Zack Snyder, director of such films as 300, Watchmen, and his most recent movie Army of the Dead, remains a controversial figure among fans and critics alike. For some, his distinct directorial style and ambitious stories make him a modern day auteur, while others take issue with his handling of the DC Extended Universe.
Snyder has been practically synonymous with DC Comics’ film adaptations since 2013, when he brought his trademark style to Superman in Man of Steel. And while the movie’s cast and action scenes were typically well-received, many fans weren’t fond of the director’s take on Clark Kent himself, played by Henry Cavill — instead of a warm, selfless beacon of hope, Snyder’s Kal-El is a moody, emotionally distant outsider. Yet despite this common criticism, Superman’s characterization remained unchanged in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
More recently, however, Snyder’s take on Superman has received better press thanks to the recent release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League — known colloquially as simply the Snyder Cut — on HBO Max. Despite his minimal screen time compared to his teammates, Superman left a much more positive impact on audiences in the Snyder Cut, showing a much more confident and kindhearted personality than in previous films.
It’s easy to look at the Snyder Cut and think that Snyder has finally come around to giving fans the classic Superman they wanted from the start. However, there’s more to the story than that. One of the final scenes of the film depicts a flash-forward to a future where Batman leads a ragtag band of heroes and villains against a tyrannical, murderous Superman, reminiscent of the plot of the Injustice video games. If Snyder wanted to emphasize Clark Kent’s heroic nature in this film, then why does he end it with a look at a future where the Man of Steel has turned evil?
Snyder’s original plan was to create a trilogy of Justice League movies, centered around the titular heroes fighting against the cosmic conqueror Darkseid and his forces from the planet Apokolips. In the director’s second film for the trilogy, he intended to kill off Lois Lane, breaking Superman’s spirit and leaving him open to Darkseid’s mind control. That’s right, the evil Superman in the Snyder Cut is meant to be a brainwashed servant of Apokolips.
In this outline for Snyder’s trilogy, Batman would have sacrificed his life to break Darkseid’s control over Superman, allowing the Man of Tomorrow to unite Earth’s heroes and save the world from Darkseid’s tyranny. “Superman has the hugest arc of everybody because he goes from like the main villain to like the main hero,” Snyder said of Clark’s planned character development in an interview with Esquire. “Superman is one of those characters that people don't see as changing a lot… and I just thought, how cool would it be to make our Superman the character that goes on the most incredible journey."
Giving Superman a dynamic character arc sounds all well and good on paper, but if this was how Snyder planned to do it, it may be for the best that his vision for a Justice League trilogy won’t be coming to pass. From the sound of it, Clark doesn’t actually go through that much personal growth throughout the trilogy: he’s simply brainwashed, and then he isn’t. The only change in him comes as a result of external forces, while Kal-El himself remains stagnant — ironic, considering that’s the sort of characterization Snyder stated he wanted to avoid. And more importantly, it means that Superman goes through an entire movie as a mindless thrall of Darkseid, just as he’s starting to finally act heroic. In effect, Snyder’s planned trilogy only features one film of Superman acting like Superman. Is that really the best way to give Clark a character arc?
Needless to say, the late Richard Donner went in a very different direction for the story of his 1978 Superman film. And while Superman’s development in that movie may be subtle, it’s very much present. When he first becomes Superman, Clark is still haunted by the death of his human father Jonathan Kent, who believed that Clark was sent to Earth for a reason. Later, when Superman fails to save Lois from an earthquake caused by Lex Luthor, he becomes heartbroken, devastated that he once again failed to save a loved one. However, Clark refuses to give up. Remembering Pa Kent’s words, Superman embraces his destiny as humanity’s protector, overcomes his fear and doubt, and dares to turn back time to save Lois. Clark knows that he can’t always save everyone, but he doesn’t let that stop him from trying.
Even the “what if Superman became a tyrant” character arc has been done well before, while still remaining true to the character. In the 2003 comic miniseries Superman: Red Son — adapted into an animated movie in 2020 — writer Mark Millar depicts an alternate timeline where Kal-El’s rocket landed in the Soviet Union. Superman grows up into a dictator, and despite his totalitarian methods, he still manages to create a peaceful and prosperous society that spans most of the world. The Superman of Red Son becomes a tyrant not because of any mind control or trauma or desire for power, but simply because he wants to make the world a better, safer place for everyone, just like Superman always does. But in the end, Superman realizes that his desire to protect humanity has made him too controlling, and so he leaves Earth to let the humans create their own future.
However, while Superman has been given compelling character arcs before, that doesn’t mean that he needs personal growth to be interesting. In fact, some of Superman’s most beloved stories aren’t about Clark experiencing internal change, but reacting to external change. All-Star Superman by writer Grant Morrison is a perfect example — the comic begins when Superman learns that he’s dying, and the rest of the story explores how the Man of Steel spends his final days. Another fan-favorite story is the animated film Superman vs. The Elite, in which Clark is forced to defend his old-fashioned, optimistic morality when a group of violent, authoritarian anti-heroes begins to gain public favor.
Some of Superman’s most beloved stories are all about Kal-El proving the worth of his ideals against impossible odds — not becoming a different person, but fighting to remain the hero he already is. The Captain America film trilogy even found success by giving Steve Rogers a similar arc in each movie. By contrast, Zack Snyder seems to take the opposite approach. Instead of taking a fully-realized Superman and presenting him with challenges he must overcome to prove himself, Snyder depicts an incomplete Superman who is constantly faced with obstacles that prevent him from becoming the hero he’s meant to be.
Whether it’s his overprotective parents, his own self-doubt, Darkseid’s brainwashing, or even death itself, Snyder keeps bombarding Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent with things preventing him from reaching his full potential as a hero. Some of the greatest Superman stories of all time have proved that the Man of Steel can be a selfless, unchanging paragon hero while still going through an engaging character arc. Meanwhile, Zack Snyder seems to believe that the only way to give Superman a character arc is to keep him from being the Superman fans love.