5 DC Movies Better Than Anything Zack Snyder Made in the DCEU
Zack Snyder came into the DC Universe with his movie Man of Steel, a film that launched the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) at Warner Bros. Every movie Snyder directed received a polarizing response. But they were popular enough to create what one group of fans labeled the Snyderverse, while other fans dismissed them as insulting to the characters they adapted into movies. While Snyder’s first two DCEU movies, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, were box office successes, and his third movie, Justice League, was praised by fans when the Snyder Cut was released, there are at least five more DC movies that are better than anything Snyder directed.
DC had success at the box office long before Marvel ever achieved its first successful theatrical release, and some of those earlier movies remain the standards by which comic book movies were judged for many years. When it comes to the two main heroes that Snyder worked with in the Snyderverse, these five DC movies all did it better.
5) Superman (1978)
While Man of Steel was a good movie, despite changing Superman into a man unsure about himself and a reluctant killer in the end, it doesn’t come close to the best Superman movie ever made. In 1978, Superman came to the big screen for the first time as a big-budget movie, and it was a work of wonderment, and it proved that superheroes could be successful on the big screen. Christopher Reeve was the perfect actor to cast as Superman, and he remains the actor that all Superman actors since have been compared to.
What really makes 1978’s Superman so much better than Snyder’s Man of Steel is that it delivers the exact version of Superman that he was always meant to be in the comics as created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Superman has always been someone who is the best version of humanity. He holds no prejudice, no hate, and no bias. He is someone who sees the good in everyone and fights to save people above all else. This is who Superman is, and that is the hero introduced in this masterful adaptation of the DC Comics hero.
4) Batman Returns (1992)
When Tim Burton took over the mantle of the Batman director, he released a great first outing by taking a chance on casting Michael Keaton as Batman, despite fan protests at the time. He cast Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and while Nicholson was more “Jack Nicholson” than the Joker, he still remains iconic. With all that said, Burton took what made the first film so great and then improved it in every area in Batman Returns. Interestingly, Burton’s movie did what Snyder did with Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and didn’t get the same flak that Snyder did.
Batman killed people in Batman Returns, and while Snyder was dismissed for having Batman kill people, Burton got away with it even though this breaks one of Batman’s biggest rules he lives by. The difference is that Snyder had Batman set out to kill Superman just because Superman is an alien, and the destruction in Metropolis made him believe that Superman didn’t care about the innocent bystanders. Like it or not, that makes Batman the exact same as Lex Luthor, sharing the same bias and prejudice as Superman’s greatest villain. Batman Returns is a great movie, and it is so good that it is able to move past the death scenes because Batman never tries to kill a good person.
3) The Dark Knight (2008)
There are a lot of reasons why Zack Snyder’s Batman is dismissed by fans. Batman killing people without a care is one reason, and his hunting down Superman to kill him just because he’s an alien is another. However, what hurts Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice the most is that it is a bloated movie that should have been split into two different films. Batman fighting Superman should have been in one movie, and Doomsday should have been in the second. As it is, Snyder tried to tell two stories, and neither got the time it deserved.
Christopher Nolan never had that problem. Batman Begins told Batman’s origin story and tied it into Ra’s al Ghul for the climactic battle. The Dark Knight told the Joker’s story and added in Two-Face to make both stories work perfectly together. What really stands out here is that Nolan created a movie that played out as a great crime drama as much as it did as a superhero action movie. The Dark Knight is one of the best comic book movies ever made, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn’t come close.
2) The Batman (2022)
No one knew what it would look like when Matt Reeves stepped into the world of Batman and created a franchise that wasn’t part of the DCEU or the DCU. Instead, Reeves’ Batman movies are set off on their own, and the director did the impossible. He took Robert Pattinson and helped the actor finally put his role in Twilight behind him. No one should have been surprised. Reeves joined the Planet of the Apes reboot and created two of the best movies in the entire franchise.
Reeves has done the same thing with The Batman. The movie does share a little bit in common with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in that it is a bit too long and often feels bloated at times. However, the difference is that The Batman is a much better story. It has Batman in a Gotham City that needs a hero. It allows him to work as the detective that exists in all his best stories, and it offers a deeper message than just a superhero battle. Reeves is just a better storyteller than Snyder.
1) Superman (2025)
While it might be a case of taste, James Gunn’s version of Superman is clearly more faithful to the character that Siegel and Shuster created than anything that Snyder did in the DCEU. Gunn’s Superman is a very close match to Christopher Reeve’s version, with both as heroes who want to do good and save everyone they can. There was one moment in Superman where he fought a giant alien with the Justice Gang, and he even wanted to save the monster.
Zack Snyder’s Superman impaled a bully’s truck with the logs he was transporting for his job. During his fight with General Zod, instead of leading the battle away from innocents, he fought Zod in Metropolis, where people died. He killed Zod because he couldn’t find any other way to beat him. He was going to become a pawn of Darkseid if Snyder had gotten to make his Justice League sequel. It is interesting, but it isn’t who Superman is. James Gunn created the perfect Superman in an entertaining movie, which makes it better than Snyder’s efforts.
What is your favorite Zack Snyder DCEU movie? Let us know your thoughts about the Snyderverse and how it compares to other DC movies in the comments below.
