Over the past few years, DC Studios and its characters, especially Superman, have gone through tremendous changes in order to cater to all their fans. Without a doubt, director Zack Snyder’s work massively contributed to making the franchise popular among a wider audience. However, not everyone was a fan of the dark and serious tone that was featured in the movies.
With Snyder out, DC’s co-CEO James Gunn took over and has been setting up a new DCEU with new actors. So far, things look bad, especially with 2023’s The Flash. Back when the Snyderverse was in full swing, fans also got a movie directed by David Ayer about DC’s Suicide Squad, which was a part of Snyder’s universe, but all that is in the past now. With Gunn working on his next Superman movie, Superman: Legacy, Ayer recently reminisced about the days as he praised Synder’s version of Superman.
David Ayer praised Zack Snyder’s Superman
In a recent Twitter interaction, director David Ayer explained how director Zack Snyder’s version of Superman was perfectly synonymous with the theme of 2013’s Man of Steel. A Twitter user criticized Snyder’s Superman and Ayer then replied,
“Key to Superman IMO is his emotional life. He has to wrestle with this immense capability, but is a very normal human mentally. A farm kid from the Midwest, there’s an innocence to him. Thereby the darkness hunts his innocence. He can be tricked and gaslit. His goodness can be weaponized against him. And that is incredibly dramatic.”
Ayer concluded by saying that these are his opinions and they may change “tomorrow.” Ayer wrote and directed 2016’s The Suicide Squad, which was the third installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
David Ayer asked DC to stop chasing the market
In a recent tweet, Ayer also acknowledged a frequently asked question, “Where Have All the DC Fans Gone?” In response to an article by The Hollywood Reporter, Ayer wrote,
“Easy solve. Let film makers have their vision. Don’t operate from fear. Be daring. Look at what worked. Don’t chase the market,” adding, “DC has always had the best characters in publishing. Dark intense and thoughtful is the brand.”
Certainly, Ayer and Snyder pitched in their own ideas of approaching the characters with a darker and more serious tone, but that didn’t work well with everyone. Ultimately, James Gunn had to take over in order to create the franchise more light-hearted and less intense.
As of now, Gunn’s Superman: Legacy is slated for release in July 2025.
Source: Twitter/X
