One of the biggest criticisms Man of Steel and director Zack Snyder faced in 2013 was the amount of destruction levelled against Metropolis, especially during Superman’s climactic fight with Zod. When promotion for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice began in 2015, it became immediately apparent this issue was going to tackled head on in the movie as Superman is held accountable by the government to answer for the damage.
This month DC Comics has been doing variant covers to promote Batman v Superman and each issue in this week’s DC All Access, found at the end of the books, features an interview with Snyder himself. The theme of consequences and accountability is the topic of discussion and Snyder spoke at length about Superman’s journey as a superhero.
“Over the last two years he’s basically been Superman as pop culture would know him. He’s been righting wrongs, there have been floods, mines have collapsed, bridges have collapsed, churches have caught on fire. He’s basically been a hero. When we find him, he’s been dealing with the everyday world of being a superhero, but there’s a paradigm shift happening in that the unintended consequences of some of those rescues are starting to come into fruition. He’s starting to see that every action has a reaction. Like, if you’re just taking a cat out of a tree, you can’t touch anything or the arborists will say, ‘He damaged the tree branch when he got the cat down.’ Or, ‘The cat wasn’t neutered, so now there’s thousands of cats.’ There’s no winning anymore for Superman.”
Also a topic was Batman’s outsider’s perception of Superman. If you’ve seen the trailers, you’ll know Bruce Wayne was in Metropolis the day Zod and his army attacked the city and not only witnessed it’s destruction, but also Superman and Zod’s fight throughout Metropolis. Needless to say, his opinion of Superman is not very positive or hopeful.
“It’s interesting to see how Batman perceives Superman, because he doesn’t know who Superman is. All he knows is the public face of Superman. And if you have an idea about someone or if you start to doubt someone’s intentions, you can always read in the media, you can always see the face that you want to see, based on how it’s reported. Batman’s seen the destruction of Metropolis. That’s the thing he knows for a fact. So if thousands die, is that okay? What next? Millions? Is everyone okay with that? Because I’m not. That’s Batman’s point of view.”
It will be interesting to see how Snyder utilizes these themes in just a couple of weeks and beyond as Batman v Superman will no doubt have huge ramifications for both heroes going forward into Justice League and beyond.
SEE ALSO: Why a Batman v Superman R-rated cut is a good thing
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
SEE ALSO: Follow all of our Batman v Superman coverage here
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set for release on March 25th 2016 and sees Zack Snyder directing a cast that includes returning Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Harry Lennix (General Swanwick) and Christina Wren (Carrie Farris) alongside Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious 6) as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as The Flash, Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Alfred Pennyworth, Holly Hunter (The Piano) as Senator Finch, Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) as Mercy Graves, Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead) as Martha Wayne, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) as Thomas Wayne and Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire), Jena Malone (Sucker Punch) and Scoot McNairy (Argo) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
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Originally published March 3, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
