Home Entertainment JUSTICE LEAGUE will address Batman's murder-happy extreme tactics

JUSTICE LEAGUE will address Batman's murder-happy extreme tactics

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Batman. World’s greatest detective, martial artist and HOLY CRAP STOP BRUCE! HE’S DEAD! HE’S ALREADY DEAD! While Disney may own the rights to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Warner Bros. decided to emulate that success by creating the DC Movie Murderverse, a reality where Superman can be forgiven for snapping General Zod’s neck when you analyse the situation he was in as compared to the trigger-happy version of Bruce Wayne who went on a killing spree of note in Batman V Superman.

Now to be fair, some of that kind of made sense and did occur in a dream sequence of a possible future. On the other hand Darryn, a lot of the other kills were simply completely out of character for Batman as Zack Snyder’s take on the vigilante was less campy caped crusader and more deadly dark knight. But Justice League will present a change in tone for Batman and pals.

Not only will the film be lighter in tone, but it’ll also “directly address Batman’s extreme actions in [Batman v Superman], such as torturing criminals and nearly killing the Man of Steel, rather than accept them as par for the course,” says the Wall Street Journal after talking to DC Comics chief creative officer Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. Executive Jon Berg.

“We’re trying to take a really hard look at everything to make sure we stay true to the characters and tell stories that celebrate them,” Johns said to WSJ.

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In the past, I think the studio has said, ‘Oh, DC films are gritty and dark and that’s what makes them different.’ That couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer of that in him. If he didn’t think he’d make tomorrow better, he’d stop.

And that’s a good sign. Love it or hate it, but Batman V Superman did address the issues of 2013’s Man of Steel flick, a film which saw Metropolis utterly devastated and thousands of lives lost as two aliens in skin-tight cosmic chainmail had a brouhaha. Warner Bros. and DC listened to the criticism surrounding that third act, and not only did they address it but they actually wove it into the narrative of Batman V Superman in a superb way.

I’ve got a bit more faith in the DCEU right now, now that Geoff Johns is being allowed more control. It’s similar to what Marvel did recently when they allowed Kevin Feige to be the big boss of the MCU and to begin steering that ship in a direction with very few interruptions on the way. And with a Wonder Woman movie out next year before Justice League arrives in November 2017, that’s a good change to have.

Last Updated: September 9, 2016

3 Comments

  1. James Francis

    September 9, 2016 at 14:59

    I think this is another case of fan appropriation without real context. Batman used to kill a lot, especially in the early comics and even in the two serials. The use of guns in Batman only really got addressed somewhere in the Seventies. In Tim Burton’s movies, Batman kills loads of people. The Batwing scene in BvS can be seen as a homage to a similar sequence in 1989’s Batman.

    Fans who go on about Batman killing and torturing are basically being dogmatic about a sacred cow that never was hugely sacred until the thirty or so years. I think it is a disservice to Batman that it now has to make up to a bunch of zealous fans instead of allowing the character to evolve and flourish.

    Would Batman have shot out the flamethrower tank in order to save Superman’s mom? Yes. I cannot ever imagine Batman not doing that if it was the only choice and I don’t think we should be so sacrosanct about what is certainly not an iron clad Batman principle.

    Besides, audiences aren’t stupid. Batman can’t go around taking out loads of people Jason Bourne style and not kill some of them. That’s just stupid, like expecting Bourne or Daniel Craig’s Bond to never kill. Maybe it’s time we allow Batman to evolve again.

    Reply

    • Skyblue

      September 9, 2016 at 18:50

      A great response. As a longtime Batman fan (early 80’s) the killing did bother me slightly on the back of Christian Bale’s take on the character but I found that Affleck’s older/mature portrayal summed up totally where his headspace was in BvS and even though it did blow up on the internet, I was still going “This Batman is a baddass!”

      Christopher Nolan did an outstanding job with his trilogy which I thoroughly enjoyed but I think casting Affleck and handing over the solo movie to him was a great move by WB. I doubt we’ll see the heights of The Dark Knight Trilogy again but WB will bleed the DC universe until it’s dry so I’d rather see a talent taking the reigns and evolve the character as you mentioned rather than sit through yet another “origin” story. At least Affleck has acknowledged his displeasure at the response from critic’s and audiences and decided not to flee but instead step in to “right the ship,” so to speak.

      Reply

  2. Skyblue

    September 9, 2016 at 19:20

    I also thought they did a great job tying up MoS’s third act so well done on that but time will tell Kervyn, time will tell.

    Reply

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