5. The First Ever Reebotquel?
So Superman vs Batman is the sequel to a reboot that is also a reboot in its own right? Okay... Maybe it had something to do with the lukewarm reception and
lower than expected box office returns of
Man of Steel. Although the movie's opening weekend was the second-highest of the year at $116.6m, that was over a third of its total domestic gross and it closed shy of $300m. For a reboot that's an impressive number, considering
Batman Begins took only $374.2m in total before
The Dark Knight exploded to become one of the biggest movies of all time. Only in today's blockbuster-heavy marketplace would a worldwide total of $662.8m be considered a disappointment but it was, considering many analysts had the movie as a shoo-in to join the billion dollar club before it opened. Surely it was never the plan to add Batman to the sequel from the start? Maybe it was Zack Snyder's idea, maybe there was a little studio interference, but the announcement of
Superman vs Batman came out of nowhere. After the mass hysteria from the fan community died down, it seems to be showing a lack of faith in the world established in
Man of Steel. Successful superhero movies tend to have
even more successful sequels so it seems a strange move to reboot Batman in another character's franchise, especially a franchise that already has
Dark Knight Trilogy mastermind Christopher Nolan on board as producer.