"Man of Steel" director Zack Snyder is dishing details about the upcoming sequel nicknamed "Batman vs. Superman," defending his casting desicions and revealing his first reaction to the new Batsuit.
In an interview with Hero Complex, Snyder expressed his excitement to begin filming, but even more pumped to show off the new Batsuit and Superman costume.
"It's very fun to get into this world with different heroes coexisting in the same universe, but a lot of balls in the air as they say," Snyder told Hero Complex. "As a fan, it's an amazing opportunity. You know, Superman and Batman in the movies have never existed in the same frame together. So it's an interesting historical thing."
"We were just testing the suits, right? The new Batsuit and the Superman suit," he added. "It wasn't even with the actors, right? It was just to see 'em. I was standing there, they were standing next to each other. And I was like, 'Guys, someone take a picture! This has never happened before.' We slightly dork out. Like, 'Are you kidding me?!'"
The "Man of Steel" sequel director similarly was excited about merging Batman and Superman universes, as he wasn't afraid to stray a little from the mythology behind the characters.
"[The movie] literally takes the "Man of Steel" and "Batman" universes and explodes them," he told Hero Complex. "You're not as tied to the mythology. In "Man of Steel," we had to create an origin story, a mythology, and there's a lot of energy into that, which we love doing. Don't get me wrong. But when you think about how fun it is too - now that you've got these characters - to now let 'em loose."
Snyder also revealed how he handled the backlash from all of the major casting decision for "Batman vs. Superman." Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Ben Affleck (Batman) and Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor) all received criticism from fans.
"There are two ways to think about it. We know the material," the director explained to Hero Complex. "Unfortunately, the fans don't know the material. So, we're casting according to what's happening in the script. And we're hoping that leads to enough originality, enough perspective on what we're doing that you get something fresh and exciting. I understand the canon."
"I'm not crazy," Snyder continued. "I know what these characters need from a mythological standpoint. I think Jesse is going to be an amazing Lex. Let's not forget he was nominated for an Academy Award. It's not like I just grabbed my friend to play the guy! This guy's the real deal. By the way, in looking at all the talk-back, you can get all different perspectives in there too. Some people are hating to hate. Some people - someone did some fan art. And you look underneath and someone wrote, 'I guess I can see it.' Honestly, are you kidding me? Just stop it! It's reassuring and frustrating at the same time."
Snyder and his producer wife Deborah Snyder recently spoke to the Huffington Post about casting leaks and how they affect the production process. Snyder's wife isn't a fan of the leaks.
"Things get leaked so often these days, it's a shame because even casing announcements, or whatever, you're in the middle of a process and sometimes they're so off base -- and then it gets picked up by multiple places and it's all over the place," Deborah explained to the HuffPost.
"Or some of it, you're just having conversations, but that doesn't mean they are a contender, but you're just exploring and it gets made public," she added. "It's kind of a shame that you can't go through the process in a pure way and then be able to announce it in a way that's exciting. With the [Comic-Con] announcement, there was rumblings and we were like, 'Aw.' Because we wanted to bring it to the fans. We wanted to bring them something special. We went to Comic-Con for 'Watchmen' and we were bringing the cast to announce it and it got leaked a couple of days before. We wanted to give that to them and we got cheated out of it."
"Batman vs. Superman" is slated to hit theaters on May 6, 2016.
