The last time Batman appeared on the big screen was by way ofChristian BaleinChristopher Nolan’s iconic trilogy. These films left such a mark on our culture that evenZack Snyder, when realizing he wanted to pit The Dark Knight against Superman in theMan of Steelsequel, went to ask Nolan for his blessing.
Speaking toEmpirefor its latestBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceissue, Snyder recounted this interaction. “You tell me if you don’t want me to do it,” the director told Nolan, who responded, “Well, we don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will [make them].” That’s not the best way of offering a stamp of approval, but, as Snyder continued, “I think he found it a little bit hard. I would feel the same way.”
Nolan, who toldThe Daily Beastin 2014 that he’s done directing superhero movies, also explained that he’s involved withBatman v Supermanonly “in an advisory capacity as an executive producer.” Despite what Snyder said he thinks Nolan feels about the sequel, theInterstellarfilmmaker praised the casting ofBen Affleckand toldUSA Todaythat he’ll be “the first in line to see what they’ve done.”
Batman v Supermanalso featuresJesse Eisenbergas Lex Luthor,Gal GadotasWonder Woman, as well as the villain Doomsday and a tease ofa much larger villainpotentially coming down the pipeline, in addition to officially launching the sharedDC cinematic universeleading up toJustice League: Part OneandPart Two.
Snyder continued telling Empire that his film is, in a lot of ways, “a very personal concept” about “two people trying to understand each other’s point of view.” Sound familiar? There are a lot of similarities betweenBatman v Supermanand what Marvel is doing withCaptain America: Civil War, including the marketing campaigns. (#WhoWillWin will be one hashtag we’ll probably want to spear by the end of the year.) We’ll see how effective it all is whenBatman v Supermanhits theaters on March 25th.
