For the longest time, the comics industry was defined by the dominance of DC Comics, and their smaller, less popular rival Marvel Comics. Today, the tables have turned, at least at the movie level, as MCU movies dominate the box office, and the DCEU is still struggling to find its feet. Zack Snyder, who is gearing up for the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, recently explained how his vision for the DCEU differs from the MCU.

"It's obvious I take these characters and their mythology really seriously. I want them to be fully realized as characters, existing in that world. I don't think that it's cool to have fun at their expense. And there was a vision that we had, a complete universe, fully fleshed out, that we really wanted to take all the way. I knew it before BvS, when we made Man of Steel. Marvel is doing something else. They're doing, at the highest level, this popular action-comedy with a heart. And they have that nailed. An effort to duplicate that is insanity because they're so good at it. What DC had was mythology at an epic level, and we were going to take them on this amazing journey. Frankly, I was the only one saying that."

It can be argued that the reason MCU movies are so popular is because the franchise treats its heroes as regular, relatable people rather than mythic, grandiose characters. But Snyder has always stuck to his particular vision for DC heroes in the face of a barrage of criticisms from reviewers and general audiences. When asked if he would himself want to take the MCU approach to comic book movies someday, the filmmaker had a firm response.

"No, not at all. I don't know how to hit a ball any different than I hit it. A director has one skill - your point of view. That's all you have. If you're trying to imitate another way of making a movie, then you're on a slippery slope."

The result of Snyder sticking to his singular vision is that, three years after the theatrical version of Justice League was released, the filmmaker's fans campaigned long and hard for Snyder to be brought back to finish his cut of the movie, which is set to debut in a few days on HBO Max. Clearly, Snyder has found an eager audience for his particular vision of the DCEU, even if the franchise has now moved away from that vision as a whole.

Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film arrives on HBO Max on March 18. This news arrives courtesy of NYtimes.