If you want to sit down and start a debate with a superhero film fan, all you have to do is ask them about their thoughts on “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The Zack Snyder film is still discussed heavily, more than four years after it hit theaters. And a lot of that comes down to Snyder’s vision of superheroes and the two biggest icons of the genre, specifically. Luckily, in honor of the recent anniversary of the film, we now have a deeper understanding of what Snyder was thinking when crafting his film.
Recently, the filmmaker recorded a commentary where he went over almost every aspect of “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” He discussed the characters, his specific vision of Superman and Batman, as well as a possible future for the series.
The filmmaker revealed that the death of Jimmy Olsen (who was featured in a blind-and-you-miss-it cameo, barely even given a name) was meant to have lasting effects on the franchise he was building.
“The ones that die off, die off for a reason,” Snyder said. “Hopefully, they teach us something as they go.”
And speaking of future films and character reveals, the director once again confirmed that Harry Lennix was always going to be revealed as J’onn J’onzz, aka Martian Manhunter, but he never got the chance to make it happen. In fact, Snyder says Lennix knew the whole time and portrayed his character as an alien attempting to mimic a human.
Another character that is often talked about with confusion when discussing ‘BvS’ is Lex Luthor, as portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg. While the character has grown to be a bit more beloved by the Snyder faithful, many view Eisenberg’s version of the Superman villain to be cartoonish and a bit strange. According to Snyder, his vision of Luthor is as a modern supervillain, different than how he was shown in the comics.
“Lex is a very interesting sort of study … we wanted him to be less of a corporate brute and more an intellectual, a modern study of what a super-villain might look like,” explained the filmmaker.
The entire commentary is filled with little tidbits of information that many of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut folks will find interesting. For film fans that aren’t so deeply devoted to the Church of Zack Snyder, the commentary does help to explain some of the filmmaker’s thought-processes as he crafted one of the most divisive superhero films of all time.
And as an added bonus, the filmmaker concludes his discussion by teasing the idea of a ‘BvS’ sequel, albeit in a bit of a joking way. However, it’s clear that this won’t ever happen, as WB has moved on from the Snyderverse. You can watch the commentary below.