9 Ways Batman V Superman Has Doomed The DC Extended Universe

5. Comics For Comics' Sake

Batman V Superman flimsilyadapts The Dark Knight Returns for most of its runtime before making a last minute swerve into The Death Of Superman in the final act. Bringing a couple of notable arcs together has been the bread and butter of superhero cinema since X-Men, but Dawn Of Justice has a very odd approach to it, leaning heavily on the novels in some scenes, then free-wheeling it five minutes later. The result is a confused film -without the weight of the whole story, these faithful moments lack their original impact and instead stand out tonally.

It's comics for comics' sake; doing something because it can be done, but never delivering anything more thanthematically empty geek-bait.This may in part with Snyder, who has proven time and again he'sobsessed with the aesthetics of comics, and you could argue having Kal-El killed is intendedas arole-reversal of The Dark Knight Returns, especially with that final shot, althoughthose side-step theoverriding ethos at work here.

Warner Bros. have been trying to bring the Superman death arc to screen ever since the comic was first written almost a quarter-of-a-century ago, and have been interested inBatman vs.Superman for well over a decade. There's a clear, desperate desire to adapt these iconic comic book moments - probably in the belief they can effortlessly beas impactful as they were in print onfilm -but this is taking prominence overall other narrative and filmmaking goals. And if it really is the studio behind it, don't expect things to change.