Batman Superman

Jeremy Irons isn’t one of those actors that’s going to say what you want to hear…unless you didn’t particularly like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and what you want to hear is that he agrees with you. Zack Snyder’s ambitious superhero project failed to impress critics and inspired a wave of negative reviews — all of which Jeremy Irons believes the film rightfully deserved. And he was in it, so he should know.

We’ve seen more than one character take up the Robin mantle in various Batman comics, shows and films throughout the years — which makes the identity of the dearly departed Boy Wonder in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice somewhat intriguing. There are a couple of likely possibilities, each of them with their own plot implications, and while there’s been a fair amount of speculation, the big Robin question may have just been answered.

Success is relative. A lot of movies would kill for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s box office grosses. $869 million worldwide and counting? That’s got to be a hit, right? Yes and no. That total’s short of the $1 billion worldwide that has become the new benchmark for mega blockbusters. In just 11 days of release, Captain America: Civil War’s already made almost $100 million more. Then there are the film’s tepid Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScores. This is the movie that’s supposed to launch at least a half dozen other franchises. So while the results weren’t disastrous, they weren’t great either.

DC's current “The Final Days of Superman” crossover, taking place across the entire line of Superman titles, has produced some really great comics. Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Doug Mahnke and Mikel Janín and others, the crossover has Superman putting his affairs in order ahead of his impending death due to a terminal condition he recently developed. The most recent installment of the crossover in Batman/Superman sees Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on the trail of an imposter Superman who believes himself to be the real deal, and their trail leads them to China. Once there, they’re confronted by The Great Ten, and we get our first glimpse of a new hero we’ll be seeing more of very soon as part of DC Rebirth.

Despite Ben Affleck’s solid turn as the caped crusader in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, some fans took issue with one particular aspect of this new Batman: he kills. It’s not entirely out of character for the iconic superhero (he’s killed people in the comic books before), but the movie and TV versions of the Dark Knight don’t typically murder bad guys. It’s part of that whole “hero” thing, you know? If you were one of the fans disappointed with Zack Snyder’s decision to have Batman kill some thugs, then boy do we have some news for you.

Batman vs. Superman opened to negative reviews and mixed word of mouth. All that could have been forgiven if it was a box-office juggernaut, but after an impressive opening weekend, Dawn of Justice is sinking like a stone. With the film now unlikely to reach $1 billion — the new benchmark for franchise success in Hollywood — Warner Bros...

Of the many divisive aspects of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Doomsday turned out to be one of the lesser offenders, though many pointed out that Weta’s design of the character was a little too similar to a handful of their other designs in films like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Like all visual effects creations, Doomsday went through a few different iterations before director Zack Snyder and his team settled on the final design, and new concept art shows you what the villain could have looked like.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had quite the weekend — not only did it break the March opening record previously held by The Hunger Games, but with $424 million worldwide, Zack Snyder’s epic now boasts the highest opening weekend for a Warner Bros. superhero movie. All those negative reviews predictably had zero effect on audiences, who flocked to see the long-awaited showdown between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel.

If you watched Batman vs. Superman, you probably left with a couple questions. What was going on in that “Knightmare” sequence when Bruce Wayne has a vision of an apocalyptic future with Superman ruling an army, flying Parademons and a massive Omega symbol in what’s left of the Earth? And who was that mysterious figure who appears to Bruce and warns him about someone — “You were right about him!” — while telling him that Lois Lane is “the key?” Is this a dream? A vision? A hallucination? And, WHOA that ending! What does all of this mean and how will it impact the Justice League movie and the future of the DC Cinematic Universe? We’ve got your answers!

As we speculated the other day, it’s possible that the negative reception to Batman v. Superman could impact how Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder proceed with Justice League. The two-part Justice League movie is currently scheduled to begin filming in three weeks, but it looks like Snyder and team have already made the decision to have their superhero crossover movie be less dark and more fun.