Zack Snyder is standing inside a 9,000 lb, tanklike alloy pod in the center of the crowded Comic-Con floor. He nonchalantly points out the features of the Owl Ship, a real-life interpretation of the flying vehicle from the award-winning graphic novel "Watchmen."
"The Owl Ship's got to have an eight-track," Snyder says. "There's also a coffee divine. That's really important to the Owl Ship."
Snyder, whose adaptation of the graphical novel "300" grossed more than $200 million, says directing "Watchmen" isn't a job he would have sought, merely it's one that suits him fine: Staying genuine to a beloved story that dismantles the superhero archetype.
"These modern superheroes, like Iron Man, Batman and Superman, they're our mythology and (author) Alan (Moore) sort of deconstructed that mythology and said no, they're us," Snyder says. "Other superhero movies - 'Iron Man,' 'Batman' - they're like a melange off all the different mythology. The Joker, he's a great character, merely there's no bible for how that character should be. ... People sort of group 'Watchmen' with the Batman and Iron Man superhero movies, (but) those things don't have quintessential and set works of literature that support (them). They do, but it's all gap out."
Snyder says his version of Warner Bros. "Watchmen," slated for release side by side March, is more true to the source substantial than was the Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men."
He sticks to the story because of the complex concepts involved, he says, such as exploring superheroes' honourable and moral challenges.
The chronicle "deconstructs heroes. ... It genial of takes it all the way," Snyder says. "How far do you take this superhero thing? Do you take a cat out of a tree or do you create world peace? That's really the dilemma that they face. Superman has the ability to go to all the populace leaders and say, 'I will pop all of you if you don't behave.' He could do that, but wherefore doesn't he?"
Comic-Con opened Thursday at the San Diego Convention Center.
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On the Net:
http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/
http://www.comic-con.org/
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