How Did The Snyderverse End?

Supergirl (2026) marks another entry in James Gunn’s and Peter Safran’s growing DCU. However, as promising as this era is being set up to be, it’s hard not to forget about the Snyderverse and the DC Extended Universe.

The DCEU is most famous for its fumbles over its successes, and while it’s a shame, it’s also incredibly fascinating. It’s easy to see the Snyderverse, a series of films that technically started with Man of Steel (2013) and ended with Justice League (2017), as a singular death. But in reality, it was a death that came in threes.

'Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice' Created Distrust In Zack Snyder's Leadership

When Man of Steel hit theaters, it had a lot of promise, given that the film had connections to Christopher Nolan and was directed by 300 (2007) director Zack Snyder. In many ways, the film succeeded in capturing the symbolism and power of Superman, but its darker tones and seeing Superman kill and let Metropolis suffer felt out of character.

When Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) was announced, it came in place of a proper sequel to Man of Steel. What was originally going to be Henry Cavill’s Superman facing off with Christian Bale’s Batman was changed in favor of a new Caped Crusader, Ben Affleck.

Unfortunately, the dark tones and slow pace didn’t help the film, which was already the product of rewrites and Warner Bros. starting to push the Batman/Superman angle to the point of changing the title to what we know now. With two underperforming films, it planted seeds of distrust between Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder, marking his world’s first true death, which came in the form of lost trust.

Studio Interference Drastically Changed Snyder's Vision And 'Justice League'

With good faith fractured and essentially lost, the second death of the Snyderverse came when studio interference and a changing of the guard overhauled projects in production like Suicide Squad (2016) and Wonder Woman (2017).

With the then-executive VP of Warner Bros., Jon Berg, and DC CCO Geoff Johns now steering the creative ship of the Snyderverse, changes came swiftly. For starters, Suicide Squad underwent many reshoots to add more levity and to make it feel more like their version of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). 

Wonder Woman was forced to have a more elaborate and less nuanced final battle that felt out of place in the finished product. Ironically, these changes were the big problem with those films moving forward. With Justice League, it was meant to be the first of a trilogy, and Berg and Johns had Joss Whedon come in to help with the script and shoot some scenes.

Unfortunately, the tragic death of Snyder’s daughter forced him to leave the project completely, and what we got was a hodgepodge of Whedon’s scenes and Snyder’s and a final film that felt and looked rushed. Things never got better from there, and it proved that a studio trying to change one man’s vision could only lead to a second death, the death of the narrative.

By 'Black Adam', The Snyderverse Was No More

Following the poor reception of Justice League, Berg and Johns were no longer in control of the DCEU, and with that, the concept of continuity was also shelved. Now, characters like Wonder Woman and Aquaman were getting sequels while only loosely tying to the previous lore. Then, characters like Blue Beetle were getting solo movies without any ties to the Snyderverse at all.

The final nails in the coffin came with Black Adam (2022) and The Flash (2023). For Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson very publicly attempted to center the remains of the DCEU around his character, even getting Henry Cavill back as Superman without an official confirmation. But this all came after James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU was well underway and, therefore, wasn’t going to happen.

The Flash was the narrative conclusion of everything Zack Snyder introduced, as well as what came after. While the film wasn’t received well, it did its best to stick the landing and put a period on this experiment once and for all. With that, the final death of the Snyderverse was solidified alongside the DCEU.

It’s a sad end to what started as an ambitious idea, but there was one silver lining. For those who wanted Snyder’s vision for Justice League realized, fan outcry for the Snyder Cut paid off. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) gave us an untouched look at his vision for a trilogy, and while we will never see the full story, it’s good to see Snyder’s vision get a final hurrah, even if his universe didn’t take off.