Zack Snyder reveals Man of Steel could have been part of Christopher Nolan's Batman universe

Superman
(Image credit: DC/Warner Bros.)

Zack Snyder has revealed that Man of Steel could have been connected to Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. Nolan was a producer on the Superman solo movie and approached Snyder about making the film.

"It was not 100 percent off the table," Snyder told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "We did talk about it a little bit. The whole thing is that, I think that it's difficult, and it would have been interesting because that would have meant, just doing the math, that the Batman – maybe that's why we didn't do it, that if we had done that the Batman in this movie would have been probably... It would've been Joseph [Gordon-Levitt]. Which could've been cool."

The Dark Knight Rises ended with Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne faking his death and leaving the Batman mantle to Gordon-Levitt's character, a police officer named John Blake.

"Also I think [Nolan] kind of, and I don't blame him, I like that his thing doesn't get muddied by these other… It's a tight box and I'm glad I didn't fuck with it because it's a pretty nice trilogy and I enjoy it," Snyder continued.

Nolan's trilogy was a critical and commercial success, with The Dark Knight – which saw Heath Ledger's iconic turn as the Joker – widely regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time.

Meanwhile, Man of Steel kicked off Snyder's foray into the DCEU, and was followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which introduced Ben Affleck as Batman, and Zack Snyder's Justice League, which released earlier this year after the Release the Snyder Cut fan campaign. Nolan executive produced both Batman v Superman and Justice League. 

Nolan's most recent movie was Tenet, while Snyder's latest, Army of the Dead, is currently streaming on Netflix. If you're caught up with both directors, check out our guide to the best Netflix movies to watch now, and see our ranking of the best Zack Snyder movies.

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.