11 Biggest Sins of Batman vs Superman

source// Warner Bros.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was pretty much doomed from the start. Even though comic fans like me have waited for decades to see DC’s two flagship heroes together on the big screen, Zack Snyder returning to direct after Man of Steel was the first red flag. Despite the excellent effects, Snyder displayed a profound misunderstanding of Superman. 

It was hoped that given Snyder’s devotion to all things Frank Miller that we might at least get a decent take on Batman this time out, even if Superman continued to fall short of expectations. But now that Batman v Superman is out, it’s clear that not only doesn’t Snyder understand Superman, but he’s not too big on Batman, either.

Combine that with a ridiculous take on a classic villain and a plot that could optimistically be called incoherent and we’re left with a train wreck as the start of DC’s own cinematic universe.

Here are the eleven things that royally screwed this movie. And in case you haven’t guessed it yet, this list will contain a ton of spoilers. So only read on if you either haven’t seen the movie or just don’t care about being spoiled.

11. Jimmy Olsen's Senseless Death

Did you know Jimmy Olsen was in this movie? No, it wasn’t the Daily Planet intern Jenny from Man of Steel. Nor were the rumors that Scoot McNairy’s character would be Jimmy at all true. Instead, Snyder recently revealed that Jimmy was the photographer/CIA undercover operative who accompanied Lois in Africa.

As Snyder told EW: “We just did it as this little aside because we had been tracking where we thought the movies were gonna go, and we don’t have room for Jimmy Olsen in our big pantheon of characters, but we can have fun with him, right?”

So basically, because Snyder couldn’t foresee a use for Jimmy Olsen in the future movies, he just decided, “hey, why don’t we just blow him away?” It’s one thing not to use a character, but to so callously execute him for no reason other than pure shock value is a pretty crass thing to do.

Furthermore, it robs future movies of one of the key aspects of Superman’s humanity. Superman’s supporting cast, including Jimmy, Lois, and Perry, are one of the key tethers. To so callously discard such a classic character is a slap in the face to Superman fans.

10. Batman Or Bat-Punisher?

Okay Hollywood, I feel like we have to clear something up right now so there won’t be any further confusion. Batman has two rules:

1. He doesn’t kill.
2. He doesn’t use guns.

That’s it. Maintain those two rules, and you’re golden. Christopher Nolan understood this to some extent (although Christian Bale’s Batman seemed to be okay with just leaving people to die on more than a few occasions). But in this movie, we have Batman who not only brutalizes his enemies by branding them with his symbol (which he does because he knows it’ll get them killed in prison), but who also has no qualms about taking a criminal’s gun and then using it against him.

Snyder has justified this by citing Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns as an example where Batman uses guns to kill people. But in that story, the only time Batman ever uses a gun is to scare a member of the mutant gang member. And he doesn’t kill anyone.

Go ahead, reread the graphic novel if you don’t believe me. 

Yes, we know that Batman has killed in some circumstances and that previous movie incarnations didn’t mind killing. But these were either extreme circumstances or out of character (and yes, the Batman in the Burton films was extremely out of character).

9. Wonder Woman Serves No Purpose

Gal Gadot’s appearance as Wonder Woman was an extremely bright spot in an otherwise dour and lifeless film. She’s received near-universal acclaim for her performance as the Amazonian warrior and without a doubt, the fight scene against Doomsday would have been a total bore if not for her presence.

But beyond that, Wonder Woman has no real reason to be in this movie. As far as the plot is concerned, she contributes pretty much nothing to the story. There is the subplot involving Luthor’s search for metahumans and him having a picture of Diana from World War I, but this is so poorly explored and executed, it could easily be edited out.

We’re given no real introduction to Wonder Woman. In fact, I actually don’t think she’s ever mentioned by name in the movie. She appears, kicks some butt, and then that’s about it. She says she’s stayed away from mankind for about a century because of their brutality. So how does she even know that Luthor’s got this picture of her? 

If you’re going to introduce a character as important to the DC mythos as Wonder Woman, then you should do it properly. Give her an actual storyline in the movie. Not just some half-assed subplot involving Luthor’s computer drives.

8. The Government's Case Against Superman Is Ridiculous

Superman is being held accountable for the deaths of the villagers in Africa. But how exactly is this his fault? They were all killed by bullets or bombs. How does the presence of LexCorp-made bullets implicate Superman in any way, shape or form?

None of this is really explored in the scenes involving Holly Hunter’s Senator Finch. It seems the only reason Superman is being held accountable for the deaths in Africa is because the story needs for the government to be angry at Superman. 

And while we’re on the subject, if Senator Finch is so wary of Superman flying around unchecked, why does she refuse to allow Lex Luthor to bring kryptonite into the United States? It would seem that if you’re really worried about Superman potentially going rogue, then you’d want a contingency plan to deal with him if it comes to that.

The really bizarre thing about this subplot is that we already had a reason for the government to be wary of Superman! Remember Metropolis? The destruction he caused? The god-only-knows how many civilian casualties? Why wasn’t that the focus of the Senate’s investigation into Superman?

This entire subplot should have been rewritten with the government throwing Superman under the bus for his actions in Metropolis and shown Finch and Luthor working together. It would have made for a far more interesting story that actually made sense.

7. Lex Luthor Has No Motivation

If you found Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Lex Luthor too subtle, then here comes Jesse Eisenberg with a manic performance. It’s like he watched Jim Carrey in Batman Forever and thought, “that’s an amazing performance, I think I’ll do the same thing.”

But even beyond the horrid, over-the-top performance, what exactly is Lex Luthor’s motivation for wanting Batman and Superman dead? Why is he pursuing these metahumans? None of this is ever explained in even the broadest of strokes.

At his library benefit party, Lex rants about the paradox of power. He tells Finch that the greatest lie is that power can ever be innocent. And when he finally confronts Superman, he rambles about how his dad beat him and how it made him realize that gods were either all-powerful and didn’t care or did care and wasn’t all powerful.

So what… God didn’t stop Lex Sr. from beating him as a child and somehow this is all Superman’s fault? Even by psychotic supervillain standards, that may be the flimsiest motivation ever.

And it’s not like there wasn’t motivation already built in. Lex should have been portrayed as the ultimate xenophobe, fearing the potential for alien invasion that Superman represented. And that fear should have driven all his actions.

Instead, they gave the xenophobe characteristic to Batman and Lex is left with confused ramblings about power and gods.

6. Batman Is A Horrible Detective

How come not a single live-action Batman movie has paid the slightest bit of attention to his title as “The World’s Greatest Detective”? It’s happened continuously in every adaptation, but no film has portrayed him as unbelievably stupid as this one.

Bruce Wayne is so inept at his job in this movie, it makes you wonder if maybe in this continuity, the Joker bashed his head in with a crowbar instead of Jason Todd. 

There’s this whole subplot involving the White Portuguese which Bruce seems to assume is a crime lord for no reason that’s ever explained. Then later he discovers it’s actually a ship. He never realizes for one second that all these messages he’s been getting about how he let his family die are actually from Lex Luthor.

Why doesn’t he do anything other than the very basic of investigation into these events? How come he never attempts to look deeper into what Lex Luthor is doing? He knows that Luthor’s involved with some shady dealings, but just kind of shrugs all that off and single-mindedly focuses on getting the kryptonite (which, by the way, how does he know about?). 

Given all this information Batman has on Luthor, you think it’d at least make him a tad bit suspicious about what the guy’s actually up to. But instead, he allows Luthor to play him like a fiddle throughout the whole movie.

5. Superman Is More God Than Man

Look, I get that there’s this whole messianic subtext to Superman’s character. That’s unavoidable. But the whole thing about subtext is that it has to be… y’know, subtle. But Snyder beats us over the head with these metaphors so frequently, it becomes almost a parody.

What makes it even worse is how Superman behaves throughout the movie, as almost a cold, unfeeling god. The first time we see him, he crashes through the terrorist compound in Africa. He doesn’t come like the bright, optimistic character we’re used to from the comics. Instead, he comes like a wrathful god.

He never once gives a statement about who he is or what his intentions are. At least in Man of Steel, Superman attempted to reassure the general by saying he was raised in Kansas. But there’s none of that here. 

In Jeph Loeb’s Superman/Batman comic, there’s a quote from Batman that goes, “It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then he shoots fire from the skies and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him.” 

This is the core of who Superman is. Yes, he’s a god, but he never thinks of himself as anything more than a farmboy from Kansas.

4. Luthor's Plan Makes No Sense

Let’s take a minute and look at Lex Luthor’s plan.

Superman is like an all-powerful god and that makes Lex angry because God never stopped Lex Sr. from beating him. Batman is mad at Superman because Superman knocked down Batman’s building in Metropolis. So Luthor spends eighteen months sending newspaper clippings of the Metropolis battle to Bruce Wayne to taunt him. Meanwhile, he also somehow frames Superman for the murder of an African village because something about unusual metal bullets.

Luthor is trying to trick Batman and Superman into fighting each other. But then he also gets his hands on Zod’s body and cuts off Zod’s fingerprints so he can gain access to the Kryptonian ship. He smears his blood on Zod because some other reasons and this creates Doomsday.

Luthor kidnaps Martha and Lois and tells Superman if he doesn’t kill Batman, then he’ll kill Martha. And he’s got Doomsday as a contingency in case Superman survives. 

Okay… so let’s say this all goes according to plan. Superman kills Batman, then Doomsday kills Superman. And then what? How is Lex going to deal with the uncontrollable Kryptonian killing machine after he allowed Batman to steal all his kryptonite? 

And what are his plans for the metahumans? How does he get these videos? Why does he commission logos for them?

Even the Joker’s non-plan in The Dark Knight seemed more thought out than this.

3. The Plot Is Incoherent

The plot of this movie just makes no sense. The entire movie is completely disjointed from start to finish. 

Why do Batman and Superman hate each other? How does Superman always know whenever Lois is in danger? Why does Lex hate Superman and Batman? Why is Perry White so against Clark doing a story on Batman? Why is the government trying to frame Superman? 

Why does Clark have a vision of Jonathan? Why does the public hold Superman responsible for Wally’s wheelchair bomb? Why does Bruce keep dreaming of Parademons? Why is the Flash appearing to Bruce? Why is Wonder Woman here at all? Why does Lex create Doomsday? Why does Superman have to stab Doomsday directly, why doesn’t he throw the spear or give it to Wonder Woman?

The answer to all these questions is the same: because Zack Snyder said so.

And it’s not like there wasn’t a very good plot. Superman was reckless in Man of Steel and if this were the comic Batman with his code against killing, it would make sense why he wants to take him down. Or have Lex use the Kryptonian technology to create Bizarro, the Superman clone. That would allow him to both manipulate the public against Superman and put him into conflict with Batman.

2. Batman And Superman Are Indistinguishable

So let’s see if I’ve got this straight: Batman is pissed at Superman because Superman recklessly destroyed chunks of Metropolis and has no problems with killing. But Batman routinely destroys property and kills quite casually – almost gleefully.

Superman is pissed at Batman because Batman is violent and brutalizes criminals by searing his symbol into their flesh, thus signing their death warrants in prison. But when we first see Superman, instead of disarming the terrorist threatening Lois, he slams him through several concrete walls.

Both of them spend most of the movie brooding. Both of them have no problem operating outside the law and draw scrutiny from the authorities. Both of them are covered unfavorably in the press. 

So… why are they fighting again?

The Batman/Superman conflict is an ideological one. They’re both heroes, they both refuse to kill, but they go about it in different ways. Batman operates in the shadows, works outside the law, uses fear as a weapon. Superman operates in the open, cooperates with authorities, and relies on compassion and understanding. But in this movie, there is no ideological difference, because in Man of Steel, Snyder took Batman’s methods and personalities and grafted them onto Superman.

Compare this to Daredevil season 2 where there is a clear ideological difference between Daredevil and the Punisher. And look at how well just that simple difference made for great conflict. None of that happens in BvS.

1. It's More Watchmen Than Justice League

Zack Snyder has called Batman v Superman a continuation of the themes he explored in Watchmen, but there are two massive problems with this assertion. The first being that the Justice League is not Watchmen and the second being that Snyder clearly doesn’t understand what Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were trying to do with Watchmen.

Watchmen was a brilliant work of art that pushed the boundaries of what was possible in superhero comics. It was graphically violent and it portrayed heroes who were fine with crossing the line. But it was also an exploration of what it meant to be human and a cautionary tale that actions come with consequences. It was also superbly and intricately plotted.

Following Watchmen’s publication and critical success, numerous comic writers only focused on the sex, violence, and cursing. Moore himself criticized this in an interview: “…there has been, in the 15 years since Watchmen, an awful lot of the comics field devoted to these grim, pessimistic, nasty, violent stories which kind of use Watchmen to validate what are, in effect, often just some very nasty stories that don’t have a lot to recommend them.”

Snyder is the cinematic equivalent of these comic writers. He focused on all the nasty things about Watchmen and didn’t pay any attention to the deeper themes. And the result is a twisted, sadistic, depressing take on two of America’s greatest heroes.

What do you think were the worst sins of Batman v Superman? Share your suggestions below in the comments thread.