Watchmen director Zack Snyder will return to the comic-book genre as the director of Man of Steel, the next instalment in the Superman franchise. Snyder, 44, was plucked from a shortlist of possible directors by writer David Goyer and producer Christopher Nolan. Following his success with the Batman films, Nolan has been serving as Man of Steel's mentor.

"I've been a big fan of the character for a long time," Snyder told Deadline.com. "He's definitely the king of superheroes, he's the one. It's early yet but I can tell you that what David and Chris have done with the story so far has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I've always felt he was kind of awesome."

Snyder made his feature debut with the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, then scored mainstream success with the Spartan epic 300, based on the Frank Miller graphic novel. His 2009 film Watchmen divided the critics but earned nearly $200m at the global box office.

Snyder will start work on Man of Steel after completing the fantasy action picture Sucker Punch, which he describes as "Alice in Wonderland with machine-guns".