Is Zack Snyder Joining James Gunn's DC Universe? The Real Reason Behind That Viral Photo

It's the picture that launched a thousand rumors and frenzied meltdowns among fans. Recently, the very socially active James Gunn tweeted out a picture that promptly sent the comic book fanbase into a tailspin. Although a longtime friend and creative collaborator of Zack Snyder, the filmmaker who was last given the reins to the DC empire and famously parted ways with the franchise following the release of "Justice League" in 2017, Gunn's status as the new co-CEO of DC Studios (alongside Peter Safran) has sparked a rivalry of sorts between the two. Never mind that they actually worked together to help bring Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead" remake to life back in 2004 and, by all accounts, get along swimmingly. A combination of the very different storytelling approaches between the two directors, Gunn's crossover into the DC world with 2021's "The Suicide Squad," and that Marvel/DC rivalry stemming from Gunn's work on the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy have turned it into headline-making news whenever, say, Gunn posts a picture of the two that may or may not imply another collaboration in the works.

Always a pleasure catching up with my friend @ZackSnyder, consummate filmmaker (and a doubly consummate storyteller!) pic.twitter.com/kkl1qZtNup

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 20, 2025

Thankfully, everyone on both sides of the fandom divide can lay down their weapons and stand down. During a DC presentation attended by /Film late last week, Gunn and Safran addressed a whole range of projects currently in the works over at DC Studios, along with the rampant speculation over what Gunn could've possibly been meeting with Snyder about. Are they cooking up another movie together? Could Gunn possibly be bringing Snyder back into the DC fold, despite how things went down previously? Did Gunn give Snyder a special sneak peek at an early cut of "Superman"? The answer to all of those questions, apparently, is a hard no. Read on for Gunn's humorous explanation for why they took that photo below.

Maybe fans needed a bit of a reminder that, for all the debate and heated emotions these movies can bring out of us, comic book movies and the conversations surrounding them are supposed to be fun. Leave it to James Gunn and Zack Snyder to give everyone a wakeup call of sorts, though in a way that only stoked even more "controversy" (a word I use very loosely here) from certain segments of the extremely online fanbase. When Gunn first posted that picture with Snyder, various outlets and obsessive fans went down entire rabbit holes trying to figure out exactly what it could mean for the two to be meeting. (Over on Reddit, certain fans reacted slightly more reasonably than others, to put it mildly).

Well, it turns out all of that wailing and gnashing of teeth was for nothing, folks. While speaking to various reporters during the special DC presentation last week (including /Film's own Bill Bria), Gunn not-so-sheepishly admitted that this was all just a bit of fun between two pals. As he explained:

"I was just talking to Zack as a friend. We were just hanging out and then we were like, 'Let's take a picture together.' We knew full well what we were doing [laughs].

We thought it was funny. He thought it was funny, I thought it was funny, and that's it."

There you have it, folks: An entire weekend of speculation and guessing games down the drain. At least this is proof that the guys in charge aren't taking this too seriously, especially as Safran went on to deadpan with perfect sarcastic timing, "What a shock that people responded." For his part, Snyder seems happy to keep trucking along in his post-DC career with "Rebel Moon" saga and zombie franchise (which began with 2021's "Army of the Dead") over at Netflix. I, along with probably everyone else, am kind of dying to know what his reaction will be to Gunn's "Superman" reboot. We'll find out when Krypto takes us home on July 11, 2025.