It’s been two years since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hit theater, but the film continues to be discussed and hotly debated by fans. Among those scenes is the infamous “Martha moment,” but it turns out that the film’s crew still doesn’t understand the continued criticism of the scene.
To refresh your memory, the scene in question sees Batman (Ben Affleck) poised to deliver a killing blow via Kryptonite spear against Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) after a brutal fight. However, before Batman can kill him, Superman pleads with him to “save Martha.” Superman is referring to his adoptive mother, Martha Kent, who has been kidnapped by Lex Luthor, but the name gives Batman pause as it is also the name of his own late mother. Once Batman realizes their mothers shared the same name, he stops his attack and the fight comes to an end. The scene is a gateway to the two heroes working together to stop Lex, but for many viewers the scene is odd and out of place and stunt coordinator Damon Caro told Screen Rant recently he doesn’t understand why.
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“There was… zero conversation about ‘oh, people are going to have an issue with this or not understand it or think it’s silly,’” Caro said. “It was — and it’s so funny, Zack and I had a conversation about that, I don’t know, a month ago, probably. That came up and I just said, ‘I have never understood’ and I don’t listen to a lot of the haters, but I’ve heard the chatter of it a little bit, but I don’t understand what the disconnect was.”
Caro went on to explain that the scene was meant to allow Batman — and audiences — to relate to Superman’s humanity and that it was “crystal clear” to him.
“What the problem is with how salient that line is and the connection between having the same mother’s name allows you to connect with someone you wanted to obliterate from the planet because you saw him as a threat to the human race,” Caro continued. “You saw him as a threat to humanity, then in that one moment, you realized he was an orphan and his mother’s… you saw him as you as you as a kid and you saw him in that light, so that enlightened you, that made you drop and see him now, not as the enemy, but as an ally. A fellow being who is trying to do the right thing, to reach justice. So, no, crystal clear and very, like I said, it always made sense to me, so I’m perplexed by that one and I don’t know that I… I don’t have the answer to that one.”
Caro’s take on things is interesting but doesn’t touch on one of the deeper reasons that fans are so critical of the Martha scene: Batman’s violent path from the beginning of the film. Many fans were critical of that, so much so that having Batman suddenly take pause over the simple utterance of the name “Martha” was jarring and seemed out of place compared to the whole of the film.
Of course, even Caro’s take on scene and even director Zack Snyder‘s own explanations of various elements of Batman v Superman — including his explanation of why Batman opted to build a spear as opposed to more technologically advanced weapons for use against Superman — aren’t likely to shift opinions about the scene or the film itself. Fans will likely be picking apart — and debating — Batman v Superman for a long time to come.
What do you think about Caro’s comments about the infamous Martha scene? Let us know in the comments below.
