Batman V Superman

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the second film in the DC Extended Universe, following on from 2013's Man of Steel also directed by Zack Snyder. Henry Cavill returned as Clark Kent/Superman, as well the other principle cast members from Man of Steel. Ben Affleck, Jesse Eisenberg and Gal Gadot joined the cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Lex Luthor and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman respectively. The film was released March 24, 2016.

An R-rated version of the film, titled the Ultimate Cut, is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on the 16 July 2016, containing extended and deleted scenes that were not chosen for the theatrical cut.

Plot
Bruce Wayne arrives in Metropolis during the Battle of Metropolis. He tries to proceed to the Wayne Financial Building, giving the order via phone for the people inside to evacuate. As he drives his way to the building, he narrowly avoids the debris from the crashing Fortress of Solitude with Superman and Zod inside. He witnesses the Black Zero as Kal-El's Phantom Drive crashes into it and crushes the Black Zero into a singularity. As Superman and General Zod begin to fight, Zod throws Superman into the Wayne Financial Building and Zod's uncontrollable heat vision causes the building to collapse in ruin. Horrified, Bruce makes his way through the debris looking for survivors, finding Wallace Keefe trapped underneath some rubble. He helps rescue him then saves a little girl whose mother perished. While consoling her, he angrily watches Zod and Superman fly down from the sky.

18 months later, Lois Lane travels to war-torn Nairobi in Kenya, seeking an interview with the African warlord in a raging civil war. Lois was accompanied by Jimmy Olsen, a photographer who is revealed to be a CIA operative. The camera he was carrying had a tracking device hidden inside as discovered by a bodyguard, Anatoli Knyazev. Before being shot, he states that Lois knew nothing of either the device or his identity. The warlord then takes Lois as a hostage, threatening to kill her. Superman soon arrives, saving Lois and returning her home.

A US Senate committee headed by Senator Finch hears evidence given about Superman saving the life of Lois Lane in Africa. Concerned at how Superman may be seen by the public, due to his constant acts of vigilantism, she sends a public announcement to Superman, inviting him to speak in a committee to defend his actions at the US Capitol in Washington D.C.

Lois recovered a bullet from the warlord's camp, and after researching, ascertains that it is not made by any known manufacturer. She proceeds to query this with General Calvin Swanwick. Reluctantly, he gives in to her requests to identify the bullet's manufacturer. He reveals that they are a special prototype round, made by LexCorp Industries. Senator Finch speaks with Lex Luthor, informing him that she is blocking an import warrant for him to bring a portion of Kryptonite found in the Indian Ocean into the United States. Luthor, warns her of the consequences and she then leaves his mansion.

While the rest of the world is busy debating whether Superman has been a positive or negative addition to planet Earth, Clark returns home to Smallville to visit Martha. There, she advises him that either way, he shouldn't be concerned with what others think of him.

Despite media speculation to the contrary, Superman arrives to speak and answer at Finch's committee. She points out to him a victim of Superman's actions, Wallace Keefe, who lost his legs in Superman's battle with General Zod. After seeing a distasteful note left for her by Lex Luthor, she stops in mid-speech before a bomb (hidden inside Keefe's wheelchair by Lex Luthor) explodes, killing her and everyone else present, except Superman. Later that night, Lex discovers that Batman has stolen his kryptonite from LexCorp in Metropolis, leaving behind a batarang as a symbol. In Washington D.C., Superman meets Lois at her hotel suite and laments on his failures to stop the bombing and his role as Superman. Lois tries to convince him that he must remain a symbol of hope for the peoples of Earth before he flies away in exile. Using the fingerprints of Zod, Lex enters the Genesis Chamber of the Fortress of Solitude in Heroes Park and learns information on hundreds of thousands of recorded worlds.

Bruce Wayne begins physically training in the Batcave to prepare for his fight against Superman while also converting the kryptonite into three gas grenades and a kryptonite-tipped spear. While accessing Lex's data drive, he discovers folders on metahumans, one containing recent surveillance on Diana and a 1918 photograph of her as Wonder Woman in Belgium. Meanwhile, Lex brings the corpse of General Zod to the Genesis Chamber and Kelor warns him of the ban of genetic modification by the Kryptonian Law Council. However, Lex ignores this and combines his blood with Zod as the Genesis Chamber begins to transform the body of Zod.

Clark arrives at a snowy mountaintop and imagines his father, Jonathan Kent, building a tomb with stones. Kent recalls his childhood when he remembers one bad rainy season when he and his family spent all-night damming the water to save the farm. Kent remembers that his mother called him a hero and baked him a cake and, while he was eating, the neighbour's farm was wiped out and he could hear the neighbour's horses drowning. He continued that he used to have nightmares about the horses. Clark asks if the nightmares ever stopped, and Jonathan answers when he met Martha Kent, who gave him hope that there is good in the world. Bruce visits the ruins of the Wayne Manor as Alfred tries to dissuade him from combating Superman to no avail. Bruce recalls when his father sat him down next to the Wayne family shield and his father taught him of the first generation of the Wayne family that sold pelts and skins to French traders, citing that they were hunters.

In Smallville, Martha Kent is kidnapped by Anatoli Knyazev and his men and is brought to Metropolis. In Gotham, Batman prepares his weapons against Superman and shines the Bat Signal in the stormy sky, as Lex watches from the LexCorp tower from across the bay. Anatoli also kidnaps Lois Lane and delivers her to Lex, who then pushes her off the tower to lure Superman. Superman saves her and puts her down on the ground before flying up to confront Lex Luthor. He then shows Superman photographs of his kidnapped mother, and offers an ultimatum to him: if he does not kill Batman within 30 minutes, then Martha Kent will die by fire.

At Heroes Park, the Fortress of Solitude begins to emit electric discharges to the surrounding buildings. Elsewhere, Diana receives an email from Bruce, showing a photograph of her from 1918, questioning her identity and her origins. In the attachment, she uncovers surveillance footage of Barry Allen, Arthur Curry, and video diaries of Silas Stone using a Mother Box to resuscitate his son, Victor Stone. As Lois returns to the Daily Planet, she rides a helicopter straight for the Bat Signal in Gotham in hopes of stopping the fight.

In Gotham, Superman meets Batman in his Armored Batsuit and tries to explain the situation. However, Batman activates sonar cannons and machine gun turrets against Superman to no visible effect. Superman and Batman then begin to fight, with Batman firing two kryptonite gas grenades at him during the fight and gaining the upper hand. Finally, Batman grabs the weakened Superman and drags him over to his kryptonite spear. However, as Batman is about to kill Superman, Superman mutters that they are going to kill Martha. Taken aback, Lois arrives and explains that Martha is his mother's name. Shocked, Batman comes to his senses, realizing that Superman is no threat to humanity. Superman and Lois explain the situation to Batman, and he promises to rescue Martha Kent while Superman investigates the electric discharges coming from the Fortress of Solitude. Lois grabs the kryptonite spear and throws it into a pool of water nearby.

Alfred tracks Knyazev's phone to a warehouse in Metropolis, and Batman flies there via the Batwing. He infilitrates the warehouse, neutralizes all the criminals, kills Anatoli Knyazev and successfully rescues Martha. Meanwhile, Superman finds Lex Luthor at the Genesis Chamber who is preparing to unleash the ancient Kryptonian deformity known as Doomsday. As the monster awakens, it roars at Lex Luthor before reaching out to kill him. However, Superman stops his attack and Doomsday breaks out of the Fortress of Solitude into Heroes Park.

Superman promptly confronts Doomsday, and the two battle one another, destroying the Superman Statue in the process. Doomsday's strength surpasses that of Superman, but the the Man of Steel holds his own, managing to send the monster flying into a building. Doomsday is then shot at by military helicopters, but his body takes it all, adapting and only becoming more durable.

In desperation, Superman tackles Doomsday into space. The US President intends to shoot the alien monster down with a nuclear missile, and it is carried out, despite the protests of Swanwick. Superman defiantly holds Doomsday in place as he sees the missile approach, determined to have the monster destroyed. The resulting explosion is so gigantic, that Batman can clearly see it from Earth's surface.

Doomsday's body lands on the abandoned Stryker's Island, but he is far from dead, as the tremendous explosion seems to have only made the monster stronger, with its body once again regenerating. Batman then attacks it with his Batwing, unleashing an immense amount of firepower, but Doomsday is unscathed, and brings the plane down with his heat vision and breath. Before Batman can escape his crashed vehicle, Doomsday corners him, and fires a tremendous superheated torrent at him. Wonder Woman arrives, however, just in time to save Batman, deflecting the beams with her indestructible bracelets, which creates a massive wave of energy outwards.

In the meantime, Superman is floating in space, with him being extremely weakened by the nuclear missile, rendered thin and undead in appearance. Soon, however, he is exposed to radiation from the yellow sun, which reinvigorates Superman's cells, returning him to full power. He then proceeds to defiantly fly towards Doomsday again, sending the monster flying into a gas tank.

Wonder Woman and Superman then proceed to jointly attack Doomsday in tandem, while Batman tries to expose the monster to Kryptonite, which would exploit its only known vulnerability. Wonder Woman soon manages to cut off the monster's right arm, but that only results in a sharp bony protrusion growing back in its place.

In the meantime, Lois is in Gotham, trying to retrieve the Kryptonite Spear from underwater. Superman is able to hear her drowning, and flies off to rescue her from drowning, helping her retrieve the spear in the process, while Wonder Woman has manages to temporarily restrain Doomsday with her indestructible lasso. Superman sees that the only way to stop Doomsday is to risk his own life. Hence, he says a tender goodbye to Lois with a kiss, before taking hold of the spear and flying back to the battle scene, exposed to the substance himself in the process.

He stabs Doomsday in the chest with the Kryptonite Spear, but since the weapon did not manage to fully pierce the monster, Doomsday is able to stab Superman in return, piercing the latter's chest with his arm bone protrusion. A desperate and mortally wounded Superman uses the leverage to further impale Doomsday with the spear, finally killing the creature, though dying himself in the process. A shocked and saddened Batman promptly arrives, and retrieves Superman's lifeless body, enveloping him in his own cape, shortly before the arrival of a devastated Lois.

Superman is given a symbolic funeral with an empty casket in Heroes Park in Metropolis, while the funeral of Clark Kent is held in Smallville, with Father Daniel Leone presiding over it, and with Pete Ross and Lana Lang also being in attendance. An after function is held at Martha's home. Lois is in Clark's bedroom when Martha enters. She gives Lois a letter, revealing to her that Clark had intended to propose to her.

Still at the cemetery, Bruce and Diana share a conversation about bringing the other metahumans together, in case a threat of that scale ever should arise, honoring Superman's heroic sacrifice. Diana questions the necessity and inquires why Bruce is proposing it. He replies that it is simply due to a feeling he has that things will inevitably get worse.

Clark's coffin is then shown, with the handful of dirt (scattered on it by Lois) beginning to rise into the air, implying that Superman might still be alive.

Production history
Four days before Man of Steel's release, it was announced that Zack Snyder, David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan would return to their respective roles—director, screenwriter, and executive producer (albeit in a lesser role than in the previous film), for a Man of Steel sequel. Goyer had previously signed a three-film deal with Warner Bros. for Man of Steel, its sequel, and a Justice League film featuring Superman.

The movie was officially announced at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2013. The film is set for a 2015 release and will feature Superman and Batman meeting for the first time in a cinematic format, with most of the first film's main cast set to return, while a new actor would be chosen to play Batman. Two tentative titles for the new film, Batman vs. Superman or Superman vs. Batman, were suggested by Goyer during the Superman 75th Anniversary Panel at Comic-Con. Filming will start sometime in 2014 in Toronto, Ontario instead of Vancouver. On August 23, 2013, Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros. cast Ben Affleck as Batman.

Despite the film being primarily concerned with Superman and Batman, the character of Wonder Woman was confirmed to play an undefined role in some capacity. It was announced on 4 December 2013 that Gal Gadot would portray the character in the film. On January 31, 2014, Actor Jesse Eisenberg has been cast as Lex Luthor and Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons has been cast as Alfred Pennyworth.

Cast
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 * Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman
 * Henry Cavill as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman
 * Amy Adams as Lois Lane
 * Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
 * Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Diane Lane as Martha Kent
 * Laurence Fishburne as Perry White
 * Holly Hunter as Senator June Finch
 * Gal Gadot as Diana of Themyscira / Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
 * Callan Mulvey as Anatoli Knyazev
 * Scoot McNairy as Wallace Keefe
 * Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves
 * Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash
 * Jason Momoa as Orin / Arthur Curry / Aquaman
 * Ray Fisher as Victor Stone / Cyborg
 * Joe Morton as Silas Stone
 * Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Thoma
 * Lauren Cohan as Martha Wayne
 * Brandon Spink as young Bruce Wayne
 * Robin Atkin Downes as Doomsday
 * Harry Lennix as General Swanwick
 * Christina Wren as Carrie Farris
 * Michael Cassidy as Jimmy Olsen
 * Michael Shannon as General Zod
 * Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent

Ultimate Edition

 * Jena Malone as an Barbara Gordon
 * Ahman Green as an unidentified character
 * C.T. Fletcher as an unidentified character

Locations

 * Earth
 * Gotham City
 * Monarch Theatre
 * Wayne Manor
 * Glasshouse
 * Batcave
 * Metropolis
 * Daily Planet
 * LexCorp
 * Heroes Park
 * Wayne Financial Building
 * Smallville
 * Kent Farm

Items

 * Bat-Signal
 * Standard Batsuit
 * Armored Batsuit
 * Bracelets of Submission
 * Lasso of Truth
 * Wonder Woman's shield
 * Wonder Woman's Sword
 * Supersuit