Not everything has to be a competition, though it’s often difficult to resist the temptation of pitting two directors against each another to see who comes out on top. Right now there’s a titanic battle taking place on social media between two of the most popular modern directors.
In the red corner, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker creator James Gunn. In the blue, the controversial architect of the DCEU Zack Snyder, director of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and a host of fun yet violent action classics:
Before we get into it, it’s worth remembering that in real life Gunn and Snyder are far from enemies. In 2004, Gunn wrote the screenplay for Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead and Gunn has since confirmed that he and Snyder have remained friends.
But as for who’s the best? Well, even mentioning Snyder on social media is like showing a red rag to a bull, with the comments full of people saying this isn’t really a contest:
Is this even a competition?
Some may take their hero worship a little too far:
But Gunn has his own supporters:
Is Snyder too dark?
Is Snyder’s work too boring?
Both these directors obviously have their merits, though we’d like to see them collaborate once again in the same way they worked on the excellent Dawn of the Dead. For example, Army of the Dead might have benefitted from Gunn’s quick exposition and well-paced storytelling, while The Suicide Squad would have had a substantial boost if it had Snyder-level visuals.
We’re just glad both directors are working, though with both having space operas in production (Rebel Moon and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) it’ll be fun to compare them once again soon.