Christopher Nolan has not only revealed his favorite moment from a Zack Snyder film, but he also shared that he believes Snyder’s Watchmen was “ahead of its time.”

THR spoke to Nolan for its Zack Snyder cover story, and the director has plenty of great things to say about him. The two go way back, and Snyder himself called Nolan his “only close director friend” and revealed they talk on the phone about once a month.

Nolan was asked if there was a specific shot or moment in a Zack Snyder film that “lives in your head,” and the director of the Dark Knight trilogy chose a heartfelt one from Man of Steel.

“The moment in Man of Steel where Kevin Costner tells young Clark that whatever his origin, he’s still his son puts a lump in my throat every time,” Nolan said. “Zack is best known for his facility with iconic image making, but his casting instincts are second to none.”

Noland continued on to praise Snyder’s work on Watchmen, a film that didn’t perform incredibly well at the box office but still caught the attention of the director.

“I’ve always believed Watchmen was ahead of its time,” Nolan said. “The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn’t yet a thing in movies. It would have been fascinating to see it released post-Avengers.”

Snyder’s next film is Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire, and it will be released on Netflix on December 22, 2023. Until then, check out the news that Snyder recently regained the rights to Blood and Ashes, the former 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire sequel that is described as “incredibly homoerotic” and “super violent.”

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.