8 Reasons Batman V Superman Is The Most Culturally Significant Movie Of 2016

6. It's Going To Have A Real Impact

To achieve true cultural significance, you need to have an impact beyond a couple of humorous memes, and Batman V Superman is most certainly going to have that.

For starters, there's the direct effect it's already having on the DCEU; most notably Justice League is going got a much lighter, more comedic tone (and is no longer a two-parter), although the extensive meddling with Suicide Squad too seems to be somewhat in reaction to fears about how the universe was going, and it's a fair bet Wonder Woman's been influenced as well. Whatever the DCEU ends up being, it's a damn sight different what was mapped out a year ago.

However, the true impact goes beyond that. Whether you think it was a problem or not (it was more execution than idea if you ask me), Batman V Superman's backlash is signalling the end to the trend of dark, grim, semi-grounded blockbusters started by The Dark Knight in 2008, and with it the obsession with deconstructing the heroic archetypes. Marvel had already begun the new age of comic-inspired fun, but DC with Batman V Superman have truly finished off the old one.