Zack Snyder shares new details about Batman v Superman in live commentary

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Warner Bros.' DCEU took its first step under the supervision of Zack Snyder, who helmed MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, and half of JUSTICE LEAGUE, but it's clear to all that Snyder's original plan for the franchise was never realized. After stepping down from JUSTICE LEAGUE due to a personal tragedy, Snyder was replaced by Joss Whedon, who re-shot and re-edited JUSTICE LEAGUE to fit a new vision. The results were…well, there's a reason why fans have been demanding Warner Bros. to #ReleasetheSnyderCut for the past three years.

Over the weekend, Zack Snyder hosted a live-stream commentary of BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE through social-media app Vero, and revealed a few interesting tidbits about the film, as well as where the original DCEU path may have led.

The Final Battle & Mother Boxes

The climax of BATMAN V SUPERMAN found Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck), and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) teaming up to defeat Doomsday, and Snyder said that it was important for Wonder Woman to be front and center during the Trinity shot as she's the hero with the most experience, plus, she's dealt with monsters before. As we know, Doomsday is defeated at great personal cost, as Superman gives his life to finally put down the powerful monster. Snyder noted that the scream which Superman lets out as he dies, was the sound which would have awakened the Mother Boxes and alerted Steppenwolf, setting the stage for JUSTICE LEAGUE.

Martin Manhunter

As Zack Snyder didn't get to complete his grand design, much of the threads he introduced in earlier films never got the chance to receive a proper payoff. One such thread was the reveal that Lieutenant General Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix) was actually Martin Manhunter aka J'onn J'onzz. Snyder said that this reveal had been planned since MAN OF STEEL and that Lennix knew he was playing a character who was only pretending to be human.

Knightmare Sequence

BATMAN V SUPERMAN's Knightmare Sequence finds Batman in a post-apocalyptic future in which Superman had succumbed to the effects of Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation. Zack Snyder said, "Superman, at this point, has probably succumbed to the Anti-Life Equation and serves the will of Darkseid and he's also looking for Batman whom he blames for the death of Lois Lane in this alternate world." This was the incident which the future Justice League were attempting to avoid by sending Flash (Ezra Miller) back in time to warn Batman. Snyder added that the whole sequence was a byproduct of Flash using the cosmic treadmill and creating a rift in time, and that there would have been scenes in a later film which would have seen Batman and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) discussing the best point to send Flash back in time. "I had this idea that in the future when [the Justice League] are talking about sending Flash back to warn [Bruce Wayne], that Cyborg would be doing the calculations to send him back and would say 'I have two possibilities of where to send Flash back in time,'" Snyder said. "'The numbers point to two moments to warn you [Bruce].' Like, if it's right near the moment when this event might happen – where Lois might get killed, or Bruce isn't able to stop it, however that's happening – it would be important if Flash came closer to that moment so that Bruce could understand the reality of it. And so in the future Bruce says to Cyborg 'Well, what times would you send me back to…What time right now would you send me back?' And Cyborg says 'I'm leaning toward this.' And Bruce says 'Do the other one, because you already sent him back here and it was too early – so send me to the other one.' So that's how he's able to get [the Flash] back again."

Wonder Woman and Jimmy Olsen

During the production of BATMAN V SUPERMAN, there was some debate on when the WONDER WOMAN film would be set, so there were several alternative versions of the photo Bruce Wayne finds of Wonder Woman and her military pals. Before it was decided that the film would be set during the first World War, the filmmakers were also kicking around the possibilities of setting the film during the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the American Civil War (1861-1865). Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen (Michael Cassidy) didn't get much to do in BATMAN V SUPERMAN before he was killed off, but Snyder said that Olsen's death would have had larger consequences across Snyder's planned five-movie arc. "The ones that die off, die off for a reason," Snyder said. "Hopefully they teach us something as they go." Snyder also said that each movie would be like falling dominoes setting up a new stage.

Before Zack Snyder signed off, he jokingly commented that there should be a sequel to BATMAN V SUPERMAN as he'd really like to see what happens to these characters. Ooooooh damn.