Among all the grueling action flicks he has tamed to date, perhaps the one genre Zack Snyder continues to be best known for is the superhero one. Famous for closely collaborating with the DC Universe to deliver fan-favorite masterpieces like Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel and ZSJL, the filmmaker has fairly cemented his position in the super-verse.
Yet, when it comes to Snyder’s own preferences for the pieces helmed by him that he is proud of, his choices lie on the lesser-appreciated projects of his career. Surprisingly enough, it’s not Cavill’s flick from 2013 that the visionary is most proud of, but rather, his other comic-book-based movie from 2009 that barely managed to make any profits at the box office: Watchmen.
Zack Snyder Confesses He’s Most Proud of Watchmen
It has been around two decades and multiple fan-favorite projects (as well as some pretty blatantly boring disasters) since Zack Snyder decided to make his splash in the entertainment industry with his feature film debut in 2004. And yet, the filmmaker still hasn’t found a better superhero flick that he is more proud of than Watchmen (2009).
This confession came during a recent interview with ComicBook where the 300 director was asked which of his comic book movies he’s most proud of. Snyder answered:
I would have to say Watchmen, probably for me, just like the process of adaptation from comic book to movie design, all the things as we went from comic books to movie.
Of course, this is surprising to many because the most expected answer among fans might as well have been something along the lines of Henry Cavill‘s 2013 masterpiece Man of Steel.
However, there’s a very good reasoning behind the visionary’s response: Snyder simply hasn’t seen a more satisfying transition to adapted material than in his 2009 film.
As the Rebel Moon director continued to admit during the same interview while defending and justifying his choice:
I think Watchmen is like the cleanest, and kind of most satisfying, transition to adapted material.
An R-rated action/sci-fi piece, the Jeffrey Dean Morgan starrer from the late 2000s was met with somewhat positive reviews – a current 65% critical and 71% audience score on RT – and could barely turn profits from its box office performance as it made $186.9 million on a budget of $138 million (via The Numbers).
But Snyder’s defense can’t be denied either; the 2009 flick did have a rather clean transition from a comic book plot to a live-action piece. Plus, if further justification is required, then there’s Hollywood’s very own mastermind behind the ultra-famous Dark Knight Trilogy who himself landed his seal of approval on this movie.
Christopher Nolan Feels Watchmen Was “Ahead of its Time”
Although the film’s box office performance as well as critical and general reviews weren’t good enough to deem it Snyder’s best work, on the positive side, it still ended up winning a rather powerful ally: Christopher Nolan. As it turns out, even the genius brain behind Oppenheimer couldn’t deny the piece’s brilliance and felt it should have been released after films like The Avengers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder’s “only close director friend” offered his perspective on the same in an email that 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.
To put it in a nutshell, it seems like two of the most respectable visionaries in Hollywood deem Snyder’s 2009 superhero movie a truly clever yet critically underrated project – perhaps even better than Cavill’s dark take on the Blue Boy Scout from 2013!
Watchmen (2009) can currently be watched on Prime Video.
