UPDATE, September 3: Jay Oliva, who boarded this movie with Snyder, fired back at critics of Snyder’s Superman: “Stop making up stuff… I was there.”
UPDATE: Snyder now says it out loud — asked about The Dark Knight Returns rumors: “I put weight on the rumors, because the rumors work”.
UPDATE 9/1: Our insiders now say Snyder is “well prepared” for a Dark Knight film — as The Last Photograph heads to TIFF to find its buyer.
UPDATE: New details explain why Paramount wants Zack Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns, and how the project could open the door to a full SnyderVerse return. Read the latest here.
“The heavy lifting, if you will.”
Zack Snyder got a laugh with that line on July 18 while sitting next to Frank Miller at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
Turns out, he wasn’t really joking.
When we asked when they would make The Dark Knight Returns, Snyder said, per our recording from the room: “Well, the good news is he’s already finished the comic book. That’s done. So the good news is, the hard work is over.”
Miller laughed, and Snyder continued: “The heavy lifting, if you will.”
Then came the line of the night: “I think the answer is when they let us.”
The room took it as a joke. According to our insiders, it was a lot more literal than anyone knew.
I’m told The Dark Knight Returns is already “all boarded out,” with storyboards done by Jay Oliva, Snyder himself, and a few others.
So when Snyder said the heavy lifting was done, “he wasn’t kidding,” my sources said. At this point, they just need the greenlight.
And as for what Snyder actually wants to make, I’m told the plan should put the Batman v Superman comparisons to bed: “He wants to do the graphic novel, as is, just like he did with Watchmen.”
What “Ready To Go” Really Means
Our exclusive this week said The Dark Knight Returns is ready to go, with Oliva aboard and built for IMAX.
Here’s what that actually means.
The movie has been storyboarded. Every major sequence has been drawn out before a camera ever rolls, and on a Zack Snyder movie, that is a big part of the process.
Snyder trained as an artist and has drawn his own boards going back to 300. He’s not using AI like the current DC regime.
Jay Oliva also boarded Snyder’s DC movies from Man of Steel through Justice League. Before that, Oliva directed Warner Bros.’ animated The Dark Knight Returns, still the only direct adaptation of Frank Miller’s book and a remarkably faithful one.
So the people drawing this movie already know Snyder’s Gotham and Metropolis, and one of them has already adapted this exact story once before.
The prep isn’t what’s missing.
The greenlight is.
“As Is, Just Like He Did With Watchmen”
Watchmen is the comparison for a reason.
Snyder famously used Dave Gibbons’ panels as a visual blueprint and put much of the book on screen almost shot for shot, with one major change to the ending.
Fans have argued about that ending ever since. The rest of the movie’s fidelity to the comic is rarely in question.
Applied to Frank Miller, “as is” means The Dark Knight Returns as written.
Bruce Wayne back in the cowl at 55. The Mutants. Two-Face’s return. Carrie Kelley as Robin. The Joker’s last stand. A nuclear strike that blacks out America. Batman and Superman finally facing off in Crime Alley.
Batman v Superman borrowed the armor, the older Bruce Wayne, and the Batman-Superman fight. It did not adapt Miller’s story.
Snyder said all the way back in 2015 that you could still make The Dark Knight Returns into a movie.
Per our insiders, that’s exactly what he wants to do.
And Frank Miller certainly appears to be on board with the idea. Miller was sitting next to Snyder for “when they let us,” then co-posted the video morphing his splash page into Affleck’s live-action Batman.
The Cast Is Already Built Into The Story
Doing the book “as is” also answers the biggest casting questions immediately.
The story needs its Batman, and Snyder wants Ben Affleck.
It needs its Superman, and Zack wants Henry Cavill.
Then there’s a 13-year-old Robin, the Joker (Jared Leto?), Two-Face, a retiring Commissioner Gordon (J.K. Simmons?), and a one-armed Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell?).
Every one of those becomes a casting story the second someone is allowed to start making offers.
The Only Thing Missing Is The Greenlight
And that’s where this runs straight back into the Warner Bros.-Paramount fight.
The studio has agreed not to close the Paramount deal until a trial verdict, potentially as late as June 2027, unless Bonta settles before Ellison’s October 1 deadline.
Nothing on Snyder’s current slate is blocking the movie, with no release dates set. And per our insiders, The Dark Knight Returns is being built as exactly the kind of IMAX event Paramount wants.
Then came Friday night.
Hours after our Affleck report, Snyder posted a photo of himself and Affleck on the BvS set, scored to “We Do This Together”.
“The heavy lifting, if you will.”
The room laughed when Snyder said it.
Per our insiders, they probably shouldn’t have.
The boards are drawn. The story is Miller’s book. The people Snyder wants are already lined up in his head.
Now it really does come down to what he said on stage: “when they let us.”
