Batman v Superman Writer Reveals Why the Film Had to Be so Dark

While some fans are drawn to the DC Extended Universe’s more somber and grim tone, established largely through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, not all fans appreciate that interpretation of beloved heroes, but writer of that film Chris Terrio recently noted how, for better or worse, the nature of that storyline came with an inherent darkness. Of course, comic book fans are well aware of how mature some storylines are, yet with this being the first big-screen meeting of the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader, some audiences had wished it was an experience that had more joy, given that no one knew when their next adventure would arrive.

“I came into it thinking the only way that this could work is as a fever dream or as a revenge tragedy,” Terrio detailed to Vanity Fair. “I thought, ‘How do we create a story in which Bruce Wayne is traumatized by the war of Krypton coming to Earth, and in which he enters into this kind of madness?’ He becomes Captain Ahab, and he won’t listen to saner voices, like Alfred, for example, who are telling him to just see reason. He’s a man possessed.”

He continued, “So the film was dark by its nature. As I worked on the movie, it seemed to me that it was a snapshot of what I was feeling on the ground in the country, which maybe didn’t become apparent until the madness and division that came about from the last presidency. I thought this superhero movie could be about getting into our worst natures, but then coming out of that into a redemption.”

Evidenced more glaringly in the theatrical cut of Justice League, however, is that if you’re going to explore a darker tone, you have to stick with it entirely, as that film’s jokes felt out of place within the tone established by the earlier films, along with the scenes Zack Snyder shot that remained in the film.

“I didn’t want to make it a sitcom joke that Batman and Superman are trying to kill each other,” the filmmaker detailed. “If I’m going to work on this movie, it’s going to be dark and operatic, and it’s going to be uncomfortable. Zack and I come from very different approaches to filmmaking, but I immediately liked him because he isn’t cynical and he wears his heart on his sleeve. I’m cynical enough for any room that I enter into.”

Stay tuned for details on future meet-ups between Batman and Superman.