We already know Superman’s role in the destruction of Metropolis during Man of Steel will figure heavily in the plot of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, as Batman witnessed the fight with Zod and just doesn’t trust these aliens. Now director Zack Snyder is talking about the public perception of Superman, and Batman’s distrust, in a print interview with DC All Access (an interview which will run in the back of any DC comics printed this week).
“Over the last two years he’s basically been Superman as pop culture would know him. He’s been righting wrongs, there have been floods, mines have collapsed, bridges have collapsed, churches have caught on fire. He’s basically been a hero. When we find him, he’s been dealing with the everyday world of being a superhero, but there’s a paradigm shift happening in that the unintended consequences of some of those rescues are starting to come into fruition. He’s starting to see that every action has a reaction. Like, if you’re just taking a cat out of a tree, you can’t touch anything or the arborists will say, ‘He damaged the tree branch when he got the cat down.’ Or, ‘The cat wasn’t neutered, so now there’s thousands of cats.’ There’s no winning anymore for Superman.”
There’s no winning anymore for Superman? Henry Cavill may disagree with this, although he did concede that Superman’s unwillingness to hurt people gives Batman an advantage. Like Superman said in the international trailer, “Stay down. If I wanted it, you’d be dead already.”
But we can see Snyder’s point. Superman can do no right in the court of public opinion, and every cat saved from a tree can trigger another round of #ACTUALLY thinkpieces. And it isn’t just media sensationalists reading ill intent into Superman’s actions. Snyder says Batman himself isn’t okay with letting Superman destroy Metropolis.
“It’s interesting to see how Batman perceives Superman, because he doesn’t know who Superman is. All he knows is the public face of Superman. And if you have an idea about someone or if you start to doubt someone’s intentions, you can always read in the media, you can always see the face that you want to see, based on how it’s reported. Batman’s seen the destruction of Metropolis. That’s the thing he knows for a fact. So if thousands die, is that okay? What next? Millions? Is everyone okay with that? Because I’m not. That’s Batman’s point of view.”
This reminds us, Batman is straight-up taunting Superman in the newest Batman V Superman TV spot, saying, “Here I am” almost in a tone of come at me, bro.
(Via Coming Soon and CBM)
