Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicecame out a little more than five years ago. It remains a much-discussed, divisive comic book movie and one that has certainly earned its place in the history books. Now, directorZack Snyderand writer Chris Terrio have revealed that the movie we know was going to be titled something radically different. However, Warner Bros. wasn’t into what Snyder and Terrio had in mind.
The two filmmakers recently took part in Justice Con over the weekend. During an online panel, they were discussingBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Zack Snyder explained that he wanted something more “poetic.” One of Snyder’s suggestions?Son of Sun and Knight of Knight. Here’s what Snyder had to say about it.
“I remember when there was a back-and-forth that I had with the studio, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was like the only title that [Warner Bros. liked]. The whole ‘v’ instead of ‘versus,’ it was like this crazy negotiation. I was like, ‘Guys, can’t we just do something like Son of Sun and Knight of Night, or something that’s a little bit more poetic?’ And they were like, ‘Absolutely not’ [Laughs]. I was like, ‘Is it a court case?'”
Perhaps the largest takeaway here is that Zack Snyder wasnot happy with the title. Whether or not his ideas would have been received better by the moviegoing public is another question entirely. As for Chris Terrio, he previously expressed his distaste for the title in a lengthy and no-holds-barred interview. During Justice Con, he revealed that they even considered giving the movie aJustice Leaguetitle to point that the franchise was heading in that direction.
“For a while, we talked about actually titling it ‘Justice League: [Subtitle],’ to suggest that this movie was going to be the beginning of the Justice League, even though it didn’t really look like it. Like ‘Justice League: Foundations,’ or ‘Justice League: Rising.'”
Indeed,BvSdid serve as a springboard intoJustice League. It just wasn’t theJustice Leaguethat Zack Snyder had in mind. Between clashes with the studio anda family tragedy, Snyder stepped away from the team-up flick, with Joss Whedon taking over for rewrites and reshoots. The movie that was released in 2017 did not represent what Snyder had in mind when he pitted Batman and Superman against one another the year prior. Ultimately, after years of fan campaigns, we got to see what he had in mind in Zack Snyder’sJustice League, which was released on HBO Max earlier this year.
As forBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it was largely panned by critics and was met with a mixed response from audiences. It topped out at $873 million at the box office. A good number to be certain, though not for a movie that could have, and probably should have, easily crossed the $1 billion mark. Recently, an IMAX remaster was released in honor of the movie’s fifth anniversary. You can check out the full panel from theJustice Con YouTubechannel.
