Bad Movie or Missed Message?

Batman V Superman, while far from perfect, is an amazing film. However, back in 2016, my friends and I, as well as most of the world, did not think so. Everyone who saw the film can remember the hilarious memes:

However, since then, I have grasped the theological significance of the movie and believe that Batman V Superman is an underappreciated, underrated, and over hated movie that has a deep theological message that went over the heads of the general audience. This, I think, is due to the theological apathy and biblical illiteracy of our current culture. While Zack Snyder, the director, is well known for his religious imagery in his films, one first must ask if it was Zack Snyder’s intention to make a theologically motivated film. In an interview with CNN, he says:

When we started to examine the Superman mythology, in the most classic sense, I really wanted to press upon the film the ‘why’ of him, which has been 75 years in the making… The Christ-like parallels, I didn’t make that stuff up. We weren’t like, ‘Hey, let’s add this!’ That stuff is there, in the mythology. That is the tried-and-true Superman metaphor. So rather than be snarky and say that doesn’t exist, we thought it would be fun to allow that mythology to be woven through.¹

Snyder also posits one of the main questions of the film: “At 75, is Superman still our hero?”² Zack Snyder builds upon this question by diving into the Problem of Evil, examining our culture’s attitude towards Christianity, by framing Superman as a Christ-figure, and by creating an amazing character arch for Ben Affleck’s Batman.

The Problem of Evil

Lex Luthor, when confronting Superman, exclaims, “See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Jo, cause God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy’s fist and abominations. I figured out way back if God is all-powerful, He cannot be all good. And if He is all good, then He cannot be all-powerful. And neither can you be.”

Lex Luthor takes directly from Epicurus’ famous argument: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”³

It is not just villains who ask these questions, but biblical authors as well. David writes, “how long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps. 13:1). The prophet Habakkuk asks, “how long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” (Hab. 1:2-3)

It is of great importance to notice that it is okay and even good to ask the questions that Luthor has; however, they do not demand hatred for God nor the logical conclusion that God does not exist. In fact, philosophers distinguish between the logical problem of evil and the evidential problem of evil because the former, the “Lex-Lutherian” form, fails, since it does not logically follow that God does not exist because evil exists. While there are many, many answers to the Problem of Evil, one answer explored by Zack Snyder is the Incarnation. But before we get to that, we must first analyze the current culture.

Christianity as Evil and Outdated

In our postmodern world, we find power to be evil and oppressive; therefore, an all-powerful character such as Superman, or God, must also be evil. Luthor asks Senator Finch, “do you know the oldest lie in America, Senator?” and answers, “it’s that power can be innocent.” Superman cannot be innocent; God cannot be innocent. Lex even goes as far as saying that Superman is a demon. Referring to a painting seen below, he says, “That should be upside down. We know better now, don’t we? Devils don’t come from hell beneath us. No, they come from the sky.”

Another key factor in understanding our culture today comes from one of Zack Snyder’s favorite lines, in which Superman, and traditional morality, is no longer sought after.⁴ Perry White, the Editor and Chief of the Daily Planet, yells at Clark for writing on the Batman. The dialogue goes as follows:

Perry White: You don’t get to decide what the right thing is.

Clark Kent: When the Planet was founded, it stood for something, Perry.

Perry White: And so could you if it was 1938, but it’s not 1938. WPA ain’t hiring no more. Apples don’t cost a nickel. Not in here, not out there. You drop this thing! Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman.

There no longer exists a foundation for morality in today’s age. The age in which Superman was made (1938) no longer exists, hence why Zack Snyder’s Superman carries a dark overtone and is no longer the hopeful, bright, traditional Superman. It is not just Superman that finds himself in another world, but Batman as well.

The Nihilistic Übermensch and Killer of God

A problem that many fans took with Zack Snyder’s Batman is the fact that Snyder violated Batman’s famous “no-kill” rule. Batman traditionally does not kill; however, Snyder’s Batman kills without hesitation. This is due to the hardened nature of Ben Affleck’s Batman, who is a Nietzsche inspired Übermensch that has gone beyond good and evil. We get a glimpse of why Batman is this way when he stares at what is, presumably, Jason Todd’s Robin suit:

For those that are unaware, Jason Todd was a Robin who was beat to death with a crowbar by the Joker. In the comic book storyline, “A Death in the Family” we see Batman come the closest he ever has been to killing the Joker, yet he does not. Zack Snyder wished to push the Batman character to the edge to explore what Nihilism does to a hero and what the Übermensch is capable of.

Alfred Pennyworth gives us a glimpse into this nihilistic change in Batman when he says, “Oh, yes it has, sir. Everything’s changed. Men fall from the sky, the gods hurl thunderbolts, innocents die. That’s how it starts, sir. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men… cruel.” Bruce Wayne, after the death of Jason Todd, feels powerless; therefore, he must transcend his moral tradition, he must go beyond good and evil, he must forge his own purpose and meaning. We see this most bluntly when Batman is dragging Superman on the ground during their battle and says, “bet your parents taught you that you mean something; that you’re here for a reason. My parents taught me a different lesson; dying in the gutter for no reason at all. They taught me that the world only made sense if you forced it to”. In Nietzsche’s world, Batman must carve out his own meaning to defeat his nihilism.

Sadly, what happens when we forfeit the Christian tradition is the death of God and with it, the character death of our heroes. We get a Batman that kills and that wishes to kill God.

See Part Two for an exploration of Superman as a Christ-figure that redeems Bruce Wayne through the “incarnation” and through his sacrificial death.

1. https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/14/showbiz/zack-snyder-man-of-steel ↩︎
2. Ibid. ↩︎
3. Lactantius, De Ira Dei (On the Wrath of God), 1.13. ↩︎
4. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/zack-snyder-shares-secrets-lost-batman-v-superman-sequels-1287433/ ↩︎