3 Things That Still Don’t Make Sense About Batman v Superman

Few superhero movies in the last 10 years have been as hated by fans as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Designed to help the DC Extended Universe catch up to the MCU, the overstuffed sequel to Man of Steel tried to do too much too soon and almost buried the Snyderverse before it ever really began. While the movie was slightly redeemed with the release of a longer, more coherent director’s cut, the general consensus among DC fans is that BVS was a cinematic low point for its two lead characters. In addition to biting off more than it could chew, one of the film’s biggest problems was that it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense most of the time.

To be fair, some of the initial questions fans had about the film were answered in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition. For instance, fans were initially baffled by how Lex Luthor could frame Superman for shooting a bunch of innocent people in Africa. Thanks to the Ultimate Edition, we found out that one of Lex’s goons burned the corpses with a flamethrower to simulate Superman’s heat vision. Unfortunately, even with the extra 30 minutes included in the BVS director’s cut, there are still plenty of things about the film that don’t make any sense. Here are three that still bother almost a decade after the movie’s release.

Why Don’t Batman and Superman Explain Themselves?

Too many plot points in Batman v Superman revolve around people not talking to each other, specifically the two leads. The movie wants us to believe that Batman hates Superman because of the destruction he causes and his capacity to turn evil and enslave the whole Earth. Meanwhile, Superman hates Batman because he thinks his methods are too brutal which in this universe is kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. Not only did Superman snap Zod’s neck in Man of Steel, but he most likely killed the warlord holding Lois hostage in BVS. We suppose he could have gently cradled the man’s neck as he flew him through multiple brick walls at supersonic speed, but somehow, we doubt it.

Regardless of why they have it out for each other, you would think the first step toward conflict resolution would be to talk things out. Batman has the perfect chance to do this when Superman stops the Batmobile during a car chase and rips the top off of it. All Bruce had to do to open up a dialogue was ask Clark, “Hey man, what’s your beef with me?” Instead, he chooses to ask the Man of Steel if he bleeds, which, given Batman’s genius-level intellect and detective skills, is a pretty dumb question. If everything else about Superman’s anatomy mirrors our own, doesn’t it stand to reason that he has some kind of blood equivalent pumping through his alien veins?

Then, later, when the two heroes meet for their big fight, it’s Superman’s turn to start a conversation. A simple “Wait! Luthor’s going to kill my mom,” could have avoided so much cool-looking but ultimately useless fighting. More importantly, it would have spared the world from the infamous “Martha” scene.

Why Doesn’t Wonder Woman Use the Kryptonite Spear on Doomsday?

By now, it’s common knowledge that Superman dies at the end of Batman v Superman, but his death, as temporary as it is, is also completely avoidable. For anyone not familiar with the film’s climax, Superman takes a Kryptonite spear that Batman made and stabs Doomsday in the chest, killing the monster and himself in the process. Why? First of all, Superman could have just thrown the spear at Doomsday. That is how spears are designed to be used, after all. More importantly, why did he go near the spear — made of the one thing in the universe that can kill him — in the first place?

Once again, it comes down to a lack of communication. I know Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are in the middle of a huge battle, but it would only take a few seconds for Superman to shout, “Hey Wonder Woman, that green rock will kill me if I touch it. Can you stab Doomsday with it?” Not only is Kryptonite not lethal to Amazonians, but she’s essentially a god and can take all the punishment from Doomsday that Superman can. Not having Diana deal the killing blow to the movie’s big bad is just lazy writing.

Why is it Batman v Superman and not Batman vs Superman?

Zack Snyder didn’t do the movie any favors by using a single lowercase “v” to separate the hero’s names instead of the much more common “vs.” Before the film even came out, fans were already ridiculing the name. Written as Batman “vee” Superman, the movie’s title looks like a court case, like Smith v Johnson or something. DC fans were expecting a knockdown, drag-out fight between the two biggest superheroes ever created, not an episode of Law and Order.

Snyder told USA Today prior to the film’s release that using the “v” instead of “vs” was “to keep it from being a straight ‘versus’ movie, even in the most subtle way.” Ironically, the movie turned out to be a straight “versus movie,” so the choice to go with Batman v Superman is still baffling, although we will admit that BVS makes for a more aesthetically pleasing abbreviation than BVSS.

If you want to check out Batman v Superman to see what parts don’t make sense to you, it’s currently available to stream on Max.