Much is riding on the success of this summer’s Man of Steel. Not only is Warner Bros. hoping the film launches a new Superman franchise, but it is also the key to moving forward with other DC properties in the wake of Marvel’s immense success (ie. The Avengers grossing $1.5 billion). The early buzz on Man of Steel is incredibly positive and the film’s latest trailer was rather remarkable, so expectations are quite high. We know that Warner Bros. is developing a Justice League film with a potential 2015 release date, but further details about the pic have been rather unclear.

In a new interview with director Zack Snyder, though, it was revealed that the current plan is to ask Snyder to helm Justice League should Man of Steel take off. Hit the jump for more.

The latest issue of Empire is all about Man of Steel, and within the cover story is confirmation that Snyder will likely be courted for the Justice League gig (via JoBlo):

“Warner Bros.’ long-term view has been revised to embrace this new vision, just as the Dark Knight films resisted the commodification of Marvel. Whether we get a Justice League, they say, depends on Man of Steel. If we do, they say, Zack Snyder will be asked to direct.”

It’s not exactly a shock that Snyder would be asked to usher in DC’s version of The Avengers since he’s the one who was tasked with kicking off this potential series of films in the first place, and his Man of Steel sets the tone for the other DC superhero movies going forward. Whether he’ll accept the offer is unclear, but he did say that Man of Steel wasn’t necessarily designed as a one-time thing:

“We didn’t design the movie like Batman, but I don’t think anybody would say that you design a Superman movie as a one-off.”

As for whether it’s a success or not, Snyder confirmed that the theatrical release of Man of Steel will run 2 hours and 28 minutes and is, for all intents and purposes, the director’s cut:

“I have a hard time having perspective, but I have to say that it is everything that I could have hoped for. Touch wood that I am not insane, but it feels really good.”

There was quite a passionate reaction from Superman fans when Snyder was announced as the director of Man of Steel, both positive and negative. He touched a bit on the backlash during the interview:

“For me it is like, ‘Whatever.’ I don’t know what they really want, so it is impossible to really take that with anything but a grain of salt. Otherwise you would do nothing. They want the underwear! ‘Do you really?’”

The filmmaker also talked about how Man of Steel relates to his take on Watchmen:

“I was really glad I could do it in that order.” Snyder means Watchmen first, Man Of Steel afterwards. “The irony of Superman is that it is not ironic. The irony of Watchmen is that the whole thing is ironic.”

Finally, while Man of Steel is being released in 3D, Snyder did not shoot the film with 3D cameras. The decision to post-convert came after the fact, and the director noted that 3D is not the “definitive” format in which to see the pic, saying that it’s basically just a choice:

“By the way, we like to think that the 3D is just another way of seeing the movie. It is not Superman 3D, it is Man Of Steel, available in 3D.”

As the marketing campaign for Man of Steel ramps up in the coming weeks, we should be hearing much more from Snyder about the film. Click here to catch up on all of our previous coverage, or peruse the recent links below: