Earlier today, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder appeared to take part in a ceremony awarding a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to Batman co-creator Bob Kane. Following that, Comic Book Resources caught up with the filmmaker to ask about his work on the movie, and plenty of intriguing new details have been revealed.
Asked about his take on the costume worn by Ben Affleck and why he decided to cast an older actor in the role of the Caped Crusader, Snyder said:
“I had a really strong idea about what I wanted to do — I really wanted to do sort of a fabric-based Batman; not what’s become the more normal, armored Batman. That’s how we evolved it. I definitely wanted an older Batman. I wanted a war-weary Batman. That’s why, in a lot of ways, Ben was really perfect for me — we kind of aged him a little bit. It worked really great. I’m really excited about the Batman we created.”
Now, something which has been clear ever since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was announced at Comic-Con a few years back is that this movie is going to be taking a lot of inspiration from Frank Millar’s critically acclaimed The Dark Knight Returns (the armoured costume worn by Batman has been torn straight from the pages of that). Asked to comment on where his main inspiration came from, Snyder revealed the following:
“There are so many great artists who have drawn Batman. So many great comics that have been created — it’s countless. I was talking to Frank about it: “Dark Knight Returns” was such a big influence on me, that I wanted to to honor him through imagery in the movie. You could still make “Dark Knight Returns” into a movie, if you want. That’s what I’m saying, as far as how much we used and how much we didn’t use. The visual elements, there are some that I homage, but I don’t think the movie [is an adaptation].”
Key words we’ve heard thrown around a lot in regards to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice are “dark,” “gritty” and “grounded,” but does that mean it will be totally without humour?
“All people have to go on are the first two trailers. They’re going to see more when we show more. You’ll learn more.”
That’s a relief, and everything Snyder says here about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice actually sounds great. With rumours swirling about the movie’s budget ballooning out of control, here’s hoping that was money well spent.