A decade ago, Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice landed in theaters – and comic book fandom was never the same again. There’s no nuance when it comes to this film; either you appreciate Snyder’s vision or you loathe it.
Batman v Superman also marked the beginning of the end for the Snyderverse, as Warner Bros. developed cold feet over the filmmaker’s mature leanings and wanted to imitate the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s family-friendly approach. It’s a topic that’s been covered heavily both on this site and elsewhere, but that’s not the point of discussion here. Instead, it’s about how Batman v Superman is the last time a comic book movie took a big risk – and honestly, the genre has been worse off since everyone tried to homogenize it.
Zack Snyder has made no secret of the fact that he likes to deconstruct superheroes. Rather than create simple stories of good versus bad, he wants to put the heroes in positions that question their ethical boundaries and how they’ll behave in the face of true adversity. Ben Affleck’s Batman is testament to this. He embodies the most likely what-if situation had he existed in the real world. After decades of fighting crime in Gotham City and nothing changes around him, it’s bound to break a man’s spirit. At some point, he wonders if his methods have made a difference, or if his code has held him back.
When Superman (Henry Cavill) arrives on the scene, Bruce Wayne’s paranoia spikes. This is an alien threat, greater than that of the Joker or Penguin. The Man of Steel and Zod’s (Michael Shannon) fight in Metropolis destroys an entire city and costs thousands in collateral damage – both lives and dollars. Batman has lost faith in people being able to be good, so he views Superman as bad – and if he isn’t, it’s only a matter of time until he becomes it. For the Dark Knight, there’s only one answer here: destroy the Kryptonian before he destroys Earth.
Already an outsider, Superman grapples with the consequences of his actions in 2013’s Man of Steel. He wants to save the world, but he finds resistance at every turn, as everybody questions who gives him the authority to act on behalf of people and governments (ironically, it’s a similar theme that James Gunn borrows for 2025’s Superman).
In the shadows, billionaire Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) connives and orchestrates the downfall of Superman. He refuses to let anyone treat the Man of Steel as a god, since he believes man is superior to any god (again, another borrowed element in Gunn’s Superman).
While there’s much controversy around the depiction of Eisenberg’s Lex, especially as he comes across as more socially awkward than other versions of the character, think about this for a second: which billionaire is actually cool in real life? There’s a famous one who fights strangers on a social media platform he bought and manipulates, while there are others who have thinner skins than hot dogs, so…
Snyder’s Martha moment attracts a lot of controversy (and memes) to this day. For many viewers, it’s silly how their mothers having the same name is what snaps Batman out of his rage. Yet the truth is their moms have the same name in the comics too, so this isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Also, consider who Batman is for a second: this is the guy who continues to fight crime because he became an orphan at a young age. He forgoes therapy to dress up as a giant bat and beat up criminals on a nightly basis. Someone saying the name of his dead mother as he prepares to end their life will trigger him. It’s a reminder of why he does what he does and how he lost his purpose along the way. Doesn’t sound so stupid now, does it?
Batman v Superman takes another major gamble in how it creates Doomsday for the story. While purists might have wanted to see something closer to the comic book counterpart, Lex playing evil scientist actually makes sense if you had read the comics beforehand. This is straight out of his playbook, and his using his own DNA and Zod’s to create Doomsday is a clever way of paying tribute to this aspect of the character. It’s a frightening Frankenstein’s monster, which is exactly what it should be.
Then, there’s the inclusion of the other members of the Justice League. To be fair, the only one who really features much in the story is Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, while the others are blink-and-you-miss-it cameos. Could the DC Extended Universe have utilized more solo films to introduce the heroes beforehand? Yeah, probably. However, Snyder chooses to establish a world where these heroes already exist rather than give everyone an origin story. Once again, something Gunn does in his Superman film.
Perhaps it’s best to look at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice through the lens that Snyder intended. This isn’t a traditional superhero movie. It’s about examining these mythical beings – or gods of pop culture – and how we, as society, have elevated them to be infallible. But are they? Is there no room for them to make mistakes, question their own actions, or for us to do the same?
There’s a case to be made that superhero movies are about ideals and providing hope in a darkened world, since that’s the reason they were created in the first place. However, what is art if it’s not meant to challenge our way of thinking and worldviews? There’s plenty of room out there for different types of stories and approaches. Say what you want about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it’s the last time a comic book movie dared to be something other than the expected. For that alone, it deserves credit.
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If Snyder’s Batman already knew beforehand that Superman had a mother named Martha then why was he saying “Why did you say that name?” and need Lois to pop into the scene and say “It’s his mother’s name!” before he stood down? If he already knew then he should’ve stood down the second Superman said, “Save Martha!” And the other major problem, as I already said, is that there’s zero reason for Batman to be paranoid about Superman. If he spent the 18 months between the Battle of Metropolis and the beginning of BvS (as he logically should’ve and would’ve) he would’ve learned that the military, who directly participated in the Battle of Metropolis, would’ve reported that Superman saved their lives despite the fact that they directly attacked him and as a result came to the conclusion that Superman was not their enemy. He would’ve also discovered that Superman saved a bus full of his classmates when he was only a child and that Superman has spent virtually every single day since the battle of Metropolis saving at least one human life. If not, as I already said, tens, hundreds, thousands even millions. No matter how cynical or paranoid Snyder’s Batman was supposed to be he’s still Batman, which means he’s still a detective who makes decisions and operates on facts and reason. So why couldn’t he be “reminded of [Superman’s] humanity” by simply learning all those facts about him? It makes zero sense. When the basic premise of your movie doesn’t work all you’re left with is a bad movie, regardless of how well it’s shot.
And no one is complaining about Snyder’s cinematography. I and I think a lot of people like me would be happy campers if he decided to just get behind the camera and leave the writing and directing in more capable hands.
Snyder says he likes to deconstruct super hero movies but his deconstruction is just turning every super hero into a violent nihilist. They are very esthetically pleasing tho, gotta give him credit for that.
Love this piece and love this movie. I’m a lifelong comics fan and I’ve seen lots of faithfulness in BVS (particularly in the Ultimate Cut) despite some expected creative differences here and there. Thing is, people think there’s only been one or two versions of Supes and Bats despite both being around for nearly a century and having countless takes and incarnations (many MUCH darker than what we’ve seen in BVS). But that’s beside the point!
The bigger picture is that these characters were, as said in the article, put in a world that mirrors our own as a means of properly challenging them and building towards their more idealized selves (or some version of them). I love this film all the more for not giving into lame, played-out formulas typically found in other superhero movies. They’re all the same. Generic, predictable, corny, overly-reliant on humor, desperate to emulate each other. Just pointless cookie-cutter blockbuster popcorn flicks that people forget about in a few months. For better or worse, Snyder’s work has staying power, as people keep talking about it to this day while few people remember movies like Thor 2 and X-men Days of Future Past.
Article Rating: 10/10
The movie was good. Snyder takes on the charaters were good. I like not family and kids safe dark movies especially when it’s about the darker side of so called heroes. Unfortunately people, casual cinema goers and I know it all comic nazis don’t like these adaptations much. They like gunn type thing and his pathetic PR trolls made the Snyder-verse look worse than what it was.
Absolutely ridiculous take from someone who didn’t understand the movie he watched. Batman is the World’s Greatest Detective and, arguably, the World’s Greatest Strategist. As such he knows well the maxim, “know your enemy.” So you’re telling me he spent the 18 months between the Battle of Metropolis and the beginning of BvS not learning everything he could about Superman? Including his secret identity and the fact that he had a mother named Martha? That he spent 18 Ignoring the evidence of seeing Superman act to save hundreds, thousands, millions of lives all so that he could hold on to his “1% chance…absolute certainty” nonsense thinking? You think that makes sense for the World’s Greatest Detective, regardless of how cynical he’s become? Like said: ridiculous.
No one’s saying that Batman didn’t figure out Clark Kent’s true identity or that his mother’s name was Martha. It’s in the moment that he’s about to kill an innocent alien out of paranoia. He’s reminded of his humanity by the utterance of his mother’s name at the least expected time.
I love that there’s a dark version of Batman versus Superman. Same way there are dark comics and light comics. It was an interesting. Take well executed and ashamed. We never got to see the full cycle version of the Justice League. Was Superman fully turning bad and Batman being right to have been paranoid from the outside?
Plus say what you want about Snyder. The man has a beautiful eye and some of those shots are still iconic
Snyder should have just made Miracleman the motion picture and given us all what we really needed
This narrative is more played out in the movie itself. The movie isn’t appreciated because it had a Swiss cheese plot. Attempting to combine two of the biggest comic books in history, “the dark Knight returns” and “the death of Superman”, into one movie with no previous ground work was ill-conceived.
BvS is a story poorly written and ill conceived. Snyder put forward the same story type he loves to do, Edge Lord Camp. Characters don’t hold to the basic values of what makes them great.
The Martha plot point is forced and lacks wait for the audience. It would have been better if he had told him to save his mother instead of Martha.
Lois Lane served no purpose other than to be an exposition dump. This over sight made her relationship with Clark feel flat and unreliable.
The line “if there is a 1% possibility we need to take it as absolute certainty” means nothing in a world where Batman lets the Joker live
Finally the foreshadowing of events in the movie had the subtlety of a jackhammer on 2ft thick steel. Loud obnoxious and little to show for it.
Measured against preceding Batman and Superman movie entries you can tell it lacks the heart of wanting to tell a good story in favor of showing stellar effects.
I respect Snyder’s ambition in bringing “The Dark Knight Returns” and “The Death of Superman” to life in one film, not to mention introducing Wonder Woman for the first time in movies. Ultimately, his reach exceeded his grasp. Admirable in many respects, the film was undermined by Eisenberg’s mustache-twirling performance as Lex, underwhelming special effects and lack of coherence in the final act of the film. The “Martha” moment is ridiculous, however well-intended. It’s a shame Ben Affleck never got a solo Batman film, because I thought he was excellent, both as Batman and Bruce Wayne. The warehouse fight scene is still the best in any CBM, and one of the best in any movie.
The best live action Batman, Superman movie EVER!
That movie’s hilarious. Snyder invented a new style of camp and not enough people are giving him credit.