On August 13, our source told us Zack Snyder and Jay Oliva are “itching to go” on The Dark Knight Returns.
This week, Oliva showed what that looks like while everyone waits on a greenlight: defending the record.
The old claim that “Snyder’s Superman doesn’t save people” made the rounds on X again, after the Into the Snyder-Verse fan account mocked it by posting the Batman v Superman montage of Henry Cavill’s Superman performing rescues around the world.
A reply pushed back that the montage proves the point, arguing Snyder emphasizes Superman’s strength and “godly demeanour” rather than the saving.
Enter the man who drew it.
“That shot and the other shots I came up with were called ‘Superman saves people around the world.’ That was the whole point of it,” Oliva posted. “Stop making up stuff just to push whatever narrative you’re selling. I was there.”
A proposed Community Note citing Oliva’s post is already pending on the reply, noting his account matches the director commentary on the sequence’s intent.
The Shots Were Called “Superman Saves People Around The World”
Oliva isn’t offering an interpretation. He’s reading the label off his own work.
Oliva storyboarded Snyder’s DC movies from Man of Steel through Justice League, which means the montage being argued about is literally his handiwork.
Before that, he directed Warner Bros.’ animated The Dark Knight Returns, still the only direct adaptation of Frank Miller’s book.
And per our reporting, his Snyder work isn’t finished.
Our insiders say Snyder’s live-action Dark Knight Returns is fully storyboarded, boarded out by Oliva and Snyder themselves, with the plan to adapt Miller’s graphic novel “as is,” the way Snyder did Watchmen.
Snyder wants Henry Cavill, the exact Superman being argued over, back in the suit for it.
So when the internet claims Snyder’s Superman doesn’t save people, the guy correcting the record is the guy holding the storyboards for the next one.
Alex Ross, A Batman Top 10, And A 13-Year-Old Short
It caps a stretch where Oliva’s DC rĂ©sumĂ© keeps resurfacing on its own.
Legendary DC artist Alex Ross shared the Superman 75th Anniversary Animated Short, the two-minute 2013 piece that runs Superman’s entire history from the Action Comics #1 cover to Cavill’s Man of Steel.
The short was conceived by Snyder and Bruce Timm, sits at 13.5 million views on DC’s YouTube, and was directed by Oliva, who chimed in on Ross’ post.
Last month, Oliva also celebrated SlashFilm’s list of the 10 best Batman movies of all time according to IMDb: “I directed 3 and storyboarded on 2 for a total of 5 of my projects that made the 10 best list!”
It has been that kind of week for the Snyder side of the ledger.
Gal Gadot said “If Zack comes back to run DC, I’ll come back.” Snyder himself said “the rumors work.” The director of Insidious loved being on set. And the storyboard artist attached to his Batman movie spent it setting the record straight on his Superman.
“I was there,” Oliva says. Per our insiders, he plans to be there next time, too.
