Zack Snyder and James Gunn just did what the internet thought was impossible—they made fun of themselves and each other, without anyone getting cancelled. Appearing as animated versions of themselves in Rick and Morty Season 8, Episode 7 (Ricker Than Fiction), Snyder and Gunn leaned into every stereotype fans have been throwing at them for years.
In one scene, Snyder tells Gunn, “Just saw your new cut of Superman. Word of advice, he’s the Man of Steel, not the Man of Conversation. Do more shots of him punching!” He even throws in a little slow-mo advice: “Start the punch at regular speed and then you can ramp it down…”
Gunn’s responsed with a meltdown. “It’s not a f***king secret,” he snaps, before quickly apologizing: “I’m sorry Zack Snyder. I shouldn’t be lashing out at you. Your biceps are the size of my head.” Snyder, without missing a beat, replies: “Yes, but so is my heart.”
This isn’t just two directors messing around on Adult Swim. It’s a cheeky middle finger to the fandom war that’s been raging since Gunn took over DC Studios in 2022 and rebooted the universe with his own vision. Snyder’s dark and broody aesthetic built the now-defunct DCEU. Gunn, on the other hand, is bringing a more comic-accurate, MCU-ish tone to the upcoming Superman (2025). And that shift hasn’t exactly been drama-free.
Yet, here they are. Not fighting. Not throwing shade. Just riffing together on an animated show about a drunk scientist and his grandson. Executive producer Scott Marder told Variety the two were “good sports” and “laughed at anything we threw at them.” Apparently, there were even more jabs that didn’t make the final cut.
It seems Gunn and Snyder remain good friends. Gunn even shared a selfie with Snyder earlier this year, fully aware of the chaos it would cause online. “It’s odd to have someone you’re friendly with in real life be the guy that is positioned as your Lex Luthor,” Gunn told Variety. “We knew what we were doing.”
And judging by the fan response, ranging from “I’m suing for emotional damage” to “You don’t just post a picture with Zack Snyder and expect us to move on”, they definitely did.
The Rick and Morty episode, which aired on July 6, has Gunn playing the villain of the week as the director of a fictional franchise called Maximum Velocitree. Rick and Morty, unhappy with where things are going, rewrite the movie using a device called the “Movie-lizer” and end up with something better. In the end, Gunn watches their rewritten version and sobs: “They did it! What an ending! They out-done the Gunn!”
Interestingly, Gunn recorded his lines the morning after wrapping production on Superman, which releases this week.
Of course, considering that there’s so much more left on the editing floor, fans are screaming for a Snyder cut of the Rick and Morty episode. Marder seems to like the idea, too, saying, “That would be cool. I do love a good Snyder cut.”
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