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New Details on BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE’s Batman, His History, SUICIDE SQUAD Connections and More

The Batman seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be a very different and older take on the Caped Crusader. Heavily inspired by The Dark Knight Returns, Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne has been fighting crime in Gotham for two decades. So clearly, we’ll be meeting a very experienced Batman in this film, and this take on the character promises to be the best adaptation to date.

Now, some new details on his history and characterization have been revealed. Speaking with Empire Magazine (via CBM), director Zack Snyder confirmed that Dawn of Justice‘s Batman will be around 45 or 46. “He has been Batman for 20 years. All the history is there. Was there a Robin at one time? Possibly.” Since this interview was conducted, the film’s Comic-Con 2015 trailer confirmed that there was a Robin who was slain by The Joker, and his costume is on display in the Batcave. Producer Charles Roven also teased the loss of some of Batman’s allies, saying, “He has lost those near and dear to him, and not necessarily from old age of disease…” Could these other allies include Jim and/or Barbara Gordon, or even Dick Grayson?

One character that Batman does share plenty of history with is, of course, The Joker, played by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad. We know that the Dark Knight will appear in that film as well, but Empire’s feature reveals that he has further connections to the supervillain ensemble’s cast. Not only does Batman have history with Joker and Harley Quinn, but also the other members of Task Force X. In fact, Batman was the one responsible for locking them up in Belle Reve. The Squad will star other iconic Batman villains, such as Deadshot and Killer Croc, so this info shouldn’t be that surprising.


Talk then turned over to Affleck, who rehashed his initial hesitation about taking on the Batman role due to his age. However, that changed when Snyder showed him exactly what kind of Batman he would be playing. “Then Zack pitched me his concept for this older, more broken, kind of [bleep]ed up Batman. It was something we haven’t seen. We have seen that Batman is willing to cross the line to protect people. That vigilantism has been a part of his character all along, and we are tapping into that mentality when faced by something as potentially as deadly a Superman.” Snyder adds, “We want to assume that Batman has reached this point in his life and career as a superhero, and Superman represents a sort of philiophical change. He is a paradigm shift for Batman: ‘I’ve been fighting criminals all my life, trying to find justice, and now I am confronted with a concept that is transcendent to me.’ In the face of Superman, a man robbing a bank doesn’t matter. He’s having a crisis of conscience. ‘Am I really just a vigilante who stalks the alleys of Gotham?’ It is rich stuff that he deals with. Ben does an amazing job.”





Many fans have suggested, based on what we’ve seen so far, that Batman would technically serve as the villain in Dawn of Justice, due to Superman being the protagonist and the Caped Crusader antagonizing him. That obviously won’t be permanent – after all, they’re bound to become allies by the film’s end, leading into the formation of the Justice League. Snyder suggests that “in some ways,” Batman is a villain, but he adds that it greatly depends on fans’ perspectives and which character they side with. “It’s a point of view thing. That is why Dawn of Justice is the full title. What it does is allow us to start this conversation.”


A lot of juicy info here, for sure. By the way, thanks to CBM, here is one more scanned image from Batman v Superman, featuring Bruce Wayne looking at the Batsuit.

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

Paul Romano

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WOBAM! Entertainment.