Directors have long sought to insert themselves in their own movies; it’s a tradition in its own right. For every Alfred Hitchcock – who merely inserted himself in the backgrounds of shots – there is an M. Night Shyamalan, whose character could have a serious influence on the plot. With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice right around the corner, it begs the question: will director Zack Snyder appear on screen?
Speaking with 411 Mania, the Batman v Superman director explained that he would show up in the film, but not in a very impactful way:
You won’t see my face. I pick some things up, but that’s it.
So while the director has most certainly put himself in the movie, he has not done so in a way that will necessarily draw attention to him. Given the description, it sounds as though he could be one of the bystanders helping sift through rubble in the aftermath of Zod and Superman’s rumble.
It makes a certain degree of sense when we look at his body of work. While Snyder most certainly could be considered an auteur filmmaker – one who has defined his own distinctive style over the years, and taken the forefront of marketing his films – he has not done a great deal of true acting in his own movies. He has similarly inserted himself into bit parts of his films before, such as an unnamed soldier during the opening credits of 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, but never anything quite so brazen as a fleshed out role. Rumors had also persisted that Snyder had cast his own son Eli as the dead Robin in the film, but the director seems to have brushed those off as untrue.
It’s probably for the best when one considers just how crowded of a movie Batman v Superman has become. What began as a simple sequel to Man of Steel has since gone on to incorporate expanded elements of the Batman and Wonder Woman mythos, eventually bringing actors like Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Jeremy Irons into the fold. Then there are the already confirmed cameos. As the film aims to expand the DC Extended Universe in a major way – and help provide the set up for the eventual Justice League – characters like Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) will most certainly be showing up in varying degrees. The aforementioned setup of a deceased Robin has also led some to believe that Jared Leto’s Joker could possibly appear in a limited capacity.
So it looks like Zack Snyder can officially be added to the list of appearance to watch out for in the upcoming superhero showdown – just be careful not to blink or you may miss it. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will hit theaters on March 25, 2016.
