Man of Steel was the first movie of the DCMU and to say that it was controversial would be an understatement. And that is because of the last act, in which Zack Snyder brought destruction like we've never seen in any other superhero movie "“ if we're not counting his other creation, the R-rated Watchmen.

So the most obvious question was: will the DC Movie Universe be built on this controversial fundament? Will it all be as bleak and as dark and as realistic (as much as a superhero movie can be) as the Man of Steel?

Apparently, yes.

Defending Man of Steel

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director defended his first foray into a shared superhero universe. In his own words, he said that there cannot be a city under attack without any civilian casualties.

Making a reference towards Watchmen, he said that you cannot have a mugging in a dark alley and keep it all clean. Someone will get hurt, especially if guns are involved (obviously, the scene in which Dan and Laurie beat a gang of criminals, who were stupid enough to attack them).

The same goes for Man of Steel, according to the director. He didn't want for the first Superman movie to be like something that Marvel would produce (at least, we believe that this was the reference): “There are other superhero movies where they joke about how basically no one's getting hurt. That's not us. What is that message? That it's okay that there's this massive destruction with zero consequence for anyone?" (via Comic Book Movie) And he does have a point in here. Although we still believe that he overdid it in the final act of Man of Steel.

Check out the next page for what the Batman v Superman star has to say about this approach.