10 Wildly Underdeveloped Subplots From Batman V Superman

10. The African Tragedy

Early in the film, Lois Lane is transported to a secluded area of Africa to meet with an unidentified warlord. Things go awry, a Daily Globe photographer is killed after being exposed as a CIA agent (this was Jimmy Olsen, by the way in case you missed it). Moments later, Callan Mulvey's character Anatoli Knyazev betrays several of the warlord's associates, kills them and rides away with his own group of assassins. Superman comes to save Lois from the aforementioned warlord and then... nothing.

Holly Hunter's Senator Finch repeatedly references the Africa incident as the reason for her senate committee meetings on Superman, but there is never an explanation as to what it is Superman actually did. A witness describes him swooping in and taking out her husband, and it sounds like there are countless others killed, but the writers never bothered to tell us what it is that he is accused of.

Sure, it could all be in vague reference to the men killed by Knyazev, but who really cares about a few low-level thugs working for an oppressive warlord?

Lane later describes to Harry Lenix's General Swanwick that what happened on the continent kept her awake at night. While it was likely unimaginably tragic, the audience is left blind to a major plot line early in the film.

Considering the fact that the events of Africa are the emphasis for the Senate hearings that would play a much bigger role later, the filmmakers did viewers a great disservice by introducing the subplot and not actually describing what happened there.