Did Zack Snyder's DC Movies Flop? Former Warner Bros. Executive Ends Debate

Since the beginning of the MCU and DCEU, fans and industry analysts alike have been endlessly comparing the two. From the tone at the heart of the ongoing superhero stories to how successfully (or unsuccessfully) each respective arc has been carried out, there has been no shortage of comparisons between the franchises.

However, now that the DCEU has begun its transition to the DCU under the watchful eye of James Gunn, the question of how successful Zack Snyder's tenure overseeing the development of the shared universe is ripe for reexamination. While many have argued that DC's approach to a shared universe hasn't gone nearly as well as Marvel's, does that mean the Snyder films were a failure?

Not if the former president of Creative Development and Worldwide Production at Warner Bros. Pictures has anything to say about it. Greg Silverman refuted the claim that Snyder's films were unprofitable for Warner Bros., pointing out that aside from a couple of lesser performers, the filmmaker's movies were considered very successful.

"Not true. We lost some money on GAHOOLE and a fair amount on SUCKER PUNCH," Silverman wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "The rest of his films at WB were very profitable. Very." This came in response to a tweet from writer David Poland, who suggested that Snyder's films hadn't made much of a mark since "300."

Though the filmmaker began his career with music videos, Zack Snyder landed his first feature directorial effort with Universal Pictures' "Dawn of the Dead." After that, each of his films, from "300" all the way through to "Zack Snyder's Justice League," was made for Warner Bros. Pictures.

While many fans were critical of how Snyder handled important characters like Superman (Henry Cavill) or Batman (Ben Affleck), others rallied behind his dark take on some of the most iconic characters in DC's stable. Meanwhile, other efforts from the filmmaker, like "Watchmen" and "Army of the Dead," which he made for Netflix, have also been somewhat divisive.

Still, as noted by Greg Silverman, it was only "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" and "Sucker Punch" that were seen as actual failures by the top brass at Warner Bros. Though this will likely do little to quell the never-ending debate as to whether Snyder's take on certain well-known characters was successful or not or silence critics of his visual style, Silverman's response does at least put one question to bed regarding Snyder's efforts in the DCEU.