"Fight Night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world: God versus man. Day versus night. Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!" Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the middle chapter of the SnyderVerse trilogy from director Zack Snyder, released five years ago on March 25, 2016. The sequel to Snyder's DC Extended Universe-launching Man of Steel and the precursor to Zack Snyder's Justice League, the superhero blockbuster pits the Dark Knight (Ben Affleck) against the Man of Steel (Henry Cavill) when the conniving Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) threatens to unleash doomsday on a world of gods and monsters.
Inspired in part by classic DC Comics stories The Dark Knight Returns and Death of Superman, Snyder's superhero mashup also introduced Snyder-stamped versions of Amazon warrior Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and the future Atlantean King Aquaman (Jason Momoa) to the DCEU. Future Justice Leaguers the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) would cameo before being united by Batman against a looming threat in Justice League, which only recently fulfilled Snyder's original vision with the four-hour Snyder Cut now streaming on HBO Max.
Batman v Superman opened with an at-the-time eighth-best domestic first weekend of $166 million and a global opening weekend of $422 million, once the fifth-best worldwide opening of all time. The superhero bout opened at 40% on Rotten Tomatoes — its critical reception has since fallen to 29% approval from critics — and would go on to gross $873 million at the global box office.
After its theatrical run, Snyder would release the R-rated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition with an additional 31 minutes of footage not seen in theaters. Snyder has since remastered Batman v Superman in IMAX and re-released the updated version on 4K Ultra HD disc.
In a 2015 interview, Snyder said Batman v Superman was an examination of "the mythology of these two massive icons" and called the crossover his "Man of Steel 2." He then referred to follow-up Justice League as "kind of the transcendent, knights-of-the-round-table of the story" that is the third part in a planned five-movie saga.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Ultimate Edition remastered is now streaming on HBO Max. Here's how fans are celebrating the film's fifth anniversary:
Batman v Superman Like Never Before
"Comic Book Movie for the Ages"