Summary

Zack Snyder would continue the SnyderVerse if Netflix obtained the rights to the DCEU characters. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman performed better at the box office than every single MCU solo film leading up to The Avengers. Yes, that includes Iron Man and Iron Man 2. The SnyderVerse began to show signs of crumbling with Justice League’s opening-weekend struggles, but it still outperformed all the solo MCU films from 2008 until 2011.

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU will supplant the now defunct SnyderVerse. Despite those fans who enjoy and continue to support filmmaker Zack Snyder’s interpretation of DC Comics adapted for the Silver Screen, the so-called SnyderVerse isn’t going to be resurrected like Superman (Henry Cavill) was in both Justice League (2017) and Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021). But if Netflix ever got the rights to the material and characters, Snyder would definitely return to continue his vision of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) on the streaming service. Snyder said in an interview posted by CulturaOcio on X, formerly Twitter:

If Netflix owned the rights to my… to the DC characters in my universe, of course I would [return]. Absolutely.

The SnyderVerse, which encompasses the DCEU, followed on the heels of director Christopher Nolan’s immensely successful Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012) with Man of Steel (2013). And while Nolan’s Batman films are not a part of the DCEU — consider them a much cooler set of graphic novels existing outside of the SnyderVerse — the powers-that-be certainly wanted to include Christian Bale in Snyder’s world of DC heroes. As the unsubstantiated tall tale goes: Bale was offered $50 million to face off against Henry Cavill’s Superman, as the Dark Knight, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).

Related: James Gunn and Zack Snyder’s Different Visions of the DCU

The Rise and Fall of the SnyderVerse

Neither Man of Steel nor Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice lived up to the back-to-back, billion-dollar successes of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). However, what superhero fans might not remember, or want to admit for that matter, is that both Zack Snyder’s MOS and BVS outperformed every last solo film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) leading up to The Avengers (2012). Check out the numbers below:

Iron Man (2008): $585.8 million The Incredible Hulk (2008): $264.8 million Iron Man 2 (2010): $624 million Thor (2011): $449 million Captain America – The First Avenger (2011): $370.6 million Man of Steel amassed a worldwide total of $670 million and Batman v Superman performed ever better globally with $874 million. The audience and interest for more DC films under the SnyderVerse umbrella certainly existed, even with Suicide Squad ($749 million), which opened after BVS dropped that same summer. And then Gal Gadot’s solo adventure in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2017) followed with the SnyderVerse’s best performance since BVS with $824 million. And then the wheels started falling off the moneymaking machine.

The SnyderVerse’s first attempt at teaming up DC’s heroes (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman) couldn’t even surpass the $100-million mark domestically over its first weekend in theaters! Justice League (2017) opened with only $93.8 million in the United States on its way to a disappointing theatrical total of $661 million — still better than any of the aforementioned MCU solo efforts, though.

And while James Wan’s Aquaman (2018) became only the third DC property to surpass the billion-dollar mark at the box office, the SnyderVerse took its final, successful bow in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) — as the DCEU continued to limp along with disappointing entries like Wonder Woman 1984, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Black Adam.