BATMAN v SUPERMAN | Empire Magazine Images

Great images and priceless story elements, themes and reasons have been revealed in the latest issue of Empire Magazine featuring next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The interview featured a wealth of information provided by director Zack Snyder, star Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne/Batman), producer Charles Roven, costume designer Patrick Tatopoulos, and producer Deborah Snyder (Zack Snyder’s wife).

There was so much shared, and nothing in the way of spoilers, that we thought it best to lift the entire article as it is and share it below after the synopsis. Full and complete credit to Cosmic Book News for this scoop!

Synopsis: “Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.”

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Snyder reveals Batman’s age:

“We are playing him 45 or 46. He has been Batman for 20 years. All the history is there. Was there a Robin at one time? Possibly.”

Producer Charles Roven teases villains caused the death of those close to Bruce (such as his parents and maybe Robin):

“He has lost those near and dear to him, and not necessarily from old age of disease..”

Ben Affleck offered about Batman:

“Initially I thought, ‘I’m older, it doesn’t seem like the right sort of fit for me. Then Zack pitched me his concept for this older, more broken, kind of f-cked 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.”

Zack Snyder discusses Batman as well:

“We want to assume that Batman has reached this point in his life and career as a superhero, and Superman represents a sort of philosophical 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.”

Regarding who is the villain of the movie, Batman or Superman, Snyder says:

“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.”

Suicide Squad:

It’s also revealed in the article that Batman is responsible for putting the criminals in prison that make up the Suicide Squad.

On Lex Luthor, costume designer Patrick Tatopoulos says:

“Everything is a facade. You have no access to what is inside Lex.”

Tatopoulous confirms Bruce Wayne lives in a house by the lake adding:

“Its footprint is minimal, it is part of nature,” he says.”You are designing a house that would have been designed by van der Rohe, how ballsy is that? “Bruce is the Bruce Wayne you know. He’s a playboy, he’s got money,” Tatopoulos confirms. “He has this strength, but also an artistic sensibility. He’s got a past, a family who got hm where he is today.”

On Metropolis and Gotham:

“There are other things happening too. Gotham is a very different city from Metropolis. Metropolis is Toronto on Steroids. Gotham is Detroit.”

Lois and Clark:

It’s also revealed Clark and Lois live together in an apartment.

Tatopoulos describes the Batmobile:

[Truly] an emotional process – it’s about what feels right. I showed Zack and Zack said, ‘Cool.’ Sometimes it just clicks. These films are very grounded. THere will be tons of CG, but also a lot of real stuff – especially with Batman. Of course, building a car from scratch is challenging. The car drives, jumps, pretty much does everything. We got the best people.”

On Batman and the Batmobile:

“He is not driving a Formula 1 car, he’s driving a tank that is very sexy looking. Batman is rougher, tougher, and grungier. So everything is rough: the weapons, the suit and the car. There are machine guns mounted on the front. When you first see the Batmobile, it is being fixed. It is not – boom! – coming out of the garage brand new. It is scratched, damaged.”

On the difference between the new Batmobile and its predecessors:

“Batmobiles are often designed very low to the ground, something classical. That didn’t feel fully comfortable for us. I thought the Tumbler was a revolutionary design, with the suspension very high up. I wanted to combine the two vehicles. I wanted something of a motorcycle, too: big wheels, suspension, exhausts.”

Batwing is confirmed with Tatopulos stating designs were in mind for further movies and Justice League:

“With The Justice League coming, it influences my designs of the Batcave, the Batmobile, the Batwing. We are creating a world for Batman – every set, every prop, is real. We have to be ready for what’s next.”

Zack Snyder discussing the approach to the DC Cinematic Universe:

“What we are doing is ground up all the way. It is one giant story. The first thing we had was the Justice League concept. The other movies, in a way, have to support that. That is our Wonder Woman, our Aquaman. They have their own creative concepts that supports them, but they do serve Justice League in the coming together of those heroes.”

On the other Justice League films and directors, Snyder says:

“I want all the other directors of the other films to be able to stretch their legs and do what they want, but at the same time there is a big interconnected universe. I have given everyone amazing access to our story, to me, and what we are doing. Allthe films have like minded conceptual jumping on points.”

Snyder says about the Jason Momoa Aquaman cameo in Batman Vs. Superman:

“You will understand he exists.”

Zack Snyder’s wife, producer Deborah Snyder, offers the following about the DC “Extended Universe,” as it’s being referred to:

“Kind of a timeline of what every movie is, where it is going, and where the films fit in relation to each other.”

Charles Roven continued:

“We call it the sandbox. It has borders around it, but everybody gets to play in the sandbox. On Suicide Squad, David Ayer has a lot of specific control over his area of the sandbox. Even if he crosses the line a little bit, we see if we can push our boundaries back a little bit.”

Zack Snyder gives kudos to Christopher Nolan’s Batman films:

“If it was a Batman movie it would be a much more difficult proposition because of how good Chris’ movies are. We live in gratitude to those movies. Chris set a tone for the DC Universe, and separated us from Marvel in a great way. We are the legacy pf those movies.”

On the difference between Marvel and DC, Snyder says:

“Right from the beginning it is different tonally from where those movies are. You know, DC is an ancient world in a lot of ways.”

Deborah Snyder adds:

“I can see how people would want to make it this big, intense rivalry. Listen, they are so great. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy…our films are a bit more serious. They deal with things that are a little darker. Things that place them in our world.”

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