Comedian Stephen Colbert criticizes director Zack Snyder for his recent comments about characters like Batman and Superman killing people. Snyder has directed popular films like 300 and Watchmen, but he is more known today for helping kick start the DC film universe, commonly referred to as the DC Extended Universe, with Man of Steel in 2013. Snyder would go on to direct Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 and Justice League in 2017.
Even though Joss Whedon stepped in as a director to replace Snyder on Justice League after he experienced a family tragedy, Snyder is still acting as a producer for several DC films. Snyder has also remained active on social media, often sharing exclusive Justice League storyboards and concept art from his version of the film. As early as 2013, Snyder was defending Man of Steel, but recently he criticized people who didn't like the darker versions of superheroes saying, "It's a cool point of view to be like 'my heroes are innocent'…That's cool. But you're living in a f***ing dream world". Obviously that didn't go over well with a lot of fans, including The Late Show host Stephen Colbert.
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During his "Meanwhile..." segment on The Late Show, Colbert was clearly baffled by Snyder's blunt comments about darker superhero characters saying, "Zack, these are beloved children’s characters". He exaggerated Snyder's comments by joking, "Aquaman sells opiates, and the Flash is a human trafficker! Walk it off! The whole Justice League is addicted to snuff porn, grow up". Colbert's comments about Snyder as well as the full "Meanwhile..." segment can be viewed below.
Ever since Warner Bros. released Man of Steel, they faced criticism for how dark their superhero movies seemed to be. Superman is often compared to a good-natured Boy Scout, but Henry Cavill's Superman is seen knocking down buildings in a single bound and demolishing a huge portion of Metropolis while battling General Zod. The film faced the most criticism for its ending, where Superman is forced to snap Zod's neck in order to save innocent civilians. Similarly, Ben Affleck's Batman was criticized upon his introduction in Batman v Superman for seemingly killing criminals, when Batman is known for using non-lethal tactics.
While these versions of Batman and Superman are truly darker than other versions of the characters, some may say that the DC Extended Universe has gotten a bad rap because it is unfairly compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has implemented a more light-hearted tone to a lot of their superhero movies, which is starkly different from early DC Extended Universe flicks. With that in mind, longtime fans of these superhero characters clearly have an issue with how much darker Snyder made the characters, so Colbert isn't the only one with this opinion.
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Source: The Late Show
