“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” played a big role in setting up the future of the DC film universe. But one of the big moments from the film that really has fans talking happened in the third act during the battle with Doomsday. If you haven’t seen “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” yet and you don’t want to read any spoilers, stop reading now.
Towards the end of the film Superman grabs a spear with a kryptonite head and flies directly into Doomsday. Superman is able to kill Doomsday with the spear, but Doomsday kills Superman as well. Director Zack Snyder says he monitored the fan response after Doomsday was introduced in the trailer, and he was shocked that very few people predicted Superman’s death.
“I was shocked that people did not immediately jump to the conclusion. I think they just felt like, ‘That’s impossible. They’re not going to kill Superman.’ I mean, a couple people did [figure it out], but then they were all yelled at. It was funny.” Snyder told Buzzfeed.
Zack Snyder and company got lucky because the major spoiler never leaked and they were able to carry the secret all the way up until the film opened. As for how they kept it under wraps, Zack says that they only used people from the crew as the extras during Clark Kent’s funeral.
“Literally the electricians, camera guys,” Snyder said. “My script supervisor’s child is the kid [in the scene].”
Superman’s funeral was a different story. For Superman’s funeral they just tried to be as vague as possible with the extras.
“I would tell [the extras] that there was a huge tragedy, and Superman saved the day. But there was a lot of emotion around what happened, and it’s a sad day. Everyone worked it out in their own heads. There was one fireman who was really crying. I was like, Wow, that’s great.“ Snyder added.
Although his death was shocking, we all know that Superman isn’t dead forever. He’s going to have to come back eventually. At the end of the film Lois Lane throws some dirt on Clark Kent’s coffin and the dirt levitates as the film comes to a close. Zack Snyder says he wasn’t sure it was the right move, but he wanted to make Superman’s inevitable return as obvious as possible.
“I went back and forth with it, to be honest,” he said. “I do feel like it offers a teeny bit of hope for those people who need it. I feel like it’s obvious that we have to figure out a way to get him back, but I don’t know that everyone [knows that]. So I just wanted to give them that little jolt out of the theater, where they’re like, Oh shit! What’s going to happen?“
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is in theaters now.
