Since the big news at last year’s Comic-Con that The Dark Knight will join the Man of Steel for the upcoming DC Comics superhero spectacular Batman vs. Superman, we’ve had to suffer through wave after wave of rumours concerning everything from the casting of Batman and Lex Luthor through to the inclusion of virtually every DC character under the sun, most of which proved to have very little substance about them.
However, while Warner Bros. has done an effective job keeping details of the Man of Steel sequel under wraps, that didn’t stop the Comic-Con announcement from leaking online just hours before Zack Snyder took to the stage to reveal that he’s bringing the two iconic superheroes together on screen. So, how does the director feel about that, and leaks in general?
“[The leak] was definitely not a planned thing,” Snyder tells The Huffington Post during a promotional interview for 300: Rise of an Empire. “The leak becomes the audience involvement. They are now part of it, the process. Do you know what I mean? And you have to take that as the world we live in, as opposed to ‘Oh, that’s too bad.’ That’s fun for us when we’re able to announce Jesse Eisenberg to the audience [and nobody saw it coming].”
Snyder’s wife and producing partner Deborah then went into detail about her feelings on the matter, stating, “Things get leaked so often these days, it’s a shame because even casing announcements, or whatever, you’re in the middle of a process and sometimes they’re so off base — and then it gets picked up by multiple places and it’s all over the place. Or some of it, you’re just having conversations, but that doesn’t mean they are a contender, but you’re just exploring and it gets made public. It’s kind of a shame that you can’t go through the process in a pure way and then be able to announce it in a way that’s exciting.
“With the [Comic-Con] announcement, there was rumblings and we were like, ‘aw’, because we wanted to bring it to the fans” she continues. “We wanted to bring them something special. We went to Comic-Con for “Watchmen” and we were bringing the cast to announce it and it got leaked a couple of days before. We wanted to give that to them and we got cheated out of it.”
Meanwhile, speaking to Hero Complex, the director spoke about the reaction to the casting of Batman vs. Superman: “We know the material. Unfortunately, the fans don’t know the material. So, we’re casting according to what’s happening in the script. I understand the canon. I’m not crazy. I know what these characters need from a mythological standpoint. I think Jesse is going to be an amazing Lex. Let’s not forget he was nominated for an Academy Award. It’s not like I just grabbed my friend to play the guy! This guy’s the real deal. By the way, in looking at all the talk-back, you can get all different perspectives in there too. Some people are hating to hate. Some people — someone did some fan art… [The movie] literally takes the Man of Steel and Batman universes and explodes them… But when you think about how fun it is too — now that you’ve got these characters — to now let ‘em loose. That’s fun!”
Batman vs. Superman is set for release on May 6th 2016 with a cast that includes Henry Cavill (Clark Kent / Superman), Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White) and Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth).
Originally published March 4, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
