Zack Snyder Talks Serious Nature Of 'Man Of Steel,' Reflects On 'Watchmen's' Legacy

When Zack Snyder talks about taking a comic book property seriously, he obviously has a strong point of reference. His adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen is by far one of the most serious comic to film adaptations of all time, some would say to a fault. On the occasion of yet another version of Watchmen coming out on Blu-ray, Snyder not only looked back at that film's legacy, but looked ahead to how his approach to Watchmen influenced his upcoming Superman film, Man of Steel.

He called Man of Steel "a more serious version of Superman" and reiterated that the movie was made "as though no other films had been made." Superman, he believes, is the "the Rosetta Stone of all superheroes" and its that importance that drew him to the project. Read his quotes on Man of Steel and Watchmen after the jump.

The following quotes come from a must-read interview with the Los Angeles Times.

First up, here's what he had to say about how Man of Steel fit into comic book mythology:

It's a more serious version of Superman. It's not like a heart attack. We took the mythology seriously. We take him as a character seriously. I believe the movie would appeal to anyone. I think that you're going to see a Superman you've never seen before. We approached it as though no other films had been made. He's the king-daddy. Honestly that's why I wanted to do it. I'm interested in Superman because he's the father of all superheroes. He's this amazing ambassador for all superheroes. What was it about him that cracked the code that made pop culture embrace this other mythology? What we've made as a film not only examines that but is also an amazing adventure story. It's been an honor to work on. As a comic book fan, Superman is like the Rosetta Stone of all superheroes. I wanted to be sure the movie treated it respectfully.

That's all he had to say about Man of Steel. The interview focuses much more on Watchmen, including this interesting thought was how he believes Watchmen probably should have been released today instead of 2009:

In a weird way, "Watchmen" becomes more and more relevant as more and more superhero movies come out. After "Avengers" really would have been the perfect time to release "Watchmen" because it's the anti-"Avengers" movie. With "Avengers" being this phenomenon worldwide, it's interesting what Alan Moore did with that graphic novel and what we tried to do with the movie. Alan Moore not only is a genius in the book he created, but also his knowledge of comic books and mythology of comic books and what the superheroes were in response to and what they represent is really beautiful and insightful. We try to get that across in the movie. When "Avengers" or whatever other movies get made, it confirms to me the mythological deconstruction that Alan was able to achieve in the book and we tried to achieve in the movie. It's even more fun to watch the movie now, I think, as the general audience has become more and more familiar with these icons and this mythology. The deconstruction of that mythology is inevitable, but it really hasn't been done. I think it's interesting that we have this genre that is so rich, but except for "Watchmen" and "Kick-Ass," which I would call more of a comedy superhero movie, I don't know that they try to dig into the why of it that we do.

Snyder also talks about feedback he's still getting feedback on the film, its modest box office, if he's read the Before Watchmen comics and more. It's a great interview.

Do you this Watchmen holds up? Do you think that approach is going to work with Man of Steel?