As it celebrates its tenth anniversary, Hasitha Fernando takes a look back at the story behind Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice…
A film featuring both the Dark Knight and the Big Blue Boy Scout has always been a concept that has intrigued filmmakers since the rising popularity of comic book movies and the superhero subgenre. Thus, when Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice debuted ten years ago the near-impossible became a reality and history was made. As the polarizing effort celebrates its 10th anniversary, we look back at its behind-the-scenes story…
The concept had been in the works for many years prior to Zack Snyder’s involvement
Batman vs Superman has always been a concept that was tossed around by filmmakers and studios over the years until Zack Snyder had a successful crack at it with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. Warner Bros. first hired Se7en and Panic Room scribe Andrew Kevin Walker in 2001 after he pitched an idea that caught the attention of studio heads. Das Boot director Wolfgang Petersen was attached to the effort while Walker’s first draft, which was deemed too dark by the studio, was retooled by I, Robot scribe Akiva Goldsman. Warner Bros. wanted Josh Hartnett as Supes and Johnny Depp as the Dark Knight, and filming was set to commence during early 2003, with a production period of five-to-six months and a release date targeting the summer of 2004. However, the project fell apart when Petersen went to helm Troy and the studio decided to fast track the much maligned Catwoman flick starring Halle Berry. Warner Bros. tried their luck to reboot the Superman IP with Superman Returns in 2006, but that too, didn’t quite pan out.
The project moved forward following the success of Man of Steel
During the time of Man of Steel’s release in June 2013, Warner Bros. made the bold announcement that a sequel would be helmed by Zack Snyder and Batman Begins screenwriter David S. Goyer would also return to pen the story. At the San Diego Comic-Con the following month, Snyder officially confirmed that the sequel to Man of Steel was happening and it would be a Batman vs. Superman movie, where the two comic book superheroes would meet for the first time in a feature film. Early on Snyder and executive producer Christopher Nolan contemplated including Henry Cavill’s Superman be part of the continuity of The Dark Knight trilogy but ultimately decided against it, given that The Dark Knight Rises concluded with Christian Bale’s Batman passing the Batman mantle to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character. Snyder revealed that his Batman vs. Superman film would be heavily inspired by Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns comic.
Ben Affleck was warned about the negative reaction his casting would receive
Ben Affleck started acting professionally during his childhood appearing in small screen productions, television commercials and made-for-TV movies. One of his more memorable roles during the early years was playing a high-school bully in Richard Linklater’s 1993 cult classic Dazed and Confused. After playing a similar role in Kevin Smith’s comedy Mallrats, Affleck received the opportunity to play lead in Smith’s rom-com Chasing Amy in 1997. That year was the turning point of Affleck’s career when he and Matt Damon went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. Since then Affleck went on to become an established actor playing lead roles in movies such as Armageddon, Reindeer Games and Hollywoodland. His stints in the director’s chair with efforts such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo further solidified his status as a major talent in Hollywood.
Prior to his casting as Batman/Bruce Wayne, the actor was warned by the studio regarding the negative reaction he would receive. Over the years the casting of the Batman character has pretty much always received much scrutiny and backlash by fans as evidenced by the reception received by Michael Keaton’s casting as the Caped Crusader and the more recent casting of Robert Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. However, without paying heed to their warnings Affleck went on the internet and checked out an online message board and the first comment he came across was a very negative one, which prompted him to go offline immediately. Interestingly, Affleck was originally offered the chance to direct Man of Steel but declined the offer, citing his lack of experience working with extensive VFX shots.
Michael Shannon’s cameo in the film was not an actual cameo
Well known for his intense and razor focused performances, Michael Shannon’s repertoire of acting skills has garnered him two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Revolutionary Road and Nocturnal Animals as well as SAG and Golden Globe Award nominations for his role in 99 Homes. Therefore, when a character actor of Shannon’s stature was cast as the iconic Superman villain General Zod, in Man of Steel, we knew we’d be in for a real treat. But when it came to his “cameo” appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Shannon never actually shot any scenes in person. Instead a life-size rubber dummy of his likeness (or to put more accurately Zod’s likeness) was used for the scenes involving Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. Snyder did bring in Shannon to record some additional dialogue he thought could be used for Zod’s disembodied spirit communing with Lex Luthor.
Batman’s costume was made to resemble a big hulking guy
Every Batman iteration has brought with it a unique spin to the costume worn by the Caped Crusader and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was no different. To move away from the iconic tactical look of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, Zack Snyder and costume designer Michael Wilkinson opted to for a different look by making Batman resemble a big hulking brawler when he dons his suit. Long story short, Batman was going appear even bigger than Superman in silhouette. Wilkinson sought inspiration for the hulking bat suit from Frank Miller’s Batman character designs for The Dark Knight Returns, which also featured an epic fight between Bats and Supes. From his end Affleck contributed to making this concept a reality by gaining an additional twenty pounds of muscle and reaching a whopping eight percent of body fat. The actor was so impressed with the suit’s final look that he asked the producers if he could have the batsuit once production was wrapped. They agreed only if Affleck would cough up a hefty $100,000 in order to keep the item, so the actor politely declined.
Tom Hanks was approached to play Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor
Prior to Jesse Eisenberg’s casting as Superman’s arch-nemesis the studio was looking to cast A-lister Tom Hanks to play Lex Luthor after seeing his performance in 2012’s sci-fi drama Cloud Atlas. The idea certainly didn’t pan out due to a variety of reasons, so Eisenberg ended up nabbing the part. Eisenberg played the character much differently to what previous actors like Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey had done in their respective films, by imbuing Lex Luthor with a manic energy that broke convention. Regarding Luthor’s attitude towards the Man of Steel Eisenberg had this to say, “He is a narcissist of the first order but complicated in that way as well in that he is terribly troubled and competitive and vengeful. He looks at Superman not as somebody to destroy but as genuine threat to humanity”. To conceal his look in the film from the prying eyes of public and paparazzi, Eisenberg used to walk to the sets in disguise. Other actors who were considered for the role were Leonardo DiCaprio, Bryan Cranston and Adam Driver.
Wonder Woman’s origins were based on the New 52 reboot of DC Comics
In the original comics Wonder Woman was a “clay figure brought to life by the gods”. The New 52 reboot of DC’s continuity altered the character’s origin by making her a demigoddess and the daughter of Zeus and this was the origin that Zack Snyder’s version of Wonder Woman was based on. Olga Kurylenko, Elodie Yung and Jaimie Alexander were considered for the part before the Fast & Furious actress Gal Gadot was cast in the role following a successful screen test opposite Ben Affleck. Gadot stuck a strict diet and fitness regime during the course of production to achieve the physicality and fitness prowess of her onscreen counterpart Princess Diana of Themyscira.
The Batmobile took inspiration from classic Batmobiles & The Dark Knight’s Tumbler
Over the years Patrick Tatopoulous has rendered his creative talents to many a film over the years. He was responsible for the creature/character designs in Stargate, Godzilla and the Underworld franchise, and had also been the production designer for movies like Independence Day, Dark City, I, Robot and Live Free or Die Hard. Zack Snyder recruited Tatopoulous to work as the production designer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and head the design department for reconceptualizing the Batmobile. The chap took inspiration from the sleek designs of classic Batmobiles of the past and The Dark Knight’s heavily armored tank-like design of the Tumbler. This version designed by Tatopoulous was 20 feet in length and 12 feet in width.
Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL divided scoring duties when writing music for the film
Both Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL collaborated on the score for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and they divided their scoring duties amongst themselves to see through their assignment. At the outset Zimmer hired Junkie XL to score the material related to Batman so the veteran musician could focus on the Superman aspects of the score. But in the end Zimmer collaborated with Junkie XL even with the Batman portions as well. The assignment proved to be challenge for Zimmer as he struggled to tell the film’s story from a musical perspective, so much so that he said in early interviews that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would be the last superhero movie that he would score. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, as the uber-talented creative still went on to score multiple superhero flicks later on.
Box-office success, mixed critic reviews & an enduring legacy
On a production budget that hovered between $250 – 325 million Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice went on to make a respectable $874.4 million at the worldwide box-office, which ain’t shabby at all. But the problem was that the movie experienced a significant drop from Friday-to-Sunday with a 58% decline and during its second-weekend suffered a “historic” box-office drop with an 81.2% decline and this was considered by some in the industry to be an unsatisfactory result considering the presence of two major DC characters and the introduction of Wonder Woman. Nevertheless, the studio saw the box-office performance as a positive development as it did better than Man of Steel financially.
However, compared with its predecessor the film proved to be a polarizing experience with film critics. As of writing the effort boasts a less than satisfactory 28% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes out of 436 critic reviews and an average rating of 5.0/10. The site’s consensus read thus: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice smothers a potentially powerful story – and some of America’s most iconic superheroes – in a grim whirlwind of effects-driven action”. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine was a fan of the film and called it, “better than Man of Steel but below the high bar set by Nolan’s Dark Knight,” elaborating that “Dawn of Justice is still a colossus, the stuff that DC Comics dreams are made of for that kid in all of us who yearns to see Batman and Superman suit up and go in for the kill.” Most critics found fault with the convoluted plot and the lack of humor and saw it as an exercise where style trumped over substance. Performance wise many praised Gadot and Affleck’s takes on their respective character but found Eisenberg’s performance a divisive one.
An extended cut of the flick titled the “Ultimate Edition” was released in tandem with the theatrical release on home media platforms which was seen by most as an “improvement” of the version show in theaters. Since its release the effort has cultivated a dedicated fan following who embraced the film’s dark tone, thematic complexity and unconventional creative choices. Similar to Zack Snyder’s gritty, deconstructionist comic book flick Watchmen, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice too will continue to captivate audiences as they debate and discuss the movies positives and negatives as well as its impact on pop-culture and superhero films in general.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
