![Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice]()
**Spoilers ahead** Well, it’s Monday morning, and the debate continues to swirl around "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice." It made piles of money this weekend (though it’s a far distance from breaking even just yet), and while critics gave it a heavy dose of kryptonite, fanboys and audiences have been far more forgiving of Zack Snyder‘s attempt to bring two of the biggest DC Comics heroes together in one movie. However, in doing so, the director made a lot of surprise moves including one that was surprisingly kept under wraps until opening day.
He killed Superman.
Yep, the Man Of Steel sacrifices himself in order to destroy Doomsday, and in the process he dies. And chatting with Collider, Snyder reveals he debated going down that road with Christopher Nolan (who has an Executive Producer credit on ‘Batman v Superman’).
"It was pretty early, and [Christopher] Nolan and I had long conversation about it, a really great, sort of philosophical conversation about it. He was really cool because he played an amazing devil’s advocate about why not to do it, and then in the end was like, ‘No you’re right, it’s better to do it,’ " the director said.
"We had a version that we talked about where [Superman] just—this isn’t it, but where he got frozen and shot into space or something, so he’s kinda gone. Because one of the big things I wanted to make sure of was that as we went into ‘
Justice League,’ Bruce Wayne was the one who was gathering the Justice League," he continued. "I thought it was really important to have Bruce Wayne be the samurai who goes and finds the other samurai, that to me was important. And with Superman around it’s kinda hard, because Superman’s Superman so it’s kinda hard for Bruce to be like, ‘Yeah I wanna put a Justice League together’. It’s like, ‘Okay, but maybe Superman should be doing that. You’re just a guy. You’re a cool guy, don’t get me wrong, but you’re just a guy.’ "
Snyder has already been touting his "Seven Samurai"-style "Justice League," and maybe it’s just me, but surely Bruce Wayne could’ve still led that charge without "killing" Superman? And let’s face it, we all know Superman is coming back (the "Inception"-esque final shot says as much) because they wouldn’t make a "Justice League" movie without him, so there’s not really much in the way of any mystery or stakes to getting rid of the hero to begin with. However, it’s all part of Snyder’s plan to show that Superman can be weakened, even when he’s targeted with a nuclear warhead in outer space.
"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,” he told
EW. "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 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," he added.
We’ll find out how this all plays out when "Justice League Part 1" arrives next year, and Snyder is already hinting that we’ll see more characters from the DC Films universe besides the core contingent of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman. "I thought long and hard about who to bring in, like who the Justice League would be made up of, and to me those are the heavy hitters right now," he told IGN. "Of course, there’s room for some more, and I absolutely had to keep some back for the next little shock of awesomeness. Those guys felt like the guys who needed to surface."
It’s probably a safe bet we’ll see WB’s new Green Lantern get into the mix in "Justice League," before the planned "Green Lantern Corps" movie in 2020.
This is all a lot to take in, so let us know what you think about Snyder’s Superman killing ways in the comments section. But first, take a virtual journey around Bruce Wayne’s modern home.
