Filmmaker Zack Snyder has opened up about his thought process behind choosing to set his King Arthur retelling in the Old West era. The former DC Extended Universe director is coming off of his Netflix zombie heist thriller Army of the Dead, which debuted to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. While teasing the possibility of a sequel to the film, Snyder is currently at work overseeing the feature and anime prequels to the ensemble hit.

In the time leading up to the release of his other film this year, HBO Max's Zack Snyder's Justice League, the director revealed he was currently at work developing a "faithful" retelling of the King Arthur legend. After keeping mum on specific details of the project, Snyder did recently tease that the film would shift its setting to the American Gold Rush. While some might still be wondering whether the filmmaker will return to the world of comics, he has more thoughts about the world of King Arthur.

Related: Everything You Need To Know About Snyder's King Arthur Movie

In an interview with IMDb's Movies That Changed My Life podcast, Snyder opened up about why he set the film in the Old West. Reflecting on the Arthurian legend's British roots and his American roots, Snyder described the thought process as trying to find a bridge between the two worlds. Read what Snyder had to say below:

"My thesis was, when I was working on this idea, that I tried to take Arthurian legend, which is literally the mythology of another people. Like, I'm not English, and so I-- but I love that mythological story. And so I thought, oh, what if I superimpose it over the American West, and just try and make it like the mythology of America? Or, frankly, the mythology that I grew up with, and see if I can't make those things work, you know."

Arthur wields the Excalibur in King Arthur Legend of the Sword

Attempts at adapting the King Arthur legend for the big screen have frequently failed to truly capture the majesty of the epic without feeling as stuck in stone as his legendary sword Excalibur. Though Snyder's filmography certainly points to a mixed bag of storytelling, there's no denying his ambitious filmmaking style would be a good fit for the material. If he were to bring some of the same grandiose production values he's brought to his past works, most notably his adaptation of Frank Miller's 300, it's sure to be an exciting attempt at the very least.

Breaking tradition by changing the setting of his King Arthur retelling might come off as unfaithful to some, but it actually provides Snyder the opportunity to also incorporate elements from other legends regarding the titular figure instead of those continually adapted to screen. With no studio currently attached to the project, it does seem likely that word of a proper development cycle likely won't come for some time. But with various other studios and Netflix showing a greater interest in working with Snyder after his infamous breakup from Warner Bros., he could certainly find a path to bring it to life sooner than later.

More: How Zack Snyder Can Make A Great King Arthur Movie

Source: Movies That Changed My Life