What Went Wrong: 13 Disastrous Comic Book Movies (And Why They Sucked)

12. Zack Snyder - Justice League

Whether Zack Snyder's fans care to admit it or not, Justice League was not the "new dawn" for the DCEU that Warner Bros needed it to be. Divisive, mocked and hated by some, it now stands as a morality tale of rushing a product out when it's not right.

The Cause

Unfortunately, it comes down to Snyder not being the right director for the job.

Perhaps because Watchmen stuck so closely to the comics and was criticised for it, he wanted to do his own thing, even with Warner Bros pressurising for changes after Batman v Superman. And his own thing was not to make traditional boy scout superhero movies no matter what assurances he gave publicly. He'd grown up a fan of Heavy Metal magazine, which was the ultimate anti-superhero comic, and he openly expressed his preference for making something like that.

Warner Bros simply didn't listen and gave him three DCEU movies. And the Justice League he was making was simply not enough of a deviation from his original vision, and he was moved on and replaced too late by Joss Whedon, whose contributions didn't help matters as he wasn't given the time to do them properly amidst rumours of studio pressure spurred on by executive bonuses.

How Disastrous Was It?

Terribly for Snyder, who lost his job (despite initial reports he had left of his own accord). And for Warner Bros, it wasn't any better: the film failed to make the billion dollars it should have easily and though critical response was a little kinder than for Batman v Superman, it goes down as another bust.

If it kills the DCEU, the cost will be even huger, not least to pride.