Zack Snyder already took pieces of The Dark Knight Returns for Batman v Superman - now he wants the whole book, outside the DC universe
Zack Snyder has a comic-book favourite for his next adaptation — and it’s the sort likely to set fans at odds.
If you know anything about Zack Snyder, you know he’s never been one for blending in with the crowd. The man’s career is a bloody, slow-mo march through some of modern cinema’s more divisive battlegrounds: zombie films, comic book cult classics, and, of course, capes and tights as far as the eye can see. His latest outing, The Last Photograph, sticks him in crime thriller territory, but naturally, fans and critics alike are already speculating about whether he might ever dust off the superhero boots for another round. And yes, Snyder’s been dropping giant hints about his dream return to Gotham City — just not in the way you’d expect.
Watchmen hit cinemas right at the start of the modern superhero craze. The fact is, 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.'
Snyder has form with Frank Miller’s stuff — think back to his film version of 300, all abs and spartan grit. But it’s Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns that’s currently giving Snyder fever dreams. Trouble is, he’s already nicked bits of it for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which landed him in hot water with fans, critics, and, depending who you ask, probably Batman himself. So what’s actually left to adapt? Quite a lot, if you believe Snyder, as long as he can do it outside the official DC film universe, with none of that DCEU baggage dragging behind him.
Snyder and Superheroes: A Messy History
If you want a quick rundown, Snyder burst onto the scene with Dawn of the Dead in 2004, then powered straight through to 300 (proper cult following for both, mind). Then came Watchmen — the comic that everybody says can’t be filmed, but he gave it a bash anyway, to deeply mixed results. That was the first real glimpse of Snyder’s approach: intensely faithful to the source material, visually stylised within an inch of its life, and just as likely to split the room in half as inspire a standing ovation.
After that: Man of Steel, which picked up more defenders over the years than you’d expect, then the infamous Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which, let’s be frank, had critics sharpening their steak knives before the credits rolled. Following the tragic death of his daughter, Snyder walked off Justice League with production still unfinished — in came Joss Whedon, a whole different set of rewrites, and a final cut so different that Snyder said he never bothered to watch the finished version.
The Future: Could It Actually Happen?
Snyder told Variety that he’d love to adapt The Dark Knight Returns, but only if he could have total creative freedom, with no interference from the sprawling DC movie continuity. His thinking? That way, the film could stand tall next to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy — self-contained, not tangled in years of superhero homework or “cinematic universes.” He’s not exactly wrong. The genre’s gone from box office golden child to, frankly, a bit of a slog, just like what happened to cowboy films back in the day. If anyone’s going to strip it back and take a proper swing at the material from a fresh angle, it’s probably him.
- Zack Snyder wants his own standalone adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, not part of the ongoing DC franchise.
- He previously pulled key scenes and lines from the comic for Batman v Superman, but believes there’s still a full story left worth telling.
- Warner Bros have not officially announced the project, so for now, it’s all just talk (and wishful thinking).
As genres go, superheroes aren’t looking quite as invincible as they did a few years back. If Snyder does get the green light to tackle Miller’s iconic grumpy-old-Batman story, expect something divisive, self-serious, and probably impossible to ignore — for better or worse.