The arrival of the Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition has given fans an opportunity to experience more of Zack Snyder’s universe. With an extra thirty minutes of additional footage inserted back into the movie, resulting in an R-rating, this longer cut is being heralded as a far more rounded piece of cinema. And, as is the case with home video, it’s also given us more insight as to how Snyder and his team crafted the world inhabited by two of comic book history’s most decorated heroes.
In the latest featurette to appear online, titled Constructing the Batcave, production designer Patrick Tatopoulos talks through the challenges of creating a fresh take on Bruce Wayne’s playboy hideaway.
“It’s very urban,” says Tatopoulos. “Although you’re in a crazy cave, you never feel claustrophobic in here… If you look at the set, every structure is actually floating. There is a very low footprint on the cave. It’s maybe hanging but there is no big pillar that seems to be floating in the air.”
The Batcave’s evolution – through both the comics and onscreen – is of course subject to whomever is writing or directing. In this case, Tatopoulos and graphics specialist Gladys Tong approach the realism of the movie by reducing the amount of green screen utilized, allowing the actors to be a little more present. One example that’s quite surprising takes place while Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight taps away at his computer workstation; those screens are actually live and controlled offscreen. Pretty cool, eh?
If that’s whetted your appetite for Batman v Superman all over again, then why not check out the opening ten minutes of the Ultimate Edition as well?