With the film’s second anniversary having arrived this week, many fans have been revisiting Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice of late and uncovering new meanings hidden within it. And whenever they’re stuck, the director himself has stepped in to clarify things.
For instance, Snyder recently opened up about the deeper meaning behind BvS‘s ominous introductory sequence, while today, he’s shed some light on a rather cryptic line said by Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor in the movie. If you’ll recall, when the criminal mastermind inspects Zod’s corpse in the Genesis Chamber, he comments: “You flew to close to the sun, and now look at you.” One fan asked Snyder for some clarification on the meaning behind this on Vero, and he was lucky enough to get a response.
— Amateur Watcher (@OhioDavee) March 30, 2018
As another fan pointed out, the line references the Greek myth of Icarus, the boy who fell to his death after using his artificial wings to fly too close to the sun. However, Snyder’s reply revealed another, much more clever double meaning. He pointed out that “sun” could also be read as “son” – meaning the Last Son of Krypton AKA Superman. In other words, Zod’s fatal flaw was in going up against the Man of Steel.
This is a neat, easily-missed reading of the line. As well as referencing a Greek myth and having a double meaning, the piece of dialogue could also be said to be a bit of foreshadowing for Luthor’s own fate at the end of the film. Though he survives his encounter with Supes, it’s his obsession with the hero that leads to his own fall from grace and results in him getting locked up in Arkham Asylum.
Details like this remind us that, though whether you enjoy it or not depends on your own personal tastes, it’s clear that the director and screenwriter Chris Terrio put a lot more thought into Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice than many give them credit for.
