Batman V Superman: Why Batman Used A Spear Against Superman

Zack Snyder has revealed the reason why Batman chose to use a spear in his heated confrontation with Superman in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

It’s unclear what Warner Bros.’ plans are for the post-Snyder era of the DCEU, given how significant he was to the franchise’s establishment. Nevertheless, the DCEU is clearly moving forward, with a slew of new projects in various stages of development. Management-wise, a shake-up earlier this year resulted in IT and The Conjuring producer Walter Hamada becoming the new president of production of DC Films and Chantal Nong becoming his vice president, giving fans hope that this could mark the rebirth of the struggling franchise. Having said that, the Snyder DCEU movies continue to be a favorite topic of conversation amongst their fans, and the filmmaker has been actively engaging his followers via social media of late.

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Snyder has been openly answering DCEU-related queries through the Vero True Social App of late, and his latest response concerns Batman’s intriguing decision to use a Kryptonite spear in his fight with Superman in Batman V Superman (h/t Batman News). While the Bat of Gotham is known for having an arsenal of gadgets and weapons, his decision to specifically make a spear out of the Kryptonite available to him has piqued the interest of some fans. According to Snyder, the spear is a direct reference to how Christ died on the cross after Longinus pierced him with the Holy Lance.

This is far from the only such Biblical reference that Snyder incorporated into his DCEU movies. The filmmaker likened Superman to Jesus of Nazareth several times throughout his three DC films, most notably so with the visual similarities of his death during Batman V Superman. In this instance, Clark is the Christian god, while Bruce is the Roman soldier who (tried) to kill him.

On the one hand, the deeper meaning of the spear is consistent with the larger themes in Batman V Superman. On the other hand, it’s arguably somewhat out of character for Batman to suddenly choose a spear to be his weapon of choice against a meta-human. While Bruce Wayne doesn’t have any superpowers like his Justice League comrades, his strong suit has always been with his ingenuity and intelligence. Going to all out war with a somewhat-literal God with a manual weapon, regardless if it has Kryptonite attached to it, is a questionable choice at best. There are certainly other ways that Batman could’ve utilized the Kryptonian element that would’ve improved his chances of defeating Superman.

Nevertheless, this bit of information further allows fans to get a better idea of what Snyder’s grand plan for the DCEU was. He clearly had a vision for the DC franchise that started with Man of Steel, but the divisive reactions to his DCEU films and especially Batman V Superman ultimately derailed his greater plans for the property. All things considered, it’s too bad that fans of his work won’t ever get to see the complete story that he ultimately intended to tell.

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