Call me crazy, but I found Batman v Superman an enjoyable movie when it came out last March. Sadly, very few moviegoers shared my sentiments. I’ll admit that the two-and-a-half-hour flick was a hurdle to get through and its share of dents and scratches to boot. Several weeks later, after all the negative kerfuffle, it was announced that the extended edition, dubbed the Ultimate Edition, was going to feature a whopping thirty minutes of deleted scenes.
As a fan of all things geeky, this really hopped up my expectations for the future of the DC Universe. Now, we’re here. Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition is out for public consumption. For a quick recap of how the theatrical cut went, read my thoughts from this article. Right now, let’s run down how the Ultimate Edition goes.
To get it out of the way, the Ultimate Edition is oodles better than the theatrical release. Whereas the edited version is sprinkled with inconsistencies and unexplained threads, the Ultimate Edition takes us through why the main storyline happened the way it did. It doesn’t solve all of the film’s problems but it goes a long way in making it enjoyable even for the casual fan.
Among other things, the Ultimate Edition better explains how Lex Luthor manipulated everyone and everything, how Superman isn’t just a brooding hero with issues, and what the DC Universe will look like in future movies.
Beware: spoilers follow!
Let’s head first to one of the opening scenes from the original edition: the fictional country of Nairomi, Africa, which ultimately had no consequence on the main plot. We’re led to believe that this scene was the reason why the world turned on Superman, but we were never clued in as to why.
The Ultimate Edition features a much more extended take on this scene. For one, Jimmy Olsen was finally introduced before he is inevitably killed minutes after. Secondly, Anatoli Knyazev who made an unexplained cameo in the theatrical cut, is playing a more pronounced role in the extended. He blazes through the corpses of the terrorists with a flamethrower, which will give out the impression that Supes was responsible for killing them with his laser eyes. This will be further explained by an African witness testifying to Superman’s crimes in a hearing by Senator Finch.
Except she isn’t. Apparently, this “expert witness” was an actress paid by Lex Luthor himself to manipulate the public’s view of Superman. This isn’t the only glimpse we see of how Lex Luthor has been holding the marionette from behind the scenes. More and more, we see how Luthor has been dirtying Superman’s public image and setting up an ideological clash between Batman and Superman.
Speaking of Superman, the Ultimate Edition restored the Superman in Batman v Superman. From the theatrical, we already know that Lex Luthor planted a bomb in Wallace Keefe’s wheelchair. What it mistakenly portrays afterward, though, is that Superman was apathetic to this tragic incident. The Ultimate thankfully goes a lot deeper. Instead of ending with the speculation that Superman doesn’t care about what happened, it is explained that the reason why he didn’t see the bomb was because it was lined with lead, the one material his x-ray vision can’t penetrate. Further, he is also shown helping out the survivors of the attack before hurrying off into the sunset.
Lastly, we get a better idea of what Justice League will bring. After our heroes beat Doomsday to a pulp, Lex Luthor is captured by a SWAT team where he is seen “communicating” with a hologram of a figure that looks eerily like Diablo from the same video game series. This is Steppenwolf, a powerful inhabitant from the planet Apokolips (the same as the rumored future villain of the series, Darkseid). This paints a lot more color to his “bell cannot be unrung” monologue to cap off the epilogue as we now know that the Justice League film will star Steppenwolf, rather than the manic Darkseid.
The Ultimate Edition still leaves some plot points in the dark. Wonder Woman and the cameos of the other members of the Justice League are still left behind the shadows of Batman and Superman. Also, Lois Lane’s investigations into Luther’s activities felt a bit flat at the end, despite its introduction of Jena Malone’s character and explanation of Luthor’s methods.
While the Ultimate Edition brings BvS a much more cohesive storyline, it’s puzzling why this wasn’t included in the first place, especially with crucial scenes such as the extended one in Africa. This may shift the blame a bit from the director to the editor, but it still begs the question: what does this imply for the extended universe?
For one, I would prefer setting this edition as canon, rather than the version run through by Edward Scissorhands. DC, make it happen!
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