Zack Snyder defends Man of Steel's controversial ending

British actor Henry Cavill starred as Superman in the controversial 2013 movie

It was one of the most controversial finales of a superhero movie in recent history.

Comic book and superhero fans were left horrified by the conclusion to 2013's Man of Steel, when Superman and General Zod's final battle destroyed Metropolis and presumably left hundreds of innocent people dead.

However, director Zack Snyder has come out in defence of the subject matter.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Snyder said that the backlash was unexpected.

"I was surprised because that's the thesis of Superman for me, that you can't just have superheroes knock around and have there be no consequences."

Snyder, who directed next year's follow-up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, said he wanted the end of Steel to be different to other superhero movies.

"There are other superhero movies where they joke about how basically no one's getting hurt. That's not us. What is that message? That's it's okay that there's this massive destruction with zero consequence for anyone?"

Man of Steel and Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder

The sequel was always meant to deal with the effects of the destruction," he said.

Ben Affleck, who plays Batman in the upcoming film, says the destruction is what brings Bruce Wayne into the action.

"One of the things I liked was Zack's idea of showing accountability and the consequences of violence and seeing that there are real people in those buildings. And in fact, one of those buildings was Bruce Wayne's building so he knew people who died in that Black Zero event."

Fans will have to wait until March 24 to see if Snyder's intentions pay off.

- nzherald.co.nz