One of the most fascinating aspects of the public reaction to Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice has been the apparent divided response to the idea of delayed gratification. While a vocal half of the audience seems to be enamoured of the giant franchise opener, an equally vocal half is not. While many continue to expound theories as to the cause of this split, part of the reason might possibly be the insistence upon delayed gratification on the part of the filmmakers.
Though the film has never claimed to be anything other than an epic first chapter of a larger story, some viewers appear to be disappointed with the number of loose threads left hanging, to be picked up in the next film, and beyond. One such thread is the brief appearance of The Flash, in what appears to be a semi-dream sequence, as he seeks to issue an important warning to Bruce Wayne.
Producer Deborah Snyder has spoken to Collider about that scene, and several of the other seeds planted in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice for later development. As she explains, these ‘teasers’ were borne of the development process for the larger DC Extended Universe, and benefitted from a flexible approach to making the movie.
“We had the script and it wasn’t in the script. As we started then we worked on our script, I think we were in the middle of shooting and we started working on the outline for the next movie and where they go, and Zack said, ‘Oh my God let’s add this moment that is gonna pay off down the road, and we’ll find out more information.’”
Many appear to have been left feeling a lack of satisfaction as a result of this approach, however. Personally, having seen the film, I don’t see why loose threads should be regarded as a problem. Must everything we see in a movie theatre be neatly finished, with loose ends tied in a perfect bow? Yes, these threads – The Flash appearance in particular – are clearly designed to set up the next movie, but that’s because this is the purpose of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. It’s right there in the title. It’s what the film was conceived to do. Come for the fight, stay for the saga. And, what a saga it is going to be.
