June 21, 2016: Zack Snyder Responds to “Batman v Superman” Feedback

The filmmaker says he continued to love BvS in the aftermath, when people drew up petitions asking Warner Bros. to boot him from the follow-up Justice League (in theaters Nov. 17, 2017) – even as Snyder was in pre-production. “That part was a little bit distracting,” he says, calling from London after a day of filming.Hardest to deal with was the perception that he wasn’t being “true to canon” and didn’t adore these characters. “That was upsetting and made me evaluate myself and where I was with the movies and what I wanted to say with them.”

The extra content includes reporter Clark Kent investigating Batman’s vigilante antics, as well as the deleted role of a helpful scientist (Jena Malone). Also restored are small, fan-friendly details such as Batman wanting Lex locked up in Arkham Asylum rather than the supervillain prison Belle Reve that factors heavily into Suicide Squad (in theaters Aug. 5).Plus, there’s bonus material considered “too violent” and “too sexy” for a PG-13 rating, Snyder says. (Batman dishes out more pain in fights, and Clark lingers longer in a bathtub with Amy Adams’ Lois Lane.)

Prepping Justice League, Snyder monitored Internet chatter about Dawn of Justice for the good and especially the bad. “It’s been an interesting experience to analyze the negative stuff to find out what the point of view is,” he says. “How do I move forward and use that constructively?”

He has taken a lot of the criticism to heart, particularly in terms of tone, though Justice League was always going to be more uplifting than BvS for its team-building aspect alone. He says the next movie will be a celebration of these heroes.

Dawn of Justice ended with Batman inspired by Superman’s sacrifice to be a good man and “to be awesome,” says Snyder. “That message, that humanity can do better and Batman wanting to nurture that, is the place I want to go.”