Although recently I gave Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a good review, I do understand the critical backlash the movie is recieving from fans and critics. When I watched the movie I knew that I would not be watching a face-off between the title superheroes. Despite the movies marketing campaign concentrating on the confrontations between the two iconic comic book characters, the inclusion of Wonder Woman in the movie and the mention of cameos from Cyborg, Aquaman and the Flash, as well as the recent revelation of Doomsday suggested to me that the movie would be a prequel to the planned Justice League movies; establishing the characters and the status quo needed for these characters to come together.
However, many fans and critics will have been expected what the movie was marketed as, and admittedly in that respect a review would be less favourable. As a, somewhat dark, Justice League prequel the movie is a good one (minus a few flaws), but as $250 million showdown between these two iconic characters the movie falls very short of the mark. In summary, those expecting a fun movie with Batman and Superman trading blows WILL be disappointed, as is being shown by the mixed to negative reviews the movie is getting.
So severe is the backlash that Warner Bros. and director David Ayer are reportedly reshooting key scenes from Suicide Squad, this summers addition to the DCEU. The studio is reportedly throwing tens of millions of dollars at the director and his crew in an attempt to lighten the already comedic tone of the movie so as to avoid more backlash.
With indie film director Kevin Smith, a self-professed Batman fan and long-term friend of Ben Affleck having also responded unfavourably to Batman v Superman, despite having contributed to the movies marketing maybe studio Warner Bros. and comic book giant DC Comics future plans for their own cinematic universe may not be as set in stone as they have ascertained.
