Editorial: Batman V Superman - Birth of a Justified Conflict

Last weekend, Batman V Superman launched into cinemas following its less-than-stellar critical reviews to a massive $166m opening weekend in America, with the rest of the planet having similar success – only Japan didn't have it open at #1, but it still did good business. Of course, this lead to the big debate of Critics V Fanboys; an argument that some would assume has been going on ever since the early days of mainstream superhero movies but in actuality is only really massive in this sense. Of course, there's always been a divide between the two, and films such as Ratatouille have commented on such a split between the "snobs" and the general audience that making myself discuss the scenario makes it feel more forced than necessary. But it's most interesting in this case because of how severe the fanboys have been protecting it, and as such how the movie studio and the actors involved have sided with them whilst the film begins its descent from 'landmark production' to 'disappointing attempt'. More recent TV spots for the film – which was projected to have a big drop in its second weekend despite its biggest competition being God's Not Dead 2 – have been highlighting word of mouth from the fans instead of the critics, save for those few who actually praised it, whilst actors such as Jason Momoa have been sharing memes commenting on the divide and how the fans are in the right state of mind about the situation. 

bhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Shit made me laugh. Heehehehehe. Just go have fun watch enjoy. Proud of WB and DC There's a lot coming A LOT

A photo posted by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Mar 27, 2016 at 4:38am PDT

This somewhat concerns me. Not only because the split and its response has seemingly been unmitigated by how it's gone down, but also because there isn't exactly a right side to be on. Yes, I know I've been complaining about the film and have been revelling in comments made by other critics, but it doesn't make them entirely in the right. Fanboys on the other hand seem to be void of coming up with any of their own criticisms and have been spewing out conspiracy theories about Disney being the reason behind the negative response instead of the factor that it's a bad movie, but it's not like there isn’t anything in the movie to like at all. Ben Affleck is great, Jeremy Irons is fine, Gal Gadot makes me look forward to the 2017 Wonder Woman movie, and from what we get we'd likely get a superb Batman movie in the future...if they stick to the screenplay Affleck has seemingly written and don't have him kill. 

Perhaps not helping the whole scenario is that Marvel Studios is now close to releasing their own iteration of the DC headliner with Captain America: Civil War – a film that has the similar premise of two+ heroes fighting one another and likely changing their focus later on to the secret villain at play. However, instead of doing what Warner Bros. did and beginning its marketing ploy nearly a year ahead of the film's release, Marvel Studios have been more discreet. With two full trailers, a Super Bowl spot and now a few TV spots to show for it, some guesses could be made for what's to happen, but with the likes of Spider-Man, Baron Zemo and even Ant-Man being kept in the dark (although Ant-Man has been spoiled somewhat with the merchandising) it’s more interesting trying to piece certain aspects together. The audience doesn't know what leads to Back Panther chasing the Winter Soldier; they don't know where Frank Grillo's Crossbones fits in, and even comic book readers of the 2006 story arc don't know exactly what's going to happen because of how far it'll deviate from the original. And with Baron Zemo having no promotional detailing whatsoever aside from who'll play him it makes for a more worthwhile experience. By comparison, BvS had lord-knows how many adverts for it, and by December time you could have guessed what was going to happen thanks to the reveal of Doomsday and how Wonder Woman will join the fight. Sure, you're still invested, but it's not on where the story will go and instead on just the entire premise of the film: Batman V Superman. 

And it doesn't help that the film arrives during something of a comic book movie renaissance. With four studios all at play in the Marvel/DC front, and countless others on the sidelines such as Kingsman and Kick-Ass, it's even more important to make a big movie that's good than just getting a character people want on the big screen. Deadpool could have been a film just for the fans, and whilst it had its references and kept in character to what the fans know and love it was a surprise hit for mainstream audiences too. And when you consider it went five months between its first and second trailers and instead focused on selling the character than the movie, it succeeds even more than Batman V Superman would. Failures such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Fantastic Four meanwhile showed elements of doing movies for the sake of keeping up or just keeping the character rights, and look at them now – one has been rebooted once again in conjunction with Marvel Studios whilst the other is in limbo following a disastrously short run in cinemas. And while the DC brand isn't at risk of either happening, the changes being made to Suicide Squad in order to make it seem as fun as the Queen-set trailer released earlier this year showed it off to be suggests that Warner Bros. are panicking. Hell, even the two-part Justice League picture that's supposedly meant to start production this month has been said to be more fun than Batman V Superman...and that was before the film was even released. With non-fanboy audiences craving for a change of director or for the whole thing to be scrapped (an unlikely move), basing everything on a singular movie with little room to make improvements on future projects was a decision made by the producers which just doesn’t work.  

What DC desperately needs to do is avoid sticking to just the fanboy appeal and trying to be great for a wider audience. Where movies like Avengers, Deadpool and even The Dark Knight trilogy succeed is though the factor that they can have an essence of fun and mainstream appeasement as opposed to ripping storylines from decades-old comics which, while I'm sure are great for that niche audience, don't get riddled down by plot holes, forced universe building or elements of absolute stupidity (seriously, the Martha thing? That's not how you end a fight you've been waiting two hours for). Don't bad-mouth the critics who comment on your movies for the sake of helping your potential audience decide whether or not to see your production. Create a good set of movies before you decide that it needs to be a long-going franchise to fight the juggernaut that is Marvel Studios. Focus on quality instead of quantity of tickets sold or films being released. Make a good movie, please. 

We don’t want another Amazing Spider-Man 2 situation.