This post obviously contains spoilers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Enter at your own risk if you have not seen the movie.
A lot of movies leave us with unanswered questions. We’ve been doing these posts for years, because we found that a lot of Hollywood blockbusters, particularly those in the sci-fi, superhero, fantasy, action and horror genres play way too loose with logic — not just with reality as we know it but reality as the movie should know it. Also, with so many big movies being based on comic books and badly written YA novels and occasionally poorly developed ideas of visionary auteurs, a lot of the scripts for these things seem to forget to lay out everything for the actual audience of the specific movie they’re watching.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice really takes the cake as far as the number of questions we were left with regarding its logic and its underlying elements that aren’t communicated to the viewer — the latter mostly because of all the set-up it seems to be doing for future DC Extended Universe movies (plus we know a bunch of stuff was excised or trimmed back that will end up in complete form on the R-rated BvS “Ultimate Cut” on home video). So, this edition of Unanswered Questions involves a lot more Qs than ever. Normally we try to have 10 to make sure it’s a necessary endeavor. For Man of Steel we only had seven. For this new follow-up, we have 50, including those questions that can now be answered but frustratingly weren’t by the movie itself.
Check them all out below, but only if you’ve seen the movie. I’ve tried to stick to the order I asked these questions while watching, through to the very end, so as it goes on it gets more and more SPOILERY.
1. Why wasn’t Bruce Wayne killed along with his parents?
Of course this is canon and how it’s always been, but it’s always bothered me. Sure, he’s a kid, but he’s also seen your face and you’re already over the edge. You’d kill the boy and we’d never have a Batman to begin with.
2. Why was Excalibur opening on a Wednesday in Gotham City?
John Boorman’s fantasy film opened on April 10, 1981, which was a Friday. Yes, this could be a second-run theater, as they also so revivals like The Mark of Zorro, a movie that is also a canonical part of the Batman origin story.
3. Why did Bruce Wayne rush into the crumbling Metropolis?
Sure, he’s a hero, but he’s not invincible. Did he really think he could be much help? Maybe he could have at least thrown his Batsuit on for some protection?
4. Why did Wayne Industries employees need Bruce Wayne to tell them to evacuate Wayne Tower?
When Bruce calls the executive to tell him to evacuate, the guy at Wayne Tower looks out the window with a look like, “oh, didn’t realize that was going on.” But what were these people waiting for? Get out of there already!
5. Why was everybody just standing around watching so much destruction happen around them?
Well, as we’ll see by the end of this weekend, sometimes people can’t not look at a disaster, even when they’re told to avoid it.
6. Who is the little girl that Bruce Wayne rescues from being crushed?
Maybe she’s nobody, but maybe we’ve seen too much Gotham to think that a kid is ever just a kid in these things. If anything maybe the actress will at least grow up to play one of TV’s all-time most hated characters, a la King Joffrey.
7. Why are the World Engine remains sitting around for scavengers and villains to pilfer them from “somewhere in the Indian Ocean”?
I’ll let Birth Movies Death answer this one since they asked it first. But I’d say Superman doesn’t want to go near it because of the Kryptonite. Actually, I don’t think he knew about Kryptonite so I guess it’s because it’s just not a threat to Lois.
8. Did they just immediately kill off Jimmy Olsen?
Apparently that’s iconic Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen with Lois Lane in Africa, but after being discovered with a tracking device in his camera he’s shot by the warlord. Well, we don’t see him die…
9. Is it because these movies already have “Jenny Olsen”?
She wound up having another last name than fans theorized, but the Jenny character is still already a Jimmy surrogate, so an actual Jimmy is unnecessary.
10. Why does Superman only save Lois in Africa?
He couldn’t have gotten there a second earlier to save Jimmy and maybe found a way of securing the situation so other people aren’t also killed while he’s there?
11. Why does anyone care what happened in Africa anyway?
Americans don’t care about things that happen in Africa anyway, but would Congress really bring a woman over for a hearing to discuss what Superman did over there?
12. Do people really think Superman is responsible for shooting deaths of villagers during a skirmish with a warlord?
Maybe because he didn’t save anyone but his girlfriend, they’re mad at him, but nobody should think he was the one shooting people.
13. How does Batman not realize The White Portuguese is a ship?
Obviously it’s the name of a ship. Anyone who says it out loud should get that. He’s a great detective?
14. Why has Batman been trying to find out what The White Portuguese is for so long?
The significance of the ship is that eventually it transports the Kryptonite to Lexcorp. But why is Batman investigating its name before this happens?
15. Why does the media act like Batman is some new vigilante in town?
In a news report on Batman’s latest crime-fighting incident, he’s referred to as simply “the Bat” and treated like someone who hasn’t been doing this for many years and even has a Bat-signal for use by officials looking to the Caped Crusader for help. Also the police act like he’s still a totally mysterious figure in their city.
16. What does a lowly sex trafficker have to do with Lex Luthor?
The criminal Batman brands is somehow tied to LexCorp because he’s a part of the investigation into who or what The White Portuguese is. Is Lex Luthor in some way supporting every bad guy in Gotham City — and the world?
17. Why does Lex Luthor go to Senator Finch about his anti-Superman weapon plans?
He is obviously doing just fine in the shadows with various criminal activity, so why bother even trying to get official okay on importing the found Kryptonite?
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