Batman V Superman Discussion Part 3 Characterization

This was written several years ago on another site and has been reposted with some updates to the writing.

Batman V Superman Discussion Part 1 Recap Part 1
Batman V Superman Discussion Part 2 Recap Part 2
Batman V Superman Discussion Part 3 Characterization
Batman V Superman Discussion Part 4 General Thoughts and Miscellaneous

Characterization of Batman

We’re shown throughout the movie that this is an older grizzled version of Batman and he’s slowly aging out of crime fighting. He’s wondering what difference he’s made and what he’s going to leave behind. He’s been Batman for 20 years and has deep scars including a Robin suit that was spray painted by the Joker. He sees Superman as a ticking bomb and honestly given the destruction in Man of Steel he’s not entirely wrong. He watches as Superman is involved in multiple incidents where people die because he was there. Then he gets a vision showing him his worst nightmare to compound it.

I wouldn’t want this to be the comics Batman long term but for a few movies after we’ve already had multiple other versions of Batman? I like it. It makes this feel more real, it gives it depth, and it’s at least one logical conclusion of his character. It’s not perfect and I think the film misses some opportunities to point out his hypocrisy. See in this film, Batman kills. Again I wouldn’t want that for the comics but I’ve long ago accepted that Batman kills in the movies. In fact the only live action Batman to not kill anyone is George Clooney. Yes even Adam West Batman killed people. However in this one I think it should have been explored more. The car chase scene where he recklessly cleaves a path of destruction to get the kryptonite is him doing the exact thing he thinks that Superman is. Superman getting involved in situations and causing people to die in the crossfire. Well that happened, guns blazing, cars crashing, tanker truck exploding, he became exactly what he feared Superman would be. I think that should have been acknowledged and unfortunately wasn’t.

Before moving on I want to briefly comment on a couple things. First off I actually like the execution and portrayal of him as like something out of a horror film in the scene with the human trafficker. In the comics Batman’s notoriety will vary era to era. In some eras he’s supposed to be an urban legend rarely seen, the boogeyman of the criminal underworld. I think this was a good execution of that and looked pretty cool. 

I don’t like the branding and think that they should have done something else. It does tie in with establishing where this Batman is at helps to establish a character arc when he decides to not brand Lex at the end of the film but it’s not great. The other part where I think they should have done differently is that to help establish this Batman more we should have seen a scene of what happened with that Robin costume. The reason I think that is because that means viewers require comic knowledge to get the full picture and I don’t think that should be the case.

Characterization of Superman

Superman’s characterization in this is pretty straightforward: Someone with the powers of a god but the mind of a man. Everywhere he steps as Superman something happens. He just wants to help people but a lot of the time he ends up hurting others, either through side effects, hero worship or by his absence. He’s seen multiple times people have died purely because of his presence and the bomb in the senate was almost the straw that broke the camel’s back. It all builds to him having to choose what to be, hero, god, monster or man. Meanwhile he’s seeing someone else who he feels should be under the same scrutiny literally getting away with murder. In the end he manages to see through the fog and decide to be Superman and try to reach Bruce before his mother is doomed.

This is darker than Superman usually is, and I get why people may be put off by it but honestly, it’s an angle worth exploring. What does that kind of worship do to someone, can someone with that much power truly be a good man. I like the different take, I like Cavill’s performance and I think it works.

Characterization of Wonder Woman

She’s awesome in this. Gal Gadot is perfect for her and she was great in the battle with Doomsday and has great chemistry with Batman in their scenes together. It feels odd to bring her in without having her own movie first and kind of reminds me of bringing Black Widow in with Iron Man 2. The only major issue I take with her is that she apparently gave up on the world until now which doesn’t totally sit right. I’ll talk about her more when I do Wonder Woman, but at least WW84 did show her saving people in secret.

Characterization of Lois Lane

I spoke at length about Lois in the MoS discussion so all I really want to do is comment on a couple things here. Her storyline of investigating the incident in the desert shows her skills very well and she does a good job of being Superman’s emotional support damsel but she’s much less active in this movie. She has to be rescued repeatedly whereas in MoS she got to do some rescuing of her own.

Characterization of Alfred Pennyworth

I mainly just want to say that I loved this version of Alfred, Jeremy Irons manages to nail the trademark Alfred snark better than I've seen any of the other live action actors do. 

Characterization of Lex Luthor

I think Lex was the most interesting choice made for this film. Instead of the classic business man or mad scientist we get the modern equivalent: A tech company billionaire who plays basketball with his employees to look cool while being a ruthless narcissist. He is fascinated by the concept of gods and mortals and can't stand people having authority over him, especially his late father. What is true to the comic depiction of Lex Luthor is that he wants to prove himself superior to everyone even Superman which is what this is all about.

I think this was an excellent choice, as it updates the concept of the character into a modern setting while keeping true to some of the core concepts. Jesse Eisenberg’s performance nails the balance of ruthlessness and manicness they were clearly going for. I think the two scenes that really show this are the conversation with Senator Finch, when she denies him permission to import Kryptonite there’s a very subtle shudder through him where he bristles at being denied, which he then later kills her for. The second scene is actually where he gets granted access to the Zod and the ship from another senator where he feeds a clearly uncomfortable senator a jolly rancher. This scene on the surface is silly but I think it is a clever power play on Lex’s behalf.

I've seen people compare this Lex to both The Joker and The Riddler and, I do see where those people are coming from but at the same time I think people are too caught up in specific version of Lex Luthor and not taking into account his long and varied history. Sure the stoic corrupt genius businessman has been his main portrayal for a long time but he's certainly been the monologuing mad scientist in his past portrayals as well. We've even seen it in past movies when Gene Hackman played him as something akin to a real estate conman. I don't think this version is that much of a stretch for Lex Luthor.