47 Fun Facts About Batman V Superman

Who directed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

Zack Snyder recalls 'a crazy negotiation' with the studio just to shorten 'versus' to 'v', a change he hoped would stop it feeling like a straight 'versus' movie.

Who plays Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

Ben Affleck was the first actor the film-makers approached, yet he hesitated, feeling he didn't fit the traditional mould, until he was shown how different this Batman would be.

Which actress made Wonder Woman's first live-action cinema appearance in Batman v Superman?

Gal Gadot answered fans who called her too slight for the part by training in martial arts and putting on 17 pounds of muscle.

Who plays Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman?

Jesse Eisenberg wanted his Luthor as far as possible from Gene Hackman's and Kevin Spacey's, reasoning that he would never be compared favourably with them.

Which veteran actor plays Alfred Pennyworth in Batman v Superman?

Jeremy Irons promised an Alfred who is more than a butler: 'He can sort of do everything: change light bulbs, blow up bridges if he has to.'

Who plays Senator June Finch in Batman v Superman?

Holly Hunter says she signed on simply because the director asked and it sounded fun, and she enjoyed being part of 'a giant, massive piece of machinery'.

Which Frank Miller comic did Batman v Superman's director cite as its main Batman inspiration?

The Dark Knight Returns shows a Batman in his fifties who ends up fighting Superman in armour; the film took that older hero and the duel but told a story of its own.

Which early-1990s DC Comics event also shaped the story of Batman v Superman?

The Death of Superman gave the film its ending: the hero dies stopping a monster and is mourned at a funeral, before a last shot hints at his return.

At which event was Batman v Superman first announced in 2013?

San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H heard the news in July 2013, when the film was promised for 2015; the studio later delayed it to give the film-makers more time, and it opened in March 2016.

In which city did principal photography on Batman v Superman begin in May 2014?

Detroit left its mark on the costume too: the muscular Batsuit was cast from the physique of a gym owner in the nearby suburb of Ferndale.

Who plays Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

Henry Cavill was the only star in place when the film was announced in July 2013; the studio took another month to name the actor he would fight.

Which classic Superman supporting character appears in Batman v Superman as a CIA agent who is shot dead?

Jimmy Olsen, usually the Daily Planet's eager young photographer, is here a CIA man using that job as cover beside Lois Lane, and he is shot as soon as he is found out.

The longer 'Ultimate Edition' of Batman v Superman earned which US rating?

R, for added violence: the extended cut restores about half an hour, including the scenes showing how Luthor's men framed Superman for a massacre.

Which hero appears through a portal to warn Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman?

The Flash is never named in the cinema cut; the producer confirmed afterwards that the figure is Ezra Miller's speedster, sent back in time with a warning.

What name do Bruce Wayne's and Clark Kent's mothers share, which halts their fight?

Martha is the name Superman gasps as he begs Batman to save his mother; once Lois explains, Batman drops the fight and goes to rescue Martha Kent himself.

In Batman v Superman, who steals LexCorp's encrypted data before Bruce can at Luthor's gala?

Diana Prince wanted one thing from the files, an old photograph of herself, and hands the drive to Bruce when she cannot break its encryption.

In Batman v Superman, Luthor's files hold a photograph of Wonder Woman from which conflict?

World War I: the picture shows her with Chris Pine's Steve Trevor and his comrades, and the film-makers then wrote the taking of that photograph into her own film.

What does Luthor smuggle into the congressional hearing in Batman v Superman?

A lead-covered bomb is hidden in a witness's wheelchair; the lead lining keeps Superman's vision from seeing inside, so he never notices it and blames himself afterwards.

What weapon does Batman use to fight Superman?

He also wears an armoured exosuit and uses kryptonite-laced gas.

Whose DNA joins Zod's in the monster Luthor creates in Batman v Superman?

His own: Luthor lets his blood fall on Zod's corpse inside the crashed Kryptonian vessel, whose birthing chamber then reshapes the body into a monster.

Which monster from the Superman comics does Lex Luthor unleash at the climax of Batman v Superman?

Doomsday is never named on screen: Luthor only calls the creature Superman's 'doomsday', and its performer stayed secret until he confirmed the part in a tweet a month before release.

In Batman v Superman's universe, Wonder Woman is the daughter of which god, as in DC's New 52 comics?

Zeus as her father replaced the classic origin, in which her mother sculpted her from clay and the gods gave the figure life.

Which actor, seen in a brief cameo in Batman v Superman, had first auditioned to play Batman?

Jason Momoa suspected the open Batman casting call was 'a booby trap', played the hero as a down-and-out brawler, and weeks later was offered Aquaman instead.

Which astrophysicist appears as himself among the real TV commentators in Batman v Superman?

Neil deGrasse Tyson appears on a talk-show panel weighing what an alien among us means for humanity, one of eight real media figures who play themselves in the film.

Who plays Daily Planet editor Perry White in Batman v Superman?

Laurence Fishburne says he was happy to return for the two heroes' showdown, and he sums up Lois Lane as Perry's favorite child and his problem child.

Which Oscar-winning screenwriter rewrote David S. Goyer's Batman v Superman script?

Chris Terrio, who won his Oscar for Argo, rewrote the script, and later said the studio's removal of 30 minutes from the cinema release had sabotaged the film.

Who plays Lois Lane in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

Amy Adams called Lois 'the key to the information': while the heroes feud, she is busy tracing a bullet that no known manufacturer makes.

Bruce Wayne's desert nightmare in Batman v Superman, with its winged soldiers, teases the coming of which DC villain?

Darkseid's winged foot soldiers, the Parademons, swarm the nightmare, a first hint of the alien tyrant the planned sequels were meant to build towards.

Batman v Superman's credits name which long-uncredited writer as Batman's co-creator alongside Bob Kane?

Bill Finger wrote Batman's earliest stories and named Gotham City, but only Bob Kane was credited until DC struck a deal with Finger's family in 2015.

Which composer scored Batman v Superman with Junkie XL, then announced he was retiring from superhero films?

Hans Zimmer had already scored Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and struggled to find a new angle, so the Batman theme was written with Junkie XL; his retirement did not last.

In Batman v Superman's opening, Bruce Wayne watches which city's destruction from street level?

Metropolis: Bruce races through its streets as Superman's battle with Zod brings down a Wayne building with his staff inside, the day that turns him against the Kryptonian.

In Batman v Superman, what does editor Perry White send Clark Kent to Gotham to cover?

A football game is the assignment, but Clark ignores the sports story and starts investigating Batman instead.

Which character, dead since Man of Steel, appears to Superman in a vision on a snowy mountain in Batman v Superman?

Jonathan Kent, played again by Kevin Costner, appears stacking stones on the summit and answers his son's question about whether the nightmares ever stop.

Which of Wonder Woman's weapons gives Superman the opening for the killing blow in Batman v Superman?

Her lasso holds the creature in place while Batman weakens it with a gas grenade, buying Superman the moment to strike.

What does Batman use to call Superman to their fight in Batman v Superman?

The Bat-Signal, normally lit by the police to call Batman, is switched on by Batman himself as he waits in an armoured suit for Superman.

Which SUV maker sold a 'Dawn of Justice' special edition under Batman v Superman's product-placement deal?

Jeep sold a 'Dawn of Justice' Renegade under a deal in which its parent company, Fiat Chrysler, agreed to 'address every automobile need for the movie'.

Which airline made two Batman v Superman commercials aired around the 2016 Super Bowl?

Turkish Airlines advertised flights to the film's two fictional cities as if they were real destinations, and the studio let those two spots stand in for a Super Bowl trailer.

In Batman v Superman, the kryptonite Lex Luthor covets is recovered from the wreck of Zod's machine in which ocean?

Indian Ocean: Zod's terraforming engine was destroyed there in the previous film, and two divers find a rock in its wreckage that splits open to show a glowing green crystal.

Whose vandalised costume does Bruce Wayne keep on display in the Batcave in Batman v Superman?

Robin's vandalised suit commemorates a young partner killed by the Joker before the film begins, part of what has hardened this older Batman.

What does Batman v Superman's 'White Portuguese' turn out to be?

A ship: Bruce chases what he takes for a smuggler by that name, then learns it is the vessel bringing Lex Luthor his kryptonite.

Which 2003 film gave Batman v Superman's Batman actor his first comic-book hero role?

Daredevil left its star so unhappy that he says he took Batman partly 'to get one of these movies and do it right'.

Who plays Thomas Wayne, Bruce's doomed father, in the opening of Batman v Superman?

Jeffrey Dean Morgan took the part uncredited, and his screen wife is played by Lauren Cohan of The Walking Dead, the series he joined that same year.

Which Batman-fan senator cameos as Purrington in Batman v Superman?

Patrick Leahy had already stared down Heath Ledger's Joker on screen in 2008, delivering the line 'We're not intimidated by thugs.'

Which actor's General Zod appears in Batman v Superman only as a corpse, without the actor filming a scene?

Michael Shannon shot nothing new for it: effects artists built Zod's body from a cast of a fitness model and matched its face to Shannon's.

Whose scenes as scientist Jenet Klyburn were cut from cinemas and restored in Batman v Superman's Ultimate Edition?

Jena Malone's mystery casting set off rumours of a costumed sidekick; she turned out to be a lab scientist whose scenes reached audiences only on home release.

Which Man of Steel role had Batman v Superman's Wonder Woman been offered earlier, but declined while pregnant?

Faora Hu-Ul went to Antje Traue instead; the actress says that had she not been a month pregnant she would have taken it, and could never then have played Wonder Woman.

In Batman v Superman, what does the US President order fired at Superman and Luthor's monster as they fight above the Earth?

A nuclear missile strikes them both, yet the creature proves impervious to it, which is why the heroes are forced to find another weapon.