So, How Many People Did Batman Kill In Batman v Superman?

There are some film questions more than others that merit exploration because of what they represent to the larger conversation. Most recently, the question of how many people Batman kills in Batman v Superman got a lot of attention, because of the perceived betrayal of the spirit of the character.

There was a sort of semi-accepted essential truth that the Dark Knight simply did not kill: he was brutal, singularly committed to his agenda and terrifying, but he drew the line at taking lives as part of his moral code. Zack Snyder apparently saw that moral agenda as a challenge to overcome, so he wrote a kill-happy Batman who killed bad guys with impunity and almost reckless lack of consideration.

Of course he's a different Bat - battle-wounded and haunted by death - but for some that's not enough to justify the sheer number of deaths he's responsible for in the film. And now, to add evidence to that damning case against Snyder's Batman, Mr Sunday Movies has worked out exactly how many bodies he left behind.

There are some qualifications - by his own admission, MSN has some rules on who counts...

"If you're in a car and the Batmobile hits you you're probably dead. I only counted the two in the backseat that get's a car flipped on it because it only hits the back end. Also I'm not entirely convinced they're dead. But whatever non of this means anything. Also Nick Mason said it was okay. I didn't count the guy Batman punches onto his neck, he probably lived through that. Maybe I dunno. The man Batman stabbed looked like it was in the shoulder, though I might be wrong. I didn't count the ones branded because they're fairly indirect kills."

Here's the video to reveal all.

So, not really a massive number, but for some committed fans, it's still 21 more than should ever have happened.