‘Batman v Superman’ Opening Scene Revealed

As we’ve seen in the trailers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (and as the title suggests), there’s going to be a whole lot of Batman v Superman as Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne is clearly not-very-okay with Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel and his superpowers. But what is it that sets Bruce off? A new interview with the stars of the film shines some light on this battle between heroes, while Affleck himself has confirmed that he may direct a solo Batman movie.

In the latest Batman v Superman-centric issue of Total Film (via Latino Review), Affleck and Cavill talked about their titular heroes and what makes them tick, or more importantly, why Batman is so ticked off about Superman. You likely noticed a scene in the trailers that shows Superman’s Metropolis-shattering fight with Zod in Man of Steel from Bruce Wayne’s perspective, which seems to address the complaint many fans had about Man of Steel, in that Superman was awfully careless for a superhero.

As it turns out, this scene not only ties the previous film to Batman v Superman, but it’s actually the opening sequence and serves as the inciting incident. Cavill explains:

What happens there is one of Bruce’s buildings gets destroyed and he’s trying to save all the people inside the building and he can’t. So he is this angry person who fears what Superman may do. Why are they just going to trust this super-powered alien? What if he does decide to turn against us?

This will lead to Bruce Wayne becoming obsessive in his anger toward Superman, as Affleck says:

He’s found himself in a place of harboring a tremendous amount of rage for Superman. So it’s how he got there, and what that’s done to him, and what that’s done to people around him like Alfred, who are, I think, very scared and worried for him. It’s something that’s interesting and new.

During Comic-Con it was reported that Affleck will be directing and starring in a new solo Batman movie for Warner Bros., with DC’s chief creative officer Geoff Johns reportedly co-writing the script with Affleck based in part on Johns’ own Batman: Earth One comics. Neither Affleck nor WB have confirmed this information, but Affleck says it might happen — keyword: might.

If I could make it work, yeah. Obviously that would be like a dream. The trick is, as to any movie, is to make sure that you – if you’re going to direct it – that you can make it good. You’ve got to have the right idea and the right take on it… Broadly speaking, it’s something I’d be open to, for sure. It’s a very exciting idea.

WB delayed Affleck’s next two movies — The Accountant and Live by Night — seemingly indicating truth to this summer’s reports. Affleck is set to direct Live by Night next, after which he’s reprising his role as Batman in Justice League: Part One. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman producer Charles Roven confirms that it’s really a matter of finding time in Affleck’s busy schedule:

He’s about to start a movie now, and he’s also got obligations to be in the Justice League movies. The calendar is a little bit tricky. Of course, the script obviously has to be worthy of him wanting to direct it. And once that happens, it’s still got to fit into the calendar. We’re hoping we can make it happen. We’re just at the beginning of the question.

All signs point to Affleck directing a solo Batman film once his schedule has been appropriately worked out, so it shouldn’t be too much longer before we hear something more official from WB either way.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters on March 26, 2016.

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