A Look at zack Snyder Wants to Return to DC for a Batman Solo Movie (& He Knows Which One)
Although James Gunn’s DCU has been fairly successful so far, with Superman proving to be very popular last summer and the ongoing DCU show Lanterns getting a positive response, especially with the most recent episode, there’s no question that the DC fanbase remains a divided one, as arguments continue to erupt online regarding whose approach to DC is better, Gunn’s or Zack Snyder‘s. Fans of the DC movies that Snyder put out, commonly referred to as the Snyderverse, are adamant that Gunn’s DCU has so far paled in comparison, and many continue to hope that Snyder will at some point make his return. Unfortunately for Snyder fans, that has seemed very much off the table over the last few years. Gunn’s DCU seems full steam ahead, and recent comments from Gal Gadot along with myriad other updates have strongly suggested that Gunn’s vision is the future of DC movies and shows.
Be that as it may, there are apparently other ways that Snyder could return to DC and make new movies beyond rebooting the Snyderverse or battling it out with Gunn for control of the DCU, both of which are possibilities that some Snyder fans seem open to. Rather, Snyder has just surprised DC fans with the confirmation that he would be willing to return with a standalone Batman movie that falls outside of the DCU. In addition to it seeming more than possible for that to work without disrupting any continuity—after all, The Batman: Part II remains well underway—Snyder has a pitch for a very specific movie that might actually make a lot of sense, especially right now (and Snyder has made that abundantly clear).
Snyder Wants To Make The Dark Knight Returns—And He Has a Defense for Now Being the Time
Per Variety, Snyder has a very specific Batman project in mind for his standalone film: The Dark Knight Returns. He explained, “The reason why it’s The Dark Knight Returns, if anyone would ever let me do it outside of the DC Universe since it’s a novel that just happens to have superheroes in it, is if I could do Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. Those two books next to each other, to me, represent the complete cycle of the superhero comic book medium. You can do no more than those two books.”
However, his explanation for this might prove to be somewhat divisive, as he went on to say, “Watchmen came at the beginning of the superhero movie phase, so it would be super fitting to have The Dark Knight Returns come now, at what I would say is possibly—I don’t want to call it the twilight, but we’re down the road of the superhero movie genre, and I think audiences would understand the why of it. Let’s not forget: The Dark Knight Returns was written for a comic book audience that was very exhausted by comic books in the same way that Watchmen was, so having that movie written now for people who are exhausted by comic book movies would be a good time.”
For some, Snyder’s words will likely ring true. There has certainly been plenty of chatter about “superhero fatigue” in recent years, and this explanation suggests that Snyder believes that to be a problem. Of course, on the other hand, 2026 has raised some questions about how legitimate a problem that is, considering Spider-Man: Brand New Day smashed just about every record it could at the box office. Even so, the pitch that Snyder has makes sense especially as a way for him to return now and, perhaps, to take advantage of audiences who are tired of the comic book movie genre. Whether or not this will actually happen is another question, though.
