In a Q&A, a fan pointed out to Man of Steel/Batman v Superman/some-portion-of-Justice League director Zack Snyder that, in the world of the comics, (generally) Bruce Wayne doesn’t kill anyone. It’s part of Batman’s charm. He won’t kill his villains. Snyder though? He doesn’t think that’s realistic, and he made that known with some colorful language.
Not to be a prude (I’m frequently the first to use swear words), but continually saying the F-word while talking about a comic book hero is maybe not the greatest idea. “I’m like, ‘F***, really? Wake the f*** up,” Snyder said, and sir, did you know if there were children present or not? So, a superhero not killing people isn’t realistic, but superheroes are? Call me old fashioned, but I’m pretty sure the point of superheroes is to be symbols for the sake of storytelling, since they don’t exist in real life.
There can definitely be a version of the character that kills, and that version does exist in comics, but Snyder’s take almost feels like he’s stating that he can’t be wrong because that’s how he saw it, and it’s the most “realistic” version, which most definitely isn’t the case.
So, his statement ended up becoming a meme that dreams are made of.
If you think Batman didn’t fuck Dumbledore then wake the fuck up
— Ira Madison III (@ira) March 26, 2019
if you think Batman didn’t shit in his one-piece hard rubber suit, I’m so sorry to wake you the fuck up
— Johnny McNulty and the Total Exonerations (@JohnnyMcNulty) March 26, 2019
If you think Batman didn’t drone strike innocent civilian villages in the Middle East then wake the fuck up
— Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (@djrandyjohnson) March 26, 2019
As a few people have noted, the question of whether or not Batman kills has been definitively resolved in the comics.
So yes, Batman kills. He kills babies. pic.twitter.com/dDUMZfeusk
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) March 26, 2019
someone remind zack snyder that batman and superman are fictional characters and literally are part of a “dream world”, please pic.twitter.com/osVuYZHcSt
— Elizabeth May (@_ElizabethMay) March 26, 2019
We live in a world where we are obsessed with comics. Whether it be DC or Marvel, these characters mean a lot to us, and when you change their usual character traits to fit into your shitty version of the character just because you think anyone who disagrees is just deluded, people are going to be mad about it.
Batman doesn’t kill. That was the whole point for many of us. Sure, there can be a version of Batman who kills. There can be an aspect of his version of the character that is different from what we have come to know and love. Snyder’s take of the character is just not one many appreciated, and the fact that he seems to think his is the be-all and end-all shows that he doesn’t care about the history of these characters as much as he probably should when adapting them.
The fact that he couldn’t figure out a storyline that worked with that character trait isn’t our fault, and I say this as someone who didn’t mind Snyder’s films. But, this statement just proves that he doesn’t understand these characters as well as he thinks he does, and I’m grateful that the DCEU is going to go through some changes.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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