Batman’s Armor Teased In BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE T-Shirt Artwork; Choreographer Discusses The Epic Battle

Speaking of the epic battle between Superman and Batman, Dawn of Justice fight choreographer Guillermo Grispo recently spoke with Los Andes Diaro about his work on the film. Many thanks to Batman-News for the translation. A big fan of Batman, Grispo reveals that he nearly worked on The Dark Knight back in 2007, but it “fell apart.” He then had this to say about Zack Snyder re-introducing Batman and spearheading the Justice League franchise. “Luckily, afterwards Zack brought Batman into this project, making it an origin of the Justice League. Which means being in charge of the entire franchise and all the sequels that will be Zack’s next projects.” He then stated that he prepared the stunt choreography for Snyder and second unit director, both of whom Grispo worked with on 300, Sucker Punch and Man of Steel. 

Grispo goes on to tease the hotly anticipated fight between Batman and Superman. Obviously, he can’t say much about the film’s story, but he offers some interesting details on what to expect from this pivotal event. “…it’s no surprise if I say Batman and Superman come face-to-face in the movie. It’s one of the most important sequences and I was actively involved in the design of the fight: the exchange of punches and the physical movement were put together with my partner Ryan Watson.” As for how Batman can stand a chance against a superhuman such as Superman, it appears that there will be a good explanation for giving the two equal footing. “There’s a thought that Batman has no chance, that the other [Superman] will squash him like a bug. But when you see the movie, and how it all comes out, there’s a very intelligent explanation as to why they would have a firsthand confrontation though it seems to be totally to Batman’s disadvantage.”

Grispo discusses how Batman’s martial art skills will finally be explored to their full potential in Dawn of Justice, which is what he always wished to see. “Now Batman [is] going to fight the way I’ve always dreamed [of] seeing him fight… he’s a character so prepared in martial arts that you can do a lot of things with him, but filmmakers usually don’t go all the way with it.” He then criticizes Christopher Nolan’s approach to Batman’s fighting style in The Dark Knight Trilogy, something that has polarized many fans. “Even in the last Nolan movies the action scenes aren’t very good from a technical, martial arts point of view to things like choreography, filming, bad camera movements… But hey, don’t get me wrong, Nolan is great, my hats off to him. He makes fascinating stories, but I think that he did not pay too much attention to the fights. Those are the kind of details that Zack, being so physical himself, loves preparing. I think there’s going to be a big difference when you see these Batman fights in comparison to the previous ones.” 

Personally, I always saw Batman in The Dark Knight Trilogy as more of a straight-up brawler, rather than a master in martial arts. While that worked fine in Nolan’s world, the Dark Knight is arguably most interesting when he is at the top of the martial arts food chain. And it sounds like we’ll finally see that side of Batman in the DC Cinematic Universe. For the rest of the interview with Grispo, click the link above.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is scheduled to hit theaters March 25th, 2016. The second installment in the DC Cinematic Universe stars Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Callan Mulvey, Tao Okamoto, Holly Hunter, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio.