Can there be a James Gunn-Zack Snyder collab soon? Speculations explored as duo posts photo together

Zack Snyder thought of giving a visit to his buddy James Gunn, but he might not have thought that it would spark a conversation for a potential collaboration among the filmmakers. A photo the now co-CEO of DC Studios shared on X (formerly Twitter) was quick to pick up traction, pulling some hopes along.

DC's cinematic world is changing. When James Gunn was brought in to give the fans something new, something like a reboot, fans didn't really want to go along with this. And that's understandable when we consider Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Henry Cavill aren't a part of the DC Studios' universe.

With Zack Snyder too out of the picture, that left us with nothing for the future of the Justice League we last saw. So no matter what speculations surface regarding his collaboration with James Gunn, there's no official announcement surrounding it.

Frank Miller's the key to his potential collaboration with James Gunn's DC universe

Snyder says his days of directing DC movies are over now. Last we saw him, he was building a different kind of world on a moon. His last two films, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024), struggled to make a place in audiences' hearts. But Snyder still intends to expand this in hopes of making it a massive IP someday.

To distract him from this, Gunn (or someone from Marvel Studios) needs to use the name 'Frank Miller,' and he might decide to hop on the DC (or Marvel) bandwagon. In a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the director cleared this up: he might do an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns. He already borrowed some elements from the storyline in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Dark Knight Returns is tonally different than the main DC Comics storyline, James Gunn said last year while sitting with Entertainment Weekly. He explains,

"It was different from Marvel in that way. That’s something that I really want to retain within the studio, that every project is going to bring a different vision by the artists who are creating it."

Maybe he is working towards this way, and maybe Zack Snyder is a part of this vision. But let's ride the speculation train until something's officially announced.

Gunn knows how to keep those hopes alive

On a good day, James Gunn might just announce that Zack has decided to walk the DC path again. But before that happens, he knows how to keep the fans' hopes alive. A few days ago, a fan reshared a post with Batman, Robin, and Superman having a good time while racing in World's Finest Comics #48.

He wrote,

"One can only hope that @jamesgunn.bsky.social's vision for DCU movies somehow eventually builds towards this scene."

In a response that would make the fans' day, James simply replied,

"Yes!"

Fans are sure to connect James Gunn's meeting with Zack Snyder with this instance, giving more fuel to their hopes. If we add that some speculate Snyder was in the DCU's creative room in that picture, we can say that fans so want to see this collaboration happening.

James Gunn and Zack Snyder have worked together on the Dawn of the Dead remake that was released in 2004, with the former being the writer and the latter being in his directorial debut. We would love to see if they do that again for something like, let's say, a Dawn of Justice remake.

But then both the directors have their own unique way, with one being more colorful and the other being a bit on the darker side. It'll be great to see how that plays out if a collaboration like that ever happens.

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Also Read: "Please be Batman" — Fans speculate as James Gunn reveals he is writing the next DCU project