Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicehas become a bigger hit than mostbox officepundits imagined, taking in $170 million domestically and $424.1 million globally, the biggest worldwide debut for any superhero movie. Now that fans have had a chance to see this superhero adventure,Entertainment Weeklyposted a new interview whereZack Snyderdiscusses the ending of this movie. Be warned, there will be plenty of SPOILERS below, so if you haven’t seenBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, read on at your own risk.
As we saw in the earlier trailers,Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceintroduces the massiveDoomsday, who was created byLex Luthor(Jesse Eisenberg) from the Kryptonian DNA taken from the corpse of General Zod (Michael Shannon). During the climactic battle where Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) take on Doomsday, Superman takes the Kryptonite-laced spear and drives it through Doomsday’s heart, which also weakens Superman at the same time. When he is stabbed through the chest with one of Doomsday’s spikes, Superman is killed, borrowing a story line from the iconic 1992comic book"The Death of Superman." During an interview withEntertainment Weekly,Zack Snyderexplained why he killed the Man of Steel, but don’t expect him to be dead for very long.
“The ending ofBvSwas designed to show that Superman was willing to make himself collateral damage if it meant saving others. I felt like we had to kill Superman in this movie in order for us to have been serious with the entire premise of the film. And that’s not to say that he clearly is gone forever.”
The movie’s final shot features a callback to 2013’sMan of Steel. After Lois Lane (Amy Adams) throws a handful of dirt on Clark Kent’s casket, we see these dirt particles levitate, similar to the anti-gravity effect we saw when Superman first took flight inMan of Steel. This means that Superman isn’t really dead after all, but we’re not sure how this resurrection will be handled in the upcomingJustice League Part 1.Zack Snyderrevealed there’s another important reason why he killed off the Man of Steel, which has ramifications forJustice League Part 1.
“I wanted Bruce Wayne to build theJustice League. I felt like with Superman around, it’s a different conversation when you create the Justice League, right? It’s like, ‘Me and Superman, we want to make aJustice League.’ [Other heroes would be] like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll join!’ I just feel like Bruce Wayne having to go out and find these seven samurai by himself, that’s a lot more interesting of a premise. I also I felt like, without Superman, there is definitely a vulnerability to the team that they’re gonna need to figure something out, you know? Superman does represent the powerful. He’s the Michael Jordan of heroes, he’s gonna score.”
The director added that part of the reason this team is formed is to try and figure out how to bring Superman back to life. With that being said, it isn’t known how Superman will be brought back to life yet, but it won’t be as simple as exposing him to sunlight, which we saw in an earlier sequence when Superman is hurt from a nuclear explosion in outer space. Here’s what the director had to say about how Superman may be a different hero after he comes back from the dead.
“He comes very close to death in space and the reason why we did that is because I wanted to show - and keep the idea in the viewer’s mind - that he can come pretty close to death and the sun can revive him, or he can be revived. I think something more is gonna need to be done. I felt like there’s a mythological journey for Superman. There’s the birth, death, and resurrection thing. And when you bring him back, who knows what he is when he comes back.”
Production begins April 11 onJustice League Part 1, and we don’t know how large or small a roleHenry Cavillwill have in that movie, following Superman’s death. Do you think showing the death of Superman was necessary inBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Chime in with your thoughts below, and stay tuned for more onJustice League Part 1.
