Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Plot

In a flashback to his childhood, Bruce Wayne flees his parents' funeral. He falls into a cave, where a circling vortex of bats elevates him back to the surface. In the present, eighteen months after his cataclysmic battle with General Zod in Metropolis, Superman has become a controversial figure. Bruce is now a billionaire who has operated in Gotham City as the masked vigilante Batman for twenty years. Having witnessed the battle in person, he sees Superman as an existential threat to humanity.

Clark Kent, Superman's civilian identity, seeks to condemn Batman's brutal methods in Daily Planet articles. LexCorp mogul Lex Luthor attempts to persuade US Senator June Finch to allow him to import kryptonite discovered in the aftermath of Zod's terraforming attempt, so that it can be used as a deterrent against future Kryptonian threats. She declines, but Luthor makes alternative plans with Finch's subordinate, who grants him access to Zod's corpse and the Kryptonian scout ship.

Bruce attends a gala at LexCorp to steal the company's encrypted data, but antiquities dealer Diana Prince steals it first; she returns it to Bruce. Bruce dreams of a post-apocalyptic world where he leads rebels against an evil Superman. He is awakened by an unidentified person, appearing through a portal, who tells him that Lois Lane is "the key" and urges him to find "the others" before vanishing. The decrypted data reveals Luthor's files on several metahumans across the globe. One is Diana, who appears in a photo from World War I.

A widely publicized congressional hearing at the US Capitol, led by Finch, is held to question Superman's actions and intentions. A lead-covered bomb smuggled in by Luthor detonates, killing everyone present. Superman blames himself for not detecting it and self-imposes exile. Believing Superman was complicit in the attack, Batman breaks into LexCorp and steals the kryptonite to weaponize it. Wearing an armored exosuit and wielding a kryptonite spear, he lights the Bat-Signal and awaits a battle with Superman.

Luthor lures Superman out by kidnapping Martha Kent, Clark's adoptive mother, and Lois. Superman saves Lois and confronts Luthor, who reveals he orchestrated Batman's paranoia. He demands that Superman kill Batman in exchange for Martha's life. Superman arrives in Gotham and tries reasoning with Batman, who attacks him using kryptonite-laced gas. They battle, but Batman proves victorious. As Batman prepares to kill him with the spear, Superman pleads with him to "save Martha" – the same name as Batman's mother. Batman hesitates as Lois arrives and explains Superman's pleading. Realizing he has been manipulated, and recognizing Superman's humanity, Batman rescues Martha.

Cast

Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire socialite and owner of Wayne Enterprises who dedicates himself to protecting Gotham City from its criminal underworld as a highly trained, masked vigilante. The Batsuit in this film is made of a form-fitting fabric as opposed to the armored suits in previous portrayals, and a mechanical suit is also featured which Batman uses in his fight against Superman. On Batman's suit, Zack Snyder commented, "I had a really strong idea about what I wanted to do – I really wanted to do sort of a fabric-based Batman; not what's become the more normal, armored Batman. That's how we evolved it." Unlike previous versions who spoke in a deeper voice as Batman, this version uses a voice modulator to distort his real voice. Affleck stated a well-known billionaire would likely have his voice recognized. When asked what makes this Batman different from the previous portrayals, Affleck said this Batman "is a little older, he's a little more world-weary. He's been around the block once or twice so he's a little wiser but he's definitely more cynical and a little darker and more jaded", adding that Batman has gotten "more exposed to the violence and the criminal element of that world over time." The film's Batman was influenced by Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, which shows Batman in his 50s. Snyder said, "I definitely wanted an older Batman. I wanted a war-weary Batman. That's why, in a lot of ways, Ben was really perfect for me – we kind of aged him a little bit. It worked really great. I'm really excited about the Batman we created." On Affleck's casting as Batman, Snyder said, "Ben provides an interesting counterbalance to Henry's Superman. He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne." Affleck praised Snyder for tackling the impact of the destruction caused in Metropolis in the previous installment, saying, "One of the things I liked was Zack's idea of showing accountability and the consequences of violence and seeing that there are real people in those buildings", adding, "And in fact, one of those buildings was Bruce Wayne's building so he knew people who died in that Black Zero event". Brandon Spink portrays a young Bruce Wayne.

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent / Superman: A Metropolis-based Kryptonian survivor and a journalist for the Daily Planet who uses his extraterrestrial abilities to protect humanity. Superman's suit in Batman v Superman is somewhat similar to that in Man of Steel, but with enhanced, high-tech-style surface detail and a shinier, more metallic-looking cape. A quote written in Kryptonian was added into Superman's symbol which says "Where we had thought to stand alone, we will be with all the world". The film addresses the destruction caused by Superman and Zod in Metropolis, a part of Man of Steel that was criticized for being too extensive for Superman, to which Snyder responded "I was surprised because that's the thesis of Superman for me, that you can't just have superheroes knock around and have there be no consequences". On what the public perception of Superman is in the film, Cavill said "In this movie, everyone has split into different directions as to how they feel about this alien", adding, "Some people love him, some hate him. Other people fear him. Is he a tyrant?" When asked how Superman has evolved since Man of Steel, Cavill said "Superman himself isn't that different. He does, however, have to deal with a new set of problems because he's now been revealed to the world. This film is more about how the world in general – and Batman in particular – sees this alien, and less about the evolution of Superman." Cavill described Superman and Batman as being the "two sides of the same coin. They have the same goal, but use very different methods to achieve it. Understandably, that leads them to clash with one another, and their conflict is a historic moment."

Production

Development

In August 2001, Andrew Kevin Walker was hired by Warner Bros. after pitching the studio an idea titled Batman vs. Superman, attaching Wolfgang Petersen as director. Walker's draft was thought of as too dark by the studio, who hired Akiva Goldsman to do a rewrite, which was codenamed Asylum. Warner Bros. wanted Johnny Depp as Batman and Josh Hartnett as Superman. Filming was to start in early 2003, with plans for a five- to six-month shoot and a release date was set for the summer of 2004. In late 2002, Petersen, however, put the project on hold to make Troy, and Warner Bros. quickly developed Catwoman, starring Halle Berry, as a replacement for the project. In August 2008, the studio's President of Production Jeff Robinov admitted, "Had Superman worked in 2006 (i.e. with Superman Returns), we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."

In June 2013, around the time of Man of Steel's release, the studio announced that director Zack Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer would return for a sequel, with the studio considering a 2015 release. The following month, Snyder confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con that the follow-up to Man of Steel would be Batman vs. Superman featuring Superman and Batman meeting for the first time on film. Goyer and Snyder would co-write the story, and Goyer would write the script. Christopher Nolan was involved in an advisory role as executive producer. Snyder and Nolan considered having Man of Steel share continuity with Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, but ultimately decided against it. Given The Dark Knight Rises (2012) ended with John Blake (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt) taking over as Batman for Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), Snyder agreed that a connection between the two franchises could have "complicated things" for Batman vs. Superman as audiences would commonly expect to see Bruce Wayne slug it out with Superman. According to Snyder, the film would take inspiration from the comic The Dark Knight Returns.

In November 2013, Snyder clarified his film would not be based upon the aforementioned graphic novel. "If you were going to do that, you would need a different Superman. We're bringing Batman into the universe that now this Superman lives in." The film also marks the first appearance of Wonder Woman in a live-action, theatrical feature, which Warner Bros. had been developing as far back as 1996. In December 2013, Chris Terrio was hired to rewrite the script, due to Goyer's commitments to other projects. Further commenting on the influences, Terrio revealed that the film would draw inspiration from Nolan's Batman trilogy, Italian semiotician Umberto Eco's 1972 essay "The Myth of Superman", and the W.H. Auden poem "Musée des Beaux Arts" which contrasts the quotidian details of normal people's lives with the epic struggles of mythological figures. According to him, "In superhero stories, Batman is Pluto, god of the underworld, and Superman is Apollo, god of the sky. That began to be really interesting to me — that their conflict is not just due to manipulation, but their very existence." The Joker and the Riddler were supposed to appear in the film, but Snyder ultimately decided to cut them from the final script.

Casting

Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Harry Lennix and Christina Wren reprise their roles from Man of Steel. Joining the cast are Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash and Tao Okamoto as Luthor's assistant Mercy Graves. Scoot McNairy and Callan Mulvey were cast as Wallace Keefe and Anatoli Knyazev, while Jena Malone was cast as Jenet Klyburn, a character that was featured exclusively in the Ultimate Edition home media release.

Dawn of Justice is Affleck's second film as a comic book superhero; he played Daredevil in the 2003 film of the same name, and was initially reluctant to accept playing Batman, citing that he "felt [he] didn't fit the traditional mold", but he became excited after Snyder showed him the concept and reassured him that the film would be different from Nolan's trilogy. Affleck's dislike of Daredevil inspired him to take the role.

Snyder cast an older Batman to be a layered juxtaposition against a younger Superman; while "bear[ing] the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain[ing] the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne." Nolan was involved with the casting of Affleck and he was the first actor Snyder approached for the part. Ryan Gosling, Joe Manganiello, Richard Armitage, Max Martini and Matthew Goode were considered for the role. The director had also discussed the part with Josh Brolin. Christian Bale admitted he wanted to play Batman again after The Dark Knight Rises, though he stated that his Batman does not belong in any other film and he was never approached by Warner Bros. to play the role again. Jason Momoa auditioned for Batman, but was cast as Aquaman instead.

On casting Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Snyder offered, "Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions". Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryan Cranston and Adam Driver were considered for the role. Producer Charles Roven revealed that this incarnation of Wonder Woman would use the character's origins from 2011's The New 52 reboot of the DC continuity, wherein the character would be a demigoddess, and the daughter of Zeus. This deviates from the character's original origins, where she was "a clay figure brought to life by the gods". Olga Kurylenko, Jaimie Alexander and Élodie Yung were considered for the role of Wonder Woman before Gadot was cast. Dawn of Justice is Ray Fisher's feature film debut, and the first live-action film to feature Cyborg, whose role originally was to become more significant in future DC Comics films. It is also the live-action theatrical debut of Aquaman.

Design

Michael Wilkinson reprised his duties as costume designer. He updated the Superman suit from Man of Steel so that it "feels fresh and right for this installment of Zack Snyder's comic-book universe". The first Batsuit featured in the film is influenced by The Dark Knight Returns; unlike the suits seen in previous live-action Batman films, it is made of cloth instead of armor and is a cast of the physique of fitness model Rossano Rea. An image of the Wonder Woman costume was revealed at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, in which the costume desaturates the red, blue, and gold colors that make up the costume of most versions of the character.

A second Batsuit was also unveiled at Comic-Con, and unlike the first, it is armored. Aquaman's look in this film shows him "tattooed in Maori-like patterns", and wearing a suit "decked out in shades of gold, black and silver armor". According to the Warner Bros. Studios lot, the next generation Batmobile combined inspiration from both the sleek, streamlined design of classic Batmobiles and the high-suspension, military build from the more recent Tumbler from The Dark Knight Trilogy. Designed by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, the Batmobile is about 20 feet (6.1 m) long and 12 feet (3.66 m) wide. The glasses Cavill wears as Clark Kent are made by British spectacle designer Tom Davies.

Filming

In September 2013, Larry Fong joined the crew as cinematographer, having previously worked with Zack Snyder on 300, Watchmen, and Sucker Punch. Initial filming commenced on October 19, 2013, at East Los Angeles College, to shoot an American football game between Gotham City University and rival Metropolis State University. At the end of the month, construction began on the Kent farm seen in Man of Steel for the film. Principal photography involving the main cast of the film began on May 19, 2014, in Detroit, Michigan, with scenes featuring Gal Gadot as Diana Prince being filmed early on May 16. While filming in Michigan, the production spent a total of $199 million in the state. The scene of a state funeral at the Arlington National Cemetery, a tribute by the United States Army, was actually filmed in Michigan as well, using green screen.

Additional filming began in Chicago, Illinois in November 2014. Other locations included the Michigan Motion Picture Studios, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, Yorkville, Illinois, the South Pacific, and New Mexico. Sequences of the film, including a scene depicting the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, were filmed using IMAX cameras. The planned shoot in Morocco was shifted to New Mexico due to incidents related to the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Principal photography wrapped on December 5, 2014.

Music

Hans Zimmer composed the film score, emphasizing a challenge not to reuse the themes he established with the Batman character from Christopher Nolan's trilogy. Junkie XL, who provided additional music in Man of Steel, also returned for this film, helping to compose the theme for Batman. Originally, Zimmer enlisted Junkie XL to compose the Batman material, with Zimmer planning to focus solely on the Superman side of the score, but the final Batman theme was written by both composers as a collaboration. Zimmer noted that he had significant trouble in finding a new angle from which to tell the story and after the release of the film, Zimmer announced that he was retired from superhero films, though he has since retracted this. The soundtrack album of the film was released on March 18, 2016, by WaterTower Music.

Songs featured in the film include: "Kang Ling (An Instrument Made From A Human Thigh Bone)", a traditional song performed by the monks of the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, Dharamshala; "Night and Day" and "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" written by Cole Porter and performed by Richard Cheese; "Shostakovich: Waltz II (Jazz Suite No. 2)" written by Dmitri Shostakovich performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly; and "Amazing Grace" arranged and performed by John Allan and again performed by the Canadian Scottish Regiment Pipes and Drums and the United States Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band.

Marketing

An estimated $165 million marketing effort helped promote Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. At the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, Snyder introduced the film's first footage intended to be exclusive to the event. A teaser trailer was scheduled to be screened in selected cinemas on April 20, 2015. However, on April 16, the trailer leaked online, and within a few hours Snyder officially released the trailer to Twitter. At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Snyder and the cast attended to present an initial trailer of the film. While the teaser had received mixed response, the trailer was positively received by attendees, who gave it a standing ovation. Mark Hughes of Forbes said the trailers "both set the stage for a story about the world's distrust and fear of Superman, Batman's rage at Superman and intention to duke it out with the Man of Steel, and Wonder Woman's participation in a big fight featuring the 'Trinity'."

Warner Bros. Consumer Products partnered-up with "a powerhouse slate of global licensees for a broad, multi-category licensing and merchandising program", including Mattel, Lego, Rubies, Funko, Thinkway Toys, Hot Toys, Junkfood, Bioworld, Pez, Seiko, Converse and among many other licensees to sell merchandise related to the film. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was also a licensee for the film, offering a special edition Jeep Renegade in exchange for a near-exclusive product placement deal; aside from Bruce Wayne's Aston Martin, all vehicles in the film were either from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, or Iveco. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Cross Fire, an original companion novel tied to the film, telling a tie-in story set before the events of the movie, was published by Scholastic Corporation.

Also, there are a series of four minicomics found in Batman v Superman-branded General Mills cereals. Additionally, those who purchased Batman v Superman-themed Doritos Family Fun Mix at Walmart received the comic book prequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Upstairs/Downstairs. Rocksteady Studios released downloadable content for the video game Batman: Arkham Knight that featured the Batmobile and Batsuit from the film.

The third trailer debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 3, 2015. It received positive responses, with Scott Mendelson of Forbes calling the trailer a "Saturday morning cartoon nerd's wildest dreams." Molly Driscoll of CS Monitor stated that it looks like the film "will continue the trend of adapting comic book stories as timely tales." Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter noted that based on the trailer's content, the film might be the anti-Civil War, referring to Marvel's Captain America: Civil War as "Superman and Batman complete the comic book trope by overcoming their differences to fight a common foe, alongside a third hero, who saves them both — that feels the most fresh, especially in light of the Civil War trailer. While that ended with a showdown between three heroes, this trailer moves beyond that to show three heroes standing united." However, it was criticized for revealing that, with Rob Tornoe of NewsWorks pointing out that this trailer was targeting the "broadest audience" rather than just fans, as studios try to "maximize a film's opening day box office."

Release

In November 2013, Warner Bros. announced that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would be released on July 17, 2015. In January 2014, however, the studio announced that it was delayed from its original release date and moved to May 6, 2016, in order to give the filmmakers "time to realize fully their vision, given the complex visual nature of the story." In August 2014, the release date was moved up to March 25, 2016, with a Warner Bros. insider saying the studio was "not flinching" in regards to the previous opening date being on the same day as Marvel Studios' Captain America: Civil War, but instead stating that March 2016 was a "fantastic corridor" for them. According to sources obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. considered the possibility of having a 70mm release for the film, which was partially shot in the 65mm IMAX format.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on March 19, 2016, followed by a New York City premiere on March 20 at Radio City Music Hall. Following the 2016 Brussels bombings, Warner Bros. originally cancelled the red carpet of the London premiere, but decided to carry on with the premiere for the fans. The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on March 25 in 3D. It opened simultaneously in North America, China and Japan, the world's three largest film markets, as well as additional international territories, with the exception of Poland, where theaters do not open on Good Friday. The film debuted simultaneously across 30,000 screens in nearly every major foreign territory across 61 markets, including China. In the United States, it opened across roughly 4,242 locations, of which 3,500 theaters (85%) were in 3D, 390 IMAX screens, 470 PLF locations, 150 D-Box theaters and ten 70 mm prints.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $166 million in the United States and Canada in its opening weekend, the eighth-biggest opening of all time, ahead of The Dark Knight Rises' $160.9 million. The film had a worldwide opening of $422.5 million, which stands as the second-biggest for Warner Bros. and the fourth-biggest of all time at the time of its release. It became the fourth film to have a global opening above $400 million. It also had an IMAX worldwide opening weekend total of $36 million from 945 IMAX screens, the third-biggest ever, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($48 million) and Jurassic World ($44 million). However, both inside and outside of the United States, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice experienced a notable poor Friday-to-Sunday hold and set a new record for the worst Friday-to-Sunday drop for a superhero movie release in modern box office history with a 58% decline, which was previously held by 2015's Fantastic Four.

In its second weekend, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice experienced a "historic" box-office drop, with an 81.2% decline on Friday that was "one of the biggest Friday-to-Friday drops any blockbuster has ever seen", and an overall 68.4% drop for the weekend despite not "facing any big competition at the box office", making it the second largest decline for a marquee superhero title, behind only 2003's Hulk. Brad Brevet, writing for Box Office Mojo, reported that "it appeared Batman v Superman was looking at a drop anywhere from 58–68% and it ended up settling in on the wrong side of those expectations." Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, said "Whether or not the movie is any good, and whether or not audiences respond to the picture, is best measured by the second and third weekends...Yes, we're still talking about a $15.35 million second Friday and a $50m+ second weekend, but in terms of legs, this film sadly doesn't seem to have any." Continuing this trend, in its third weekend, the film dropped by 54.3% in which Brad Brevet concluded in a follow-up for Box Office Mojo that "the legs on this one are proving quite short."

In the weeks leading up to the film's release, advance ticket sales outpaced The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and Furious 7. Worldwide, it was estimated to gross between $300–340 million in over 35,000 screens in its opening weekend. It passed the $50 million mark in IMAX ticket sales on its second weekend, grossing a total of $53.4 million from 571 IMAX screens. Warner Bros. US distribution chief Jeff Goldstein described the film's box office performance as a "fantastic result, by any measure". Box office analyst Jeff Bock said "Still, outside of Christopher Nolan's two Dark Knight movies, and Tim Burton's Batman films when you adjust for inflation, this is the highest-grossing property in DC's bullpen thus far. It tops Man of Steel by more than $200 million," and that "overall, BvS successfully relaunched DC's cinematic universe." The film needed to reach $800 million in revenue at the box office to "recoup its investment" according to financial analysts. Despite surpassing this amount, it was considered "a disappointment" for failing to reach $1 billion. This resulted in Warner Bros. creating DC Films in May 2016, giving a dedicated executive team responsibility for films based on DC Comics, similar to the dedicated Marvel Comics focus of Marvel Studios within the larger Walt Disney Studios group. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $330.4 million in North America and $544 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $874.4 million, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2016. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $105.7 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.

Critical response

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received negative reviews from critics. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported that out of 436 critic reviews, 28% of them were positive, with an average rating of 5.0/10. The site's consensus states: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice smothers a potentially powerful story – and some of America's most iconic superheroes – in a grim whirlwind of effects-driven action." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. It earned "B−" from men, "B" from women, a "B" from those under 25 and a "B−" from those over 25. According to PostTrak, 73% of audiences graded the film "very good" or "excellent", with a 60% giving it a "definite recommend". BBC News reported that "the film had been widely praised by fans after its first screening in New York".

Lindy West in The Guardian described the film as "153 minutes of a grown man whacking two dolls together", asking "[h]as the definition of 'movie' changed from 'motion picture story that a human wrote on purpose' to '700 only tangentially related 12-second grey and red vignettes'?" A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The point of Batman v Superman isn't fun, and it isn't thinking, either. It's obedience. The theology is invoked [...] to buttress a spectacle of power. And in that way the film serves as a metaphor for its own aspirations. The corporations that produce movies like this one, and the ambitious hacks who sign up to make them, have no evident motive beyond their own aggrandizement." Writing in The Telegraph, Robbie Collin called the film "humourless" and "the most incoherent blockbuster in years". Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters said, "As you're watching this movie, you might also contemplate your own part, in being swayed into consuming so much of what you've consumed before", adding, "Wonder Woman remains Batman v Superman's most compelling story, precisely because it's untold." Matt Patches of Thrillist wrote "what Batman v Superman can do, it does, at the cost of coherency and thrills. The movie is bat-shit crazy. A dour, disdainful demeanor, plus a gluttony of complex plot twists, dissipates most of the contact high." Michael Philips of Chicago Tribune wrote, "A near-total drag, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice plays like a loose, unofficial quarter-billion-dollar remake of The Odd Couple, in which Oscar and Felix are literally trying to kill each other." On his podcast Hollywood Babble-On, film director Kevin Smith, a long-time friend and collaborator of Affleck, praised Affleck's performance but panned the film, commenting that it "didn't really have a heart" and was "humorless", arguing that "there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding of what those characters are about. It's almost like Zack Snyder didn't read a bunch of comics, he read one comic once, and it was Dark Knight Returns, and his favorite part was the last part where Batman and Superman fight." On a second viewing, however, Smith via his Instagram lightened his stance.

Themes and analysis

Batman v Superman has been interpreted as an allegory about contemporary American politics, particularly America's response to 9/11.

Writing for The Commercial Appeal, John Beifuss noted the similarities between the Metropolis battle at the beginning of the film and 9/11: "The idea is that just as 9/11 had a transformative existential impact on the psyche of America, the battle of Metropolis – and the subsequent realization that an all-powerful alien could destroy his adopted planet with ease – has altered human consciousness, creating new standards of morality and levels of fear – "the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men cruel," in the words of Wayne's butler, Alfred (Jeremy Irons)." He says that Batman comes out of the Metropolis battle scene as "a changed – and even more deranged – man."

Kofi Outlaw of ComicBook.com interpreted the allegory as Batman representing "the right-wing hawk reaction to 9/11... an America that prefers security over civil liberties; the Bush-era mentality of stopping threats pro-actively before they can threaten close to home". Meanwhile, Superman, Outlaw writes, represents "the more left-wing, liberal, American ideal", while Luthor represents "insidious opportunists who exploited (and still exploit) the turmoil of a post-9/11, war-torn, world for personal gain." Outlaw suggests that the scene where Batman and Superman find common ground in their mothers is parallel to the notion that conflicting political ideologies still have similarities.

Writing for Screen Rant, Andrew Dyce wrote "Bruce has, like so many political figures and nations, given up the moral high ground, rationalized his extreme methods as necessary, identified an enemy he does not seek to understand, and abandoned the spirit, if not the explicit values upon which his country – rather, upon which his mission was founded."

Writing for Vice, Kaleem Aftab wrote that the film "was intended as an unpleasant lambast of the government and the popular reaction to 9/11." He compared Superman's character to the Muslim American experience, concluding that the film "is a condemnation of what America is becoming, a place where immigrants, especially those unfairly tainted because of the mass destruction caused by a few, are no longer part of a viable American dream."

Director's cut

An extended cut of the film dubbed the "Ultimate Edition" was released on home media platforms, alongside the theatrical cut. This version is longer by 31 minutes, and received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, for more violence than the PG-13 rated theatrical cut. Upon the release of the Ultimate Edition, critics noted that the film would have likely been better received with the additional footage. Mark Hughes of Forbes stated that "while not everyone changed their 'hated it' ratings to 'loved it' after viewing the new 3-hour edit of the film, it appears most so far are declaring the longer version a big improvement, moving the film out of the 'bad' column and into the 'good.'". He also stated that the film's reputation would improve with future retrospect, and with the director's cut, "that process got underway even faster than [he] expected when the ultimate edition got its one-night theatrical release." Ben Kendrick of Screen Rant stated that while it was more "intelligible", character portrayal was not "fundamentally changed" and "for viewers who didn't like Man of Steel or Batman v Superman for larger reasons, such as tone, approach, and the darker characterization of DC's most iconic heroes, the Ultimate Edition is only a longer... version of a film that... is likely to remain divisive, even if the final product is a better film." Phil Owens of TheWrap called it an improvement upon the original cut, writing, "Lo and behold somehow Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has become something that approaches a functional movie. In the process, it only makes the original cut even more inexplicable and terrible."

Home video

On the home video sales chart, the film debuted in first place for the week ending July 24, 2016. In the United States, it made $23.4 million in DVD sales and $58.9 million in Blu-ray sales, for an estimated total of $82.4 million. The film was the seventh best-selling video title of 2016.

Despite being shot partially on IMAX film and released to IMAX theaters with select scenes in either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1, the initial Blu-ray release only featured the fixed 2.39:1 aspect ratio that was used for non-IMAX screenings. However, on December 12, 2020, Snyder revealed that he is working to restore the IMAX ratio to the film for an upcoming re-release in 2021. On March 4, 2021, Warner Bros. announced that a remastered version of the Ultimate Edition (with the IMAX scenes presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.43:1) would be released on to digital platforms and HBO Max on March 18, 2021 (the same day Zack Snyder's Justice League was released), and would also be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray several days later on March 23.