Standing inside a 9,000-pound, tanklike metal pod in the center of the crowded Comic-Con floor, Zack Snyder nonchalantly pointed out the features of the Owl Ship, a real-life version of the flying vehicle from the award-winning graphic novel "Watchmen."

"The Owl Ship's got to have an eight-track," Snyder said. "There's also a coffee maker. That's really important to the Owl Ship."

Snyder, whose adaptation of the graphic novel "300" grossed more than $200 million, said directing "Watchmen" isn't a job he would have sought, but it's one that suits him fine: staying true to a beloved story that dismantles the superhero archetype.

"These modern superheroes, like Iron Man, Batman and Superman, they're our mythology, and (author) Alan (Moore) sort of deconstructed that mythology and said no, they're us," Snyder said.

"... People sort of group 'Watchmen' with the Batman and Iron Man superhero movies, (but) those things don't have quintessential and set works of literature that support (them). They do, but it's all spread out."

Snyder said his adaptation of Warner Bros.' "Watchmen," slated for release next March, is more true to the source material than was the Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men."

He sticks to the story because of the complex concepts involved, he said, such as exploring superheroes' ethical and moral challenges.

The story "deconstructs heroes. ... It kind of takes it all the way," Snyder said. "How far do you take this superhero thing? Do you take a cat out of a tree or do you create world peace? That's really the dilemma that they face. Superman has the ability to go to all the world leaders and say, 'I will kill all of you if you don't behave.' He could do that, but why doesn't he?"