Director and producer Zack Snyder is known for his unique style of comic book filmmaking, utilizing slow motion in hard-hitting, action-packed sequences. Snyder's directorial debut was the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, which put him on the map of becoming a recognizable filmmaker.

But he didn't became a Hollywood commodity and achieve star status until his 2006-bloodbath epic 300, based on the Frank Miller graphic novel.

A decade after Dawn of the Dead and Snyder now has the world at his fingertips, although with his latest project, it would seem he has the world weighing down on his shoulders instead.

The 2013 Superman reboot Man of Steel was a smash hit at the box office earning almost $700 million worldwide. It seemed only natural that Warner Bros. would want him to follow up on that success with a sequel.

The Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex sat down with Snyder for an exclusive interview about 300: Rise of an Empire, which he produced and premieres Friday, and the Internet smack-talk toward the Superman sequel's casting, which will begin production next month.

Following the heels of the announcement that Snyder, along with his cast featuring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Laurence Fishburne, would return for round two, came the news at last year's Comic-Con San Diego that the Man of Steel would be facing off against Batman, loosely based off of the Miller graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns.

If the Internet could actually break, it nearly did with the Comic-Con announcement plus the announcement from Warner Bros. that Ben Affleck would fill the role of the Caped Crusader.

"I'm very excited, it's very fun to get into this world with different heroes coexisting in the same universe, but a lot of balls in the air as they say," Snyder admitted. "As a fan, it's an amazing opportunity. You know Superman and Batman in movies have never existed in the same frame together. So it's an interesting historical thing."

Snyder said he and the production crew dorked out after seeing the Batman and Superman suits, without the actors, side by side.

"I was standing there, they were standing next to each other. And I was like, 'Guys, someone take a picture!' This has never happened before," Snyder said.

Casting rumors remained quiet during the fall until fanboys received an early Christmas present, or a lump of coal depending on perspective, when Gal Gadot was signed on to play Wonder Woman. And just last month the world came to another crashing halt as Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Superman's arch-nemesis and billionaire scientist Lex Luthor.

"We're casting according to what's happening in the script," Snyder said. "I understand the canon. I'm not crazy. I know what these characters need from a mythological standpoint. I think Jesse is going to be an amazing Lex. Let's not forget he was nominated for an Academy Award."

Between now and the May 6, 2016 release of the still-untitled Batman vs. Superman film, Snyder will have to manage a star-studded cast and bring aspects of one of the most legendary comic book stories to life.

"(The movie) literally takes the 'Man of Steel' and 'Batman' universes and explodes them," Snyder said. "In 'Man of Steel,' we had to create an origin story, a mythology, and there's a lot of energy into that ... But when you think about how fun it is too - now that you've got these characters - to now let 'em loose."

Needless to say, this is no easy task, but if the filmmaker who filmed the "unfilmable" graphic novel Watchmen, created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Snyder should be up for the challenge, despite fanboys' opposition to the surprising cast choices.

"Some people are hating to hate. Some people -- someone did some fan art. And you look underneath and someone wrote, 'I guess I can see it.' Honestly, are you kidding me? Just stop it!" Snyder lamented. "It's reassuring and frustrating at the same time."