Whether anyone wants to admit it, the rivalry between the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in full swing, and has been for some time. Anthony Mackie tore into Man of Steel. Zack Snyder said that Ant-Man was a “flavor of the week”.
In an interview with FilmInk, Snyder was asked of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice was going to ignite a rivalry between DC and Marvel (and I would argue, ignited months ago already). Snyder had this to say:
“I have a great interest in the movies that they’re making, and I have nothing bad to say about those movies. But I will say that Warner allow for these amazingly open movies that allow a giant audience. But they’re very careful, they age the movies with the people that are watching them very carefully, in a very interesting and thought out way, but they’re also very filmmaker driven. You can’t imagine those films being made by these very strong filmmakers without a sense of respect and kindness. They say, ‘We hired you to go and make something cool, so show us what that is.’ I don’t know what the Marvel process is. They have their own way of doing things. But I know what happens at Warner, and I feel like the great work that they’ve done here has been based on that philosophy. That will end up being the thing maybe for me which is most rewarding as a filmmaker. They allowed for this unexpected journey for the film, because I was just allowed to make it cool.”
It sounds like Snyder is saying he enjoyed some freedom while making his two DC films. Depending on how you read it, you can say Snyder is just thanking the studio that has allowed him to make these giant movies, but you can also maybe read that he’s shining a light on the perception that Marvel is too controlling of their creative. There are a few stories.
Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice opens March 25th.