It’s interesting to think of how cinema fans are often forced to pick sides. You’re either pro-cinema and on the side of folks like Christopher Nolan, or you’re maybe someone who likes major franchises and *gasp* comic book movies, so you’re on the side of Zack Snyder. Snyder and Nolan seem like polar opposites when you think about the current culture war in film. But in reality, they’re actually great friends, and you can almost certainly blame Christopher Nolan for the Snyderverse and the rise of the Snyder faithful. And even today, Nolan is here to tell you about the great things Zack Snyder has gifted the world, such as “Watchmen.”
In a new THR profile about Zack Snyder, there’s a bit where Christopher Nolan talks about his love of “Watchmen.” Yes, that “Watchmen.” Not the acclaimed, Emmy-winning HBO series, but instead, the feature film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ work that is largely seen to be, uh, less-than-awesome, to put it mildly. According to Nolan, “Watchmen” is ahead of its time.
“I’ve always believed ‘Watchmen’ was ahead of its time,” Nolan said. “The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn’t yet a thing in movies. It would have been fascinating to see it released post-‘Avengers.’”
For those who might have skipped “Watchmen,” the film is based on the comic book series of the same name (often thought of as the single greatest story in superhero history) that follows a group of retired heroes who are being murdered one-by-one at the hands of an unknown killer. The series is a deconstruction of the classic superhero myths and it helped usher in a more adult form of superhero storytelling. So, you can see why Nolan would say the film would perform better post-“Avengers.” That’s exactly why the comic book is a classic.
That said, there are so many things wrong with “Watchmen,” it’s difficult to mention them all here. Suffice it to say, in Snyder’s attempt to make “Watchmen” cool and more modern in its filmmaking, he seems to have tossed out (or just not been aware of) what makes it so special.
But hey, if Nolan likes it, then maybe I’m the asshole?
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