Zack Snyder has a long history of paying special attention to his female characters, with his very first feature film putting heavy focus on a female lead. Throughout his filmography, he tends to make them as interesting or as meaningful as any male character. Even Snyder's female villains are beloved by his fanbase.
The director has not let up. With films like Sucker Punch and now his upcoming Rebel Moon for Netflix, he continues to make women the lead of several of his movies and clearly intends to carry on. Each new entry to his filmography brings something new to the table with characters as fun to analyse and dissect as the last.
Faora-Ul (Man of Steel)
Faora is not even the main villain of Man of Steel (2013), yet a character like this could easily be the antagonist of her own film. Faora-Ul is General Zod's second-in-command and carries great respect for her leader, but on her own, she is an absolutely terrifying force. Unlike Superman, she has no limits and will employ maximum violence with her god-like powers to achieve her goal.
What makes her such a great character is simply in how dangerous she is. With her Darwinist worldview and utterly cold approach to battle, she is more than an ideal foe for Superman before his inevitable final confrontation with Zod. She is like Zack Snyder's Boba Fett, so beloved by fans that many hope to see her return from the Phantom Zone in the future.
Eglantine (Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole)
Zack Snyder has a reputation for telling very serious stories with very serious characters, and while Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010) is hardly an exception with its application of mythical drama to a much more kid-friendly movie, one character stands out as indisputably Snyder's most light-hearted.
Eglantine is a barn owlet and younger sister to the story's protagonist Soren. Voiced by Adrienne DeFaria, what makes her great is simply her intense innocence. With fascistic villains lusting for power, glory, and racial purity, the adorable Eglantine with her wide eyes represents everything the heroes are fighting to protect. Someone so adorable cannot be allowed to come to harm.
Kate Ward (Army of the Dead)
Ella Purnell's Kate Ward is the daughter of Dave Bautista's burly Scott Ward. She beats out the snarky Marianne Peters for her complexity. While her father feels entitled to more lucrative gains after the battles he fought during the zombie pandemic in Las Vegas, Kate stands out for being an utterly selfless figure, concerning herself entirely with doing the right thing.
For this reason, she joins her father's excursion into the zombie-infested city solely in the hopes of finding her missing friend who hadn't returned from an attempt to steal some money from abandoned slot machines to buy her freedom from the quarantine zone. As the most altruistic character in the film, she is fittingly the only known survivor besides Vanderohe.
Babydoll (Sucker Punch)
Referred to only as "Babydoll" throughout the movie, Emily Browning's character finds herself forced into a mental institute against her will by an abusive father. She faces the cruelty of her new surroundings with bravery and courage, but to cope with the terrible reality and pain, she concocts various fantasies in her mind.
In these worlds, she (and sometimes her friends too) is an incredible warrior fighting various enemies. In others, she works in a brothel with her friends seeking to free themselves. In the end, the audience learns her fantasies were representations of real events, and her sacrifices freed her real friends from the asylum. Babydoll's heroism has inspired countless fans to cosplay as her.
Martha Kent (Snyderverse)
To raise a son that could snap a car in two by accident required an incredible willpower and even stronger heart. Diane Lane's Martha Kent was capable. Adopting a child from another world, Martha showed young Clark no less love than any child she had borne herself and guided his growth as his destructive powers manifested over time.
She would do anything for her son and loves him so deeply that nothing is more important to her than Clark's happiness. Not to mention, the sturdy Kansas farmer is no coward, and told the intimidating General Zod, "Go to hell," without even flinching. She is the ultimate mother for the ultimate superhero, embodying what makes her one of Superman's best supporting characters.
Silk Spectre II (Watchmen)
For the gritty, grimdark alternate history of Watchmen (2009), Snyder cast Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II (Laurie Jupiter), the daughter of the original Silk Spectre (Sally Jupiter). The two were designed around the idea that, in this realistic depiction of superheroes, some would fetishize their outfits and heroic work, represented in how they dress.
So, her mother's ugly legacy lives in Laurie, including the blood of the repulsive and irredeemable Comedian, who somehow formed a warped relationship with Sally. The discovery of Laurie's full parentage was harrowing until Doctor Manhattan pointed out that, despite the absurd odds, her existence is still a miracle.
Senator June Finch (Snyderverse)
In the narrative of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Holly Hunter's June Finch is an ideological counter to the unreasoning bigotry of Lex Luthor and Batman while also serving as the voice of reason amid the storm of controversy and hyperbole. Most importantly, through some of Batman v Superman's best quotes, she represents the importance of dialogue as the key that makes democracy good.
For this reason, Lex orchestrates her death, silencing both her and Superman in the process. Yet, Finch's reasonable values come back around when the thing that brings Batman and Superman together as allies is the one thing they both refused to do: talk to each other. Words saved the two superheroes, not a fist. June's beliefs won out in the end.
Queen Gorgo (300)
In Frank Miller's comic, Queen Gorgo's role was negligible. In the film, while her husband -- the legendary King Leonidas -- fought off the Persians at Thermopylae with the titular three hundred, Lena Headey's Gorgo worked to convince the Spartan Council to muster the full might of their warrior culture, as Snyder felt the audience should see what Leonidas was fighting for.
Like Leonidas, Gorgo has a heart of steel. She will do anything for her country, including debasing herself for the whims of corrupt politicians. But when push came to shove, she readily drew a sword and slayed a traitor to Sparta with every bit the ferocious spirit of a Spartan man. She is the ultimate queen.
Wonder Woman (Snyderverse)
Zack Snyder cast Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman to represent the warrior princess from a paradise island, stranded in the world of men. Yet, after her long absence from fighting, Diana Prince revealed her true might in Batman v Superman to once again do battle with evil, fighting for love and peace in a world that, finally, allows for unity.
Snyder envisioned Wonder Woman as a more warrior-like iteration than is common. Armed with sword and shield, an early iteration of the character involved her roaming the battlefields of the Crimean War in search of Ares, bloodied and hardened by conflict before she would meet Steve Trevor and discover love. In DCEU continuity, she is driven to rediscover it.
Lois Lane (Snyderverse)
Where Lois truly shines is in Batman v Superman. Where to begin? Quick-witted and courageous, she throws herself in harm's way for a story or to save the man she loves as often as he saves her. She refuses to be intimidated or discouraged by powerful men like General Amajagh, Calvin Swanwick, or Lex Luthor. Ever noble, she sees atrocities where most journalists see juicy stories.
Lois' connection with Clark is so profound that the two often speak to each other without words. In the end, her heart saved Superman's soul, and her relentless investigation to exonerate him (and her own conscience) of wrongdoing put Lex Luthor in prison. Lois Lane's writing is unmatched among Snyder's female characters, complex enough to have theses written about her.