8 Classic Problems With Batman And Superman Movies Warner Bros. Are Repeating With The DCEU

8. When All Else Fails, BvS

There’s been multiple attempts by Warner to get a DC Cinematic Universe off the ground in recent years – you can bet that was the plan with The Dark Knight Trilogy until Nolan opted for a more final conclusion and Green Lantern was angled to become a mega-franchise – which meant that when Man Of Steel was met with a mixed response, things were problematic. That film wasn’t at all about setting up the future, with only passing references to non-Superman mythology, but to start from scratch again would put them so behind the bubble would probably burst before they got close to success.

What did they do? Why they went back to that old trick, Batman vs. Superman.

And, be sure of this, this isn’t the first time when out of options Warner had turned to making the banner heroes duke it out. In the early noughties, when both characters were trapped in development hell (Batman was still haunted by Schumacher and every possible permutation of Supes had been considered), the idea of BvS came up also. The story of this proposed film differs wildly from what we ultimately got, although key elements (most importantly Lex Luthor being behind it all) were there then, revealing it as a long-standing Warner plan.

The problem with the Batman vs. Superman idea is that it's inherently contrived in any universe angling for a later team-up, something neither of these versions could fully get past.