Zack Snyder’s Watchmen was a bold experiment in superhero cinema upon its release in 2009, and according to Christopher Nolan, the movie was simply innovative! While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Oppenheimer director praised Snyder and said:
I’ve always believed Watchmen was ahead of its time. The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn’t yet a thing in movies. It would have been fascinating to see it released post-Avengers.
With this comment, Nolan conveys that Snyder’s approach to superhero storytelling might have been more well-received and resonated with a larger audience if Watchmen had come out after the Avengers were already on the scene. He says so because the MCU heroes brought a mainstream superhero boom that would’ve made viewers more appreciative of Snyder’s vision.
Now, let’s look at what else Nolan has to say about Snyder’s presence in the genre and why Watchmen was a visionary movie!
Christopher Nolan Recognizes Zack Snyder’s Impact on Superhero Films
Christopher Nolan’s admiration for Zack Snyder goes beyond Watchmen. Nolan previously collaborated with Snyder on Man of Steel, producing and contributing to the story. So, as a fellow creative in the space and his collaborator, Nolan’s words hold weight, and here’s what he said about his contemporary while speaking to The Atlantic
There’s no superhero science-fiction film coming out these days where I don’t see some influence of Zack. When you watch a Zack Snyder film, you see and feel his love for the potential of cinema. The potential of it to be fantastical, to be heightened in its reality, but to move you and to excite you
Even though the DCEU did not fully thrive with Snyder at its helm, the filmmaker left a significant mark on superhero films. He brought a darker and grittier aesthetic to the genre with muted color palettes, and his characters tackled complex themes of morality and human nature.
The fan-driven movement where people demanded the Snyder Cut of Justice League was perhaps one of his most revolutionary achievements because it proved that passionate fan communities can indeed influence studios’ decisions. Since then, the way production houses approach superhero franchises has changed for the better.
Zack Snyder’s Watchmen Was Ahead of the Curve in the Superhero Genre
Watchmen is an underrated film that dared to imagine the superhero team concept long before the Avengers assembled on screen! Zack Snyder treated his superheroes not as flawless icons but as flawed and morally ambiguous beings.
Here’s an overview of Watchmen:
Moreover, Snyder’s faithfulness to the source material and preserving the graphic novel’s weight set a new standard for adaptations. So, what do you think about his impact on superhero cinema? Are you and Christopher Nolan on the same page when it comes to Snyder’s influence on the genre?
You can watch Watchmen on HBO Max (USA).
