The DCEU has had a rocky road to travel since its conception. Perhaps the one moment that most perfectly captures the general public’s attitude towards Zack Snyder’s take on the franchise that began withMan of Steelis the online mockery that the scene inBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicewas subjected to in which Batman and Superman stop fighting when the Dark Knight learns that the Man of Steel has a mother named Martha. In a recent interview, Snyder defended the scene against detractors.
“Clearly I am a fan of, and am very interested in how ‘Martha,’ that concept is central to the film. I mean, it’s 100% the lynchpin that holds the entire movie together. I think it’s indicative of the way that Batman v Superman was received that its central tenet was sort of belittled and made fun of. I personally think it is like this beautiful and incredibly symmetrical idea that it completely finishes it as a concept. It all is 100% with intent and intention to be all the images that you see, as far as their inspiration and stuff like that.”
Of course, there was a lot more going on in that scene than “Batman and Superman stop fighting because their mothers have the same name”. The name acts as a catalyst for Batman, forcing him to see Superman for the first time as a human being rather than an alien. According toZack Snyder, audiences would do well to look beneath the surface when it comes toBatman v. Superman, because he and his team made a conscious effort to have every scene carry a deeper meaning in terms of symbolism and subtext.
“I’m certain there’s a lot of cinematic references that we have, as well as classical, and Citizen Kane certainly would be among the things that we would and do look at asiconographic benchmarksthat people would be able to link into as a way to help with a secondary storyline. That is to say that the images exist here, but the images they evoke are deeper. It’s like every image that you see - and we endeavored carefully - that each image you could take a dive on and find, whether it be a cinematic reference or whether it be mythological or historical, we really try and support the movies in that way as much as possible.”
Now that Snyder is getting another swing at theDCEUwith the upcoming director’s cut ofJustice League, hopefully, that movie will prove to be less divisive.Zack Snyder’s Justice Leaguestars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film arrives on HBO Max on March 18.
