This blog was made in collaboration with @Nerevarine_11, who came up with the title, helped with the blog, and helped create/find a lot of the images featured on here.

Zachary Edward Snyder. One of the most controversial, reputable, and relevant individuals in both the movie and comic industry. Mere mention of his name could turn well meaning threads with thoughtful discussion, into testerone-fueled flame wars and petty name-calling. He is a person that many regard as the primary reason the DCEU failed. Some look at him as a hero, some look it him as a hack, some look at him as a menace, but one aspect that's primarily agreed upon is that his involvement has hindered the DCEU severely in both the box office and on aggregate review sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, with movies like Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman suffering massive drops in their second weekend, and Man of Steel performing below WB's expectations. This blog is an indepth critical analysis of Snyder, his movies, and his vision for the DCEU, and why a lot of us personally think Snyder is the one to blame.

Man of Steel

First off, is the DCEU's very first entry, and easily it's most controversial and divisive. Man of Steel saw a darker, edgier Superman with a more sci-fi, biblical tone, ditching the character's longstanding roots to cater to a new generation of movie-goers and fans. This led to an uproar in a lot of comic-related sites, criticizing Snyder for "Watchmenizing" one of the most moral and heroic superheroes around. It's no secret that I regard this movie as the worst DCEU film by far, constantly bashing it in PMs and threads in an almost daily basis. I don't think I've ever hated and despised a movie as much as I did with Man of Steel, despite heavily disliking Snyder's movies for a decade ever since I saw his very first movie Dawn of The Dead. Man of Steel might not be as objectively bad as say, Superman IV: A Quest for Peace or Superman III, but it has something that neither movie has: A complete and utter lack of understanding between the creative team onboard the film and the actual source material.

The biggest problem I have with Man of Steel, is Superman himself. He's an alien, an outcast who wants to assimilate into humanity. He may have bulletproof skin, he may be able to leap great distances, fly faster than light and face off against super powered baddies that can rip mountains in half, but if anything, Superman's humanity is his most endearing aspect. He was sent to a planet to become a helping hand to Earth's inhabitants, to strive to become the best he can be, to protect the innocent, and to instill positivity to even the most savage of criminals or the most violent of anti-heroes.

Superman isn't a god, he isn't Jesus Christ, or some sort of higher being. He's not perfect, he doesn't always make the right choice, but he TRIES to and succeeds due to his will and determination. Even with his enormous responsibility resting on his shoulders, he still finds time to be with his family, his friends, and to help anyone in need. He makes the CHOICE to be good, even when not pressured to do so, and he doesn't sulk in defeat when things don't go his way. Superman represents the best of our ideals and our hopes, even in a world just as ripe with ISIS supporters, criminals, murderers, rapists and extremists as the world we live in.

He wasn't born a hero, he became one. That's sadly not the case with this guy over here:

Clark was adopted by two, fiercely moral and good-willed parents, who guided him in his path to becoming one of the most influential superheroes of all time. This Clark, however, doesn't even learn about morality from his parents, he just randomy wants to help people from the very beginning. Johnathan Kent was playing him up as some sort of messiah that should help others, yet when he saves the kids from drowning he tells him that he should've let them die. How is this anything like the Kents from the comics? Not only is he a hypocrite, he threats his son like an object that's going to change the world rather then actually encouraging his son to help others, and when Clark actually does help people, he scolds him for it? How does that make any sense? Why does Clark want to help people when his dad was selfish and hypocritical, when his parents didn't even help him become the man he is like the comic incarnations did? Not only is MoS Clark a flawed, shitty interpretation of a longstanding character, his reasons for being a superhero come out of nowhere, and his father is completely ruined in this movie, just as much as Clark was.

Clark and his nearly constant out of character antics completely ruin his integrity and clashes with the very meaning of the character. Not only is Superman directly responsible for the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people, he lets his father die, he kills Zod when he didn't have to, and makes out with Lois in the middle of a massive goddamn battle with people dying EVERYWHERE. What the hell? At least the Avengers took the alien invasion from the first Avengers seriously and THEN celebrated afterwards with the sharwama scene. He may have been born a hero, but he's nowhere near as moral as the real Superman.

MoS Supes is literally about as emotional as a bag of cheetos from Walmart, despite him having a pretty decent life. Not only is he shallow and egregiously "edgy", he doesn't even embody any of the essense the real Superman had, so much so even famous comic writers like Mark Waid and Geoff Johns viciously attacked the movie after release. Man of Steel is a prime example of Hollywood's bastardization complex, to make everything "relevant" and "cool" at the expense of the source material and movie. It's fake and it's disingenuous, especially when Snyder already admitted he didn't like "regular" superheroes like Superman and Batman and preferred characters like Rorschach and Mr Manhattan. MoS's Superman is a significantly edgier version of New 52 Superman, which is one of the least-liked Superman incarnations ever. Snyder shouldn't have come anywhere near this movie. His overly edgy pseudo-intellectualism simply doesn't fit Superman at all.

Speaking of pseudo-intellectualism, I've got to talk about all the bible imagery in this movie. It completely misses the mark and is downright laughable. If I had a penny for every Jesus reference in this film I'd be richer than Trump. Superman IS NOT A HIGHER BEING. Superman is about as human as everyone else, regardless of his origin. He has successfully guided humanity and himself, not by acting above everyone else, but by working alongside them. Did anyone who worked on the movie even touch a Superman comic in their life? Is Snyder, Goyer, and the rest of the DCEU creative team really THAT clueless?

^ This comment hits the nail in the head. Snyder completely dropped the ball when it came to all the religious undertones in Man of Steel. It's so insultingly poorly done it's almost shocking. At least Marvel makes comic book movies without having to use condescending BS to make the movie look smarter than it actually is.

The villains, oh god are they bad. They could have just terraformed Mars. They didn't have to be dicks and go after Earth. Also, don't use that all too common "omg other CBM movies suffer from the same problem" so what? Just because 1 or 2 other CBMs suffer from the same problem that doesn't excuse MoS having that same exact flaw, coupled with at least a billion other ones.

The cast is underutilised, the dialogue is poor, the villains are idiots, the cinematography is garbage, the characters are grossly out of character, the fight scenes feel fake and weightless, the action is drawn-out and poorly chorographed, the script is probably written by a mentally challenged 12 year old with next to no knowledge on the character, the symbolism is laughable and the film just plainly fails in every single aspect imaginable. At least BvS had okay cinematography. What does MoS have? A good score? That's it?

Give me one positive that isn't subjective. The film is horrificly bad and it deserves to get called out. 1/10.

Maybe if you like seeing two dudes in tights smashing into buildings for 45 minutes, then yeah, maybe you might like the movie, but personally, I fail to see how this movie is anything above god-awful.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Oh lord, where do we begin. The nonsensical plotholes? The bullshit character development? The cringe inducing dialogue? The awful fight scenes? The terrible cast? The constant dream sequences? Batman being a psychopathic murderer? Alexander Luthor being a complete moron? Snyder using both The Death of Superman arc AND The Dark Knight Returns, two of the best comics of all time, and ruining BOTH, in the same movie!? Snyder killing off Superman despite Nolan telling him not to kill him off so freaking early in the DCEU? All the garbage Justice League setup BS that Suicide Squad also suffered from? So many flaws, most of them carried over from the previous movie.

Batman v Superman's biggest problem, is again, character. Superman is an even bigger edge-lord than he was in MoS. He tells Lois that he doesn't know if he should be a superhero anymore. That's complete bullshit. Just because a couple of people dislike you you're going to give up saving people? Bug off. Also, more shitty "OMG IM A GOD" imagery:

Not only is Superman a complete emo moron in this movie YET AGAIN, he almost kills the criminal when saving Lois near the beginning of the film for no reason. Couldn't you have neutralized him in a less violent and dangerous manner? Not only that, he straight up charges Batman through a building in their brief tussle instead of actually telling him that his mum was in danger later on in the movie. Jesus freaking christ.

Also, screw what Martha said, Clark DOES owe the world. He's still partially responsible for the damage caused at the end of MoS, where he directly killed thousands if not millions of people due to his recklessness. Also, stop with the depressed Superman crap. Superman is supposed to be a positive figure, not an emotional teenager.

The fight wasn't even a fight even, it was just a brief part of the movie where they talk and push each other around for a bit. What's the point of even having them fight if it's going to be so crappily choregraphed and paced? Did I mention all the plot-holes? Also, lol at Jimmy Olsen using a 35mm camera. No reasonable photographer uses that shit anymore.

And here comes the second worst character portrayal in the entire movie. Batman isn't supposed to kill or use lethal weapons. He's supposed to instill fear against villains who can't be redeemed, to fight for justice in a city so corrupt and vile that even the most sane men can be driven to insanity. He doesn't have the enormous power of Superman or the willpower of a Lantern, but that still doesn't stop him from trying, even when he fails. He's fought criminals, superhumans and tangled against gods yet still survives everytime. Batman is a tragic tale of a man who lost his parents, his loved ones, yet continues to strive against all odds, even when everything is stacked against him.

Batman is a complete dumbass in this film, going after Superman because of the destruction his fight with Zod caused at the of Man of Steel, despite Superman saving a lot of lives after MoS (well, mostly) and Zod being the REAL reason why the battle even happened. Could Superman have tried harder to save lives in that fight? Yes. Could Superman have minimized the damage caused? I believe so, but for the love god that's the stupidest freaking reason to go after someone. It's only (partially) Superman's fault, and he shouldn't be killed for it.

And no, Batman DOES NOT kill. I'm tired of people defending Batfleck's murder spreeing. Batman made a vow not to kill. It's his one rule. We don't see him explain why he kills or why he's the way he is, and most of his rogue gallery would be completely dead if Batman actually wanted to kill them. It's pathetic and it's dumb. Heck, Harley Quinn was an accomplice in killing Robin and he still spared her in Suicide Squad?! What the hell? Nothing legitimately makes sense in this movie.

Batman doesn't use death as a weapon, he uses fear. Unlike Superman, Batman doesn't strive to be human, he wants to be a symbol of fear and retribution, not a symbol of positivity. It's the only way for him to psychologically affect criminals in such a chaotic, high-death rate city, especially when he has no powers to guarantee his survival. Batfleck is an edgy, murderous and hypocritical psychopath in a bat suit with no sense of morality.

Even if Batfleck wasn't a hypocritical murderious POS, I'd rather see a version similar to the Batman Arkham games instead of The Dark Knight Returns, especially in a cinematic universe that's going to supposedly last for 10 or so years. Why butcher such a popular story arc in Batman's first appearance and in only the second DCEU film? Why not save The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman for later, separate solo movies? Ben Affleck's performance is okay I guess, but nothing special. I'd prefer another, younger, more Batman-like actor to take the cowl instead of him.

This is what a solo Batman movie should really be like ^ A young Batman in his late 20s fighting against the police and a gauntlet of skilled assassins like Deathstroke. Don't shove Batman into a crossover until he's established, and don't make TDKR until way after Justice League Part 3 or whatever is coming after Part 2. TDKR is supposed to be the end of Batman's time in the DCEU, not the beginning. Also, NO ORIGIN STORY. I'm legitimately sick of them and everyone knows how Batman became the way he is. Maybe a short two minute scene of Batman reminiscing about his past life to add emotional depth but nothing big.

Lex Alexander Luthor is EASILY the worst character in this movie. Loud, obnoxious, over the top, predictable, contrived and moronic. HE'S NOTHING like the character he's based on, regardless if he's his son or not. Lex Luthor isn't a shivering wimp, and he isn't an obnoxious teenager-look alike and he isn't The Joker. He's the owner of a massive corporation, one of the smartest people in the planet, who can hold his own and create weapons that can slay even the most powerful of beasts, with a mostly calm and calculated demeanor to disguise his ruptured and sinister ego that blinds him. He's a person who thinks Superman is a negative influence on society, not some basement-dwelling asshole who wants to kill Superman "because lol he's a demon n shit lmao xD". He ruins every single scene he's in. His annoying, downright laughable performance is almost exactly like Rhino from TASM2. His motivations are literally vaguer than the ending of the Future Trunks arc in DBS, to the point where the closest we ever got to an actual explaination for his actions was the demon comparison he made with Superman. What a shit character.

Oh god. Not this shit again.

Doomsday is like the easiest character to get right. HOW THE HELL did he get ruined so badly? Doomsday is a savage, a monstrous abomination that can paralyze even the bravest of heroes with fear. With enormous strength, power and nigh-unkillable abilities, he has arguably effected the DC universe more than any other villain besides Darkseid by successfully killing their greatest hero and terrorising the Justice League for years to come.

Why did you use him so early Zack? Why did you ruin his climatic battle with Superman? Why does he look like a ninja turtle/cave troll hybrid? Why is his creation so different and anti-climatic? God freaking damnit Zack, you talentless hoe. Good lord.

Why couldn't Batman retrieve the spear and toss it to Wonder Woman instead of having Lois get it, fail miserably, requiring Superman to save her for the 999999999th time, and then have a weakened Superman kill Doomsday in a suicidal move? So much bullshit.

The battle with Doomsday was ridiculously boring and short, it was hilarious. 6 minutes of CGI porn. It completely lacked emotional and it felt so........fake. Marvel movies tend to have characters actually injured during battles, instead of having a bunch of CGI dolls smash into each other with music in the background. It's like a bad Naruto AMV.

Doomsday vs Superman is supposed to be a massive, brutal slugfest between two massive giants. An unstoppable force and an immovable object colliding in a battle to determine the fate of millions, not an edgy emo asshole in tights who probably masturbates to Twilight & Grey's Anatomy clashing with a Lord of the Rings reject for like 10 seconds.

^ This what a proper battle between Superman and Doomsday looks like.

Also, remember that Lex Luthor goon guy? Guess what! He's KGBeast!

.......too bad he's unnecessarily killed off like half of the goddamn cast. Thanks Goyer and Snyder. You guys are total geniuses. *sigh* Also, he looks nothing like KGBeast, just like Gal Gadot. Did I mention all the bullshit JLA setup in this film? SMH.

That old guy who Batfleck was talking to on the phone during the Zod/Superman fight flashback was unbelievably calm during the whole attack and didn't even escape until Bruce told him to evacuate the building. Seriously? Was this movie made by 12 year olds or something? This is some Batman & Robin level of bad writing.

All the characters in this movie are completely wasted. Lois Lane is a dumbass, Lex sucks, Doomsday sucks, Superman sucks, Batman sucks, Wonder Woman sucks, KGBeast sucks, Alfred is underutilised etc. What a shitshow.

Batfleck suddenly forgiving Clark because their mothers had the same name has got to be one of the stupidest, crappiest, lolworthy reasons for anyone to stop a fight to the death ever. It's almost like the movie is a comedy. None of the fight scenes were even good.

What was the purpose of the Knightmare scene besides setting up Darkseid? Why did Batman have a gun? Why no post-credit scene? Why did you cheapen Superman's death by copping out and showing that he wasn't actually dead right near the end? What's with all the shitty slow-mo crap? How the hell does Lex + Zod = LOTR cave troll? How the hell couldn't Superman track Martha's location or hear the bomb in the courtroom? Doesn't he have super hearing? If he didn't he wouldn't have heard Lex pushing Lois off a building while he was hiking that mountain. What the hell!? Superman's character arc from the end of Man of Steel isn't even resolved!

Terrible movie. Cinematography is an improvement over MoS's, but everything else is pretty lackluster.

Suicide Squad:

Already covered this one here. I would like to add that the JLA setup and lackluster end credits scene were pretty bad, since those are details I didn't really mention last time around. Not a fan that they made Boomerang a brony. I would lower the score from from a 3.5 to a 2.5 as well.

Overall, pretty shitty, but less awful than the Snyder directed films (he was an executive producer in SS, and even directed a scene).

Also, Leto Joker is even worse than Lex.

MCU v DCEU: Dawn of Butthurt

The MCU is much, much better than the DCEU, no contest. They don't use nonsensical religious references to make their movies look more intelligent, not to mention their movies are legitimately good most of the time. Even the worst MCU movie is at least light years ahead of any DCEU movie. DC got so caught up on trying to emulate Marvel's success that they butchered their own cinematic universe without even realizing it.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe at least tries to introduce previously obscure characters like Guardians of The Galaxy and Luke Cage/Jessica Jones to mass audiences while staying true to their mythos, not revamping them from the ground up to chase some stupid trend. Nobody cares about Aquaman, Flash, Wonder Woman etc besides hardcore comic fans, and you're doing a crossover movie now? Marvel took their time and slowly built up their characters and THEN did crossovers like Avengers. Not only is Marvel currently kicking DC's shit in movies, tv shows AND merchandise, they're stepping up their game when it comes to video games with Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite, the new Spider-Man game and a recently announced Guardians of The Galaxy Telltale game with more to come. They have a decent understanding of their IPs and (mostly) listen to their fans.

The DCEU needs a complete reboot. Cancel all the other movies you have planned and aren't in production and start over from scratch with a new creative team. Snyder and Goyer are poisoning your biggest IPs and it's going to ruin your financial growth if you don't get of rid of them and all the others quickly. This is your final chance.

David S Goyer: The Scam Artist of The Century:

Zack Snyder's partner in crime David S Goyer is a fraud and an idiot. It's no secret that this moron has been involved in a lot of Hollywood blockbuster movies, including The Dark Knight Trilogy, despite having an incredibly awful track record. He's a poisonous worm that feeds off other's people work and takes all the credit, yet when he's left to his own devices and attains extremely questionable creative rights without anyone else with actual talent cancelling him out (like Christopher Nolan), horrible, horrible abominations like Batman v Superman will occur.

He's the man responsible for the "Save Martha" scene and a significant amount of script issues that BvS had. Constantly finding ways to sneak his sorry ass into dozens of movies via nepotism to get money. He's the closest Hollywood has in terms of a criminal, and most importantly, he's a complete dick, referring to a significant portion of the DC/Marvel fanbase as virgin basement dwellers. Kind of a peculiar thing to say coming from a guy with literally no talent that worked on Call of Duty, arguably the most pathetic AAA game franchise of all time.

What a pleb.

Zack Snyder: The Man Who Sold The World

Zack Snyder is one of the most talentless hacks in the industry today. He literally has no idea what he's doing, has the cinematic talent of Kevin Smith, and is a complete and utter delusional moron. He ruined Dawn of The Dead, 300, Watchmen, Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor, Suicide Squad/Joker (partially), Wonder Woman, Jimmy Olsen, Jonathan/Martha Kent AND Doomsday and he isn't going to stop unless he quits.

Bullshit. If the "sandbox" structure actually existed, then why did Zack Snyder kill off Jimmy Olsen simply because he thought other directors wouldn't utilise him properly? Why did he get rid of not one, not two, but THREE directors simply because they didn't exactly line up with his vision for the DCEU? Why was he fighting with WB executives over creative decisions that they didn't agree with, to the point where they took away all of Snyder's creative rights on the Batman movie AND got Geoff Johns and Batfleck to oversee Justice League because they had zero faith in him anymore?

Zack Snyder isn't an evil mastermind like Michael Bay, who can make billions of dollars by creating low-effort VFX movies, or as talented as Christopher Nolan, who can make a shit ton of money just off his name alone. Snyder abuses his connections within Warner Bros to direct movies. Nepotism is Snyder's greatest and most effective weapon. It's the only reason he's still around, especially considering all his questionable creative decisions and his hilarious lies, besides possible contract negotiations prior to MoS which could make getting rid of Snyder next to impossible until it expires, but there's next to no information on the contract so we can't really say.

I would go as far as to claim that Michael Bay is actually a better director overall than Snyder is. He can film actual action sequences unlike Snyder, AND his movies generally tend to have less flaws in terms of character and movie structure than Snyder's films do. Snyder is really just a Bay wannabe in disguise, trying to emulate his success by creating big budget, low effort blockbusters. The problem is, Snyder tries to incorporate some traditional plot elements to create a decent story but fails miserably at it, while also trying to pander to 12 year olds. Michael Bay's films know what they are and he doesn't try to hide it with pointless 2Smart4Me BS that Man of Steel and BvS was full of. That's why they're so successful. That, and Transformers was a mostly dilapidated franchise before Bay took over, while the DC universe has always been a massive IP, so Transformers movies are bound to get less criticism.

Also, no, changing the tone and making Justice League Avengers 2.0 isn't going to do jack. MoS/BvS/Suicide Squad were almost Fan4stic level bad, and it's negatively affecting your box office. You need better movies. Transformers isn't a cinematic universe so it relies less on quality and more on pointless pandering. You can't pull off a Michael Bay with a cinematic universe even if you want to, especially when your competition is beating the ever loving shit out of you by making actually decent films that people from all demographics want to see.

And for the love of god, don't make every DCEU film the same tonally. Everyone knows Snyder has a hard on for edgy emo flicks, but making every DCEU film the next Dark Knight is going to hamper the DCEU severely.

Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel created an icon, a legend that would continue to inspire millions of others decades after their death. Even though a lot of us have grown out of the character due to DC continuously jeopardizing Superman in recent years (Rebirth brought back Pre-Flashpoint Superman and is a notable improvement over the New 52, so at least DC is improving when it comes to comics) we can still appreciate what the character has contributed to the world and a lot of our childhoods.

Both Siegel and Shuster didn't lead the happiest of lives, with the former living in complete poverty due to DC's draconian business practices at the time, and the later having his father die at a young age and having his eye sight worsen to the point of blindness. DC completely screwed them and their family multiple times and ruined their lives while making money off their intellectual property, until they both died vainfully back in the early to mid 1990s. How did Zack Snyder choose to honor their legacy? How did Zack Snyder choose to portray a character which was meant to inspire others in their darkest moments and times, to do the right thing no matter what? How did Zack Snyder choose to honor Bob Kane and Bill Finger's legacy (even if Kane was a bit of a douche) for creating larger-than life characters like Batman and Joker? You're not passionate about any of these characters, and you're slowly ruining actors like Henry Cavill's entire careers and ruining the DCEU's potential. Just quit already.

You're stuck between a rock and a hard place, Snyder. WB is going to lose a lot of money if JL doesn't succeed (which it won't), you're digging your career in a grave that won't last, and you're destroying everyone's careers and childhoods. Michael Bay at least brings in enough money and actually helps his studio and business partners, all you're doing is making everything worse.

The Snyder train is going to crash and you're going to have to jump off, and you better do it sooner than later. The DCEU was dead the moment that abomination known as Man of Steel hit theaters anyway.