Snyder, whose previous work includes Watchmen and 300, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release to talk about how he approached his Superman film and if he felt the previous adaptation, 2006's Superman Returns, affected his decisions.

"We had said from the beginning that we want to make sure that we make a movie that owes nothing to any movies that have come before it," he tells THR. "That includes the [Richard] Donner movies, the TV show, everything."

His Warner Bros. and Legendary film stars Henry Cavill as Clark Kent, a young man who has been living his life in isolation in hopes of hiding his other-worldly strength. However, the arrival of fellow Kryptonian General Zod (Michael Shannon) forces him to embrace his abilities and become the superhero he was meant to be. The project also stars Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe.

"If you do include the [previous] movies, the movies kind of take over the cannon; they take over the source material," Snyder adds. "We felt like if we separate that, we're allowed to go back to the well in a meaningful way."

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While Man of Steel doesn't hit theaters in the U.S. until Friday, many are already curious about a possible sequel.

"It's fun to talk about it," says Snyder, who admits that there was some discussion about a sequel while they were shooting Man of Steel.

"Here's the one fun thing: We fired a lot of our bullets in this movie. It wasn't like we were holding a lot back for a sequel." he adds. "If there were ever to be a sequel, the big problem would be, what do you do now? What do you got?"

But, Snyder adds: "That's a good problem to have."

Man of Steel opens in theaters on Friday, June 14.

Watch THR's interview with Snyder above.

E-mail: Rebecca.Ford@thr.com

Twitter: @Beccamford