Teen Titans Go! director Peter Michail reveals how they managed to get Justice League director Zack Snyder to make a cameo appearance as an animated version of himself.
During San Diego Comic-Con's "Cartoon Network: Winner Takes" presentation, it was revealed that Snyder would be voicing himself in the Teen Titans Go! episode "365!" The episode just happens to be in the DC show's 365th episode since it premiered on Cartoon Network in 2013.
Recently, Comic Book Resources sat down with Michail for an exclusive interview in which the director explained how the upcoming cameo came to be. As reported by CBR, Michail said, "We reached out and pitched him the idea. He loved it and was actually a fan." He continued by saying, "It was surprisingly very easy. It was, and he was great! It was an incredible experience, and we're honored to have him as a part of the Teen Titans Go! world, for sure." Snyder is not the only DC filmmaker set to cameo as themselves in an upcoming animated project. The Suicide Squad director James Gunn will also voice himself in the upcoming third season of the much more adult-oriented Harley Quinn animated series on HBO Max.
Snyder is of course the director behind some of the largest superhero projects for DC and Warner Bros. in recent years. This includes 2013's Man of Steel as well as its 2016 follow-up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Snyder's next project was intended to be 2017's Justice League, but he was forced to step away from the project after a family tragedy. Warner Bros hired director Joss Whedon to complete the film, which was heavily altered from Snyder's original vision. This sparked the often intense fan-led social media campaign #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, in which fans petitioned Warner Bros. to release Snyder's version of the film. After two years Warner Bros. announced that a four-hour cut titled Zack Snyder's Justice League would be coming to HBO Max in 2021.
While a cameo from Snyder is likely a welcome gesture from many fans, the director's name has been the subject of some recent controversy. Rolling Stone recently reported on a study conducted by WarnerMedia that revealed that 13 percent of accounts that participated in the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut were in fact fake bots. The bombshell report also made some pretty intense allegations against Snyder himself, claiming that the director threatened to destroy Justice League producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg on social media unless their names were removed from the film.
So far Snyder's only response to the report was a cryptic Justice League post on the social media site Vero in which he used the quote, "If I advance follow me; if I retreat kill me; if I die avenge me." While this quote dates back to the French Revolution, it was famously appropriated by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Teen Titans Go! is available to watch on Cartoon Network.