From 2013 to 2023, director Zack Snyder dictated the tone and look of the now-defunct DC Extended Universe. At the start of the decade's Michigans, Snyder rebooted the Superman story with “Man of Steel,” a loud, dark, pseudo-poetry noise-fest that sharply divided audiences. Some felt that Snyder's motion graphics and exaggerated storytelling were a good way to “grow” Superman, and many felt that Snyder's film was more about style than substance. Created by Snyder, the division continued as a largely random interconnected superhero universe. Some of the best superhero movies ever made (“Shazam!”) and some of the biggest flops of all time (“The Flash”).
One of the more controversial follow-ups was Snyder's own 2016 film, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” In that film, the newly introduced Batman (Ben Affleck) was already suspicious of the newly arrived Superman (Henry Cavill), since Superman wasted away to Metropolis at the end of “Man of Steel”. A young Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) also hated Superman, and Batman – in a very roundabout way – physically fought the Man in Blue. The film climaxes with a nasty fight between the title heroes, and at least one of them gets his head smashed into a bathroom sink. Batman came prepared with kryptonite weapons, so at least he had a chance.
Like most superhero movies, “Dawn of Justice” is rated PG-13 for cartoon violence (people die, but not blood) and dark thematic elements. However, the film almost earned an R rating from the MPA (then known as the MPAA) for a pretty ridiculous reason. Snyder said the MPA ratings board was not comfortable with the “Joe Rogan experience” of Superman fighting Batman during an appearance.
MPA is not comfortable with Superman fighting Batman
Superman, after all, is generally portrayed as an aspirational figure. He can usually defeat his opponents without much difficulty. One could say that Superman doesn't defeat his enemies as much as he humbles them, showing them that their twisted plans won't work and that giving up villainy might be the best path forward. Meanwhile, Batman is an icon of fear, terrorizing criminals straight up with his scary bat costume and high-tech investigative tools. The two heroes may have very different approaches to policing in dealing with the criminal underworld, but they are both heroes at the end of the day.
It seems MPA doesn't like the idea of these two superheroes finding something to fight about. It was cool for them to see the two noble characters turn into raging fighting machines. Snyder was frustrated when his film was submitted to the MPA for review several times, and it kept coming back with an R rating. For international readers, R rating requires under 17s to attend movie with adult guardian. Snyder hated it, saying:
“I remember the ratings board saying, 'We don't like the idea of Batman fighting Superman,' […] I said, 'It has nothing to do with ratings.' They kept changing it to an R rating. They were coming back with an R for us, what do you want us to cut? And they said, 'Well, we don't like the idea of Batman fighting Superman.' I can't get it out! That's the picture.”
You can recall the scene from the movie “Ed Wood”. In it, the title of the movie “Grave-Robbers from Outer Space” had to be changed. Because radical Christian financiers found the idea of grave robbing abhorrent. Wood points out that this is a prequel to the movie, for the sake of morality.
Snyder cut
The final theatrical cut of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” was 152 minutes, but Snyder was forced to edit the title bot by a few seconds. Few moments of fists hitting jaws are few and far between.
However, Snyder is now notorious for releasing multiple versions of his films. I don't need to describe the chaotic production of his “Justice League” movie, which he had to stop production due to a personal tragedy. Joss Whedon was hired, and he rewrote and reshot many scenes in Snyder's place. When “Justice League” didn't get the studio's expected success, a small section of Snyder's fans declared that Snyder was unable to complete the film he wanted. Years and $70 million later, Zack Snyder's four-hour cut of “Justice League” has been released on streaming. Fans of Snyder will love having two cuts of the film to compare.
And, in fact, many of Snyder's fans were already proclaiming their “two-versions” philosophy when Snyder released a 183-minute cut of “Batman v Superman” on home media. Snyder, of course, felt the three-hour version was superior, saying simply:
“So, it was crazy. So we had to organize it. I mean, if you look at the director's cut of 'Batman v Superman', it's pretty good. I think it's a very good film.”
Which cut of which Snyder film is your favorite? As of this writing, the two films have two separate cuts of Snyder's “Rebel Moon” epic. It is 256 minutes or 377 minutes.
