The shift from the DCEU to the dawning DCU and DC Studios was abrupt and bumpy. As such, in the immediate aftermath, there are people still picking sides in a phantom war between the two visions.
Those preferring the former continuity, better known as the Snyderverse, still seem more vocal, and they wish for Zack Snyder to return and finish his story.
According to them, this outcome, moreover, has to come at the price of DC studio boss James Gunn’s ouster. That happening is not only extremely unlikely, of course, but also a fatuous notion when the two are good friends who were never at odds.
Gunn solidified this fact when he recently posed for a photo with Snyder that he sent out on social media. By the looks of it, they appear to be cozy, which is actually good news for the Snyderverse faithful when you think about it. The door should be open for him to come back if he chooses.
Yet, that said, the image of Snyder shoulder-to-shoulder with Gunn, all smiles, sends a different message that Gunn hoped fans, and his critics, would pick up on. He trolled a bit, trying to “melt the Internet,” as it were – aware of the divide a segment of fandom put between the two men.
“We knew that people have this view that somehow we have been pitted against each other,” Gunn explained to Variety. “It’s odd to have someone who you’re friendly with in real life be the guy that is positioned as your Lex Luthor, or I’m his Lex Luthor. It’s just such a weird dynamic that’s been created between factions online.”
However, if Gunn’s objective was to set the Internet on fire, he fell short. The reaction to the photo has arguably been underwhelming and certainly was not what it would have been a few short years ago at the height of the “Release the Snyder Cut” fervor.
The one question everyone had was, ‘Does this mean Zack Snyder is returning to DC?’ The short answer is ‘no,’ but anything can happen – unless, maybe, he lobbies for Henry Cavill to play Superman again. It’s hard to imagine Gunn okaying that.