Filmmaker Zack Snyder, who has made movies such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League, is happy to focus on other themes amid a dip in the popularity of superhero blockbusters.

Snyder told the i newspaper: "If my foray into superheroes starts with Watchmen and ends with Justice League, it marks pretty cleanly that era for me. You could use those two movies as the bookends of what I would consider its commercial freakshow peak.”

“Wherever we are now I don't know. And by the way, there could be another giant hit, who knows? For me, I'd moved out of those movies quite naturally."

The director said how he always had a desire to break down traditional superhero rules. The Rebel Moon maker said: "There's a set of rules about what the characters can and cannot do. Those comic books say, 'OK, we're slaves to canon. Why?' That's what iconic destruction is."

He continued: "They were hoping for a Marvel-like thing: 'We have superheroes. Why aren't they doing what those guys are doing? Why are they so dark? Why are they fighting with each other? What are we doing?' These are the kinds of conversations.

“The first clue was when we were trying to get a PG-13 (rating). I said, 'Well what is it they don't like? What do we have to do?' And they said, 'They just don't like the idea of Batman and Superman fighting.' And I said, 'Well I don't know what to say! That's the movie!'"