names in comic books (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), and while Batman has been utilized A LOT over the years, he has only had 4 great movies made about him, of the 7 made so far. They have not been able to figure out how to make a good ‘Superman’ movie since the 70s, and have not ever figured out how to a ‘Wonder Woman’ movie.
Point is, icon status means very little. If ‘Batman V Superman’ sucks, it will not be saved by the fact that people know its characters so well (for a great example of this, look at ‘Man of Steel,’ which was crucified in the media for its exhausting fight scenes, out of character actions of Superman, and dark for no reason tone).
If Spielberg proves correct, it will not be Marvel trying out new ideas and heroes that kills the genre, it will be studios like Warner Bros and directors like Snyder using the same heroes over and over again without proper world-building, writing, and action sequences that does it. Here is to hoping Snyder proves me wrong and pulls a fantastic movie out for us next year, as I would love to see Batman and Superman done right. However, based on his track record, I’m just not sure Snyder is the man to do it.
Source: Cinemablend