Since “Justice League” hit theaters back in November 2017, the film’s “director” Zack Snyder has been making regular comments on Vero (one can only assume to keep the social media network alive) about what could have been if the Snyderverse DCEU would have fully come to fruition. He’s talked about his evil Superman, dead Robins, the fantasy surrounding #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, and a lot about what he was trying to do with ‘Batman v. Superman.’ And now, he’s topped himself yet again, as he reveals that the culmination of his supposed 5-film arc would have seen Ben Affleck’s Batman bite the dust.
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Without a doubt, Zack Snyder is a competent filmmaker, in the literal definition of the word. He can make a film, with incredible craftsmanship and beautiful designs, albeit in a specific shade of gritty. However, he’s never been mistaken for a great storyteller. And by what he confirmed on Vero (via Batman-News), DC films dodged a bullet by cutting ties with Snyder.
A fan on the social media network shared an image from a comic book that featured Superman holding the dead Batman in his arms and suggested that this could have been the ending of Snyder’s vision. The director went out of his way to comment, “Of course,” which confirms what would have been the ending and/or emotional climax of the planned “Justice League Part 2.”
Why would Snyder kill off DC’s most popular character, and the film universe’s cash cow? Because…reasons? Who knows? Plot, character development, and proper storytelling have never stopped him in the past.
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Over the years, Snyder has made it clear that he doesn’t really care about long-term planning when he took control of the DC superhero universe. He cast an aging Batman, which is being undone by DC films as we speak. Snyder killed off Superman, in only the character’s second appearance in the film series, which was undone in the following film. And he also spearheaded a grim and gritty style that the casual movie fan has, by and large, rejected. It’s almost as if someone paid him to crater WB’s superhero chances.
Since this is all hypothetical and couldn’t be further from happening, it’s interesting to ponder if Warner Bros. and DC would have allowed Snyder to kill off Batman on film. The character has died in comics, multiple times. However, after the debacle that was killing Superman, would WB have gotten cold feet?
Either way, even if it wasn’t filmed, Ben Affleck’s Batman is dead anyhow. But the world was robbed of a super-slow-motion scene with loud rock music to put the nail in the coffin.