Portrayal Of Batman In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Receives Criticism
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received a variety of harsh criticism from fans. Backlash came from the fact that Ben Affleck’s Batman is completely different from Christian Bale’s Batman. In the film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman kills multiple criminals. This shocked many fans, considering that in previous films Batman never killed anyone, and he usually doesn’t in the comics either.
“So, I tried to do it by proxy. Shoot the car they’re in, the car blows up or the grenade would go off in the guy’s hand, or when he shoots the tank and the guy pretty much lights the tank [himself],” Zack Snyder, the director of the film, said to Hey U Guys in response to the criticism. “I perceive it as him not killing directly, but if the bad guys are associated with a thing that happens to blow up, he would say that that’s not really my problem.”
Snyder mentions that he made it seem a little more like manslaughter rather than murder. He also reminds fans that in Frank Miller’s comic, which the film is derived from, Batman does kill constantly.
It is true that in Miller’s comic, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman does kill. However, some fans still had mixed feelings about the idea of Batman killing, especially when he didn’t kill in the previous Batman films that were directed by Christopher Nolan.
“Honestly it didn’t catch my attention. This Batman is a lot edgier than Christopher Nolan’s, this Batman has a lot more negative views,” Andres Lopez, 23, a fan of the film said.
Lopez then proceeded to mention that he would only be upset if the common qualities of Batman, such as his parent’s death, were changed. Although Lopez was not bothered by the new change within the film, other fans found the change of the character upsetting because Batman’s aggression was out of character.
“He would blow people up and indirectly shoot them… as opposed to just saving them,” Erik Ruiz, 22, a fan of the film said, “but I understood why, because you could tell that this Batman has been through so much pain, that I think he learned his lesson the hard way with the no killing rule, [because of] Robin’s death.”
In Miller’s comic, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman does constantly mention the death of Robin and blames himself for it. This guilt then causes Batman to be less cautious when fighting criminals. So, if Snyder did indeed use Miller’s work as a reference then the film is not 100 percent inaccurate.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has received harsh criticism. However, if you have yet to see the film, make sure to watch it with a clean slate rather than assuming it will be bad. In the end, criticism is just another person’s opinion.
