Everything You Ever Need To Know About ... BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016)

Ben Affleck asked Christian Bale for any advice he could give about playing Batman. Bale told him to "make sure you can piss in that suit." The two men met quite by accident in a costume shop. They were each buying a Batman costume for their kids.

The Waynes are seen walking out of a movie theater, a poster of The Mark of Zorro (1940) is seen on the theater wall. Though not exclusive to all origin stories, most Canon Batman Origin stories have the Waynes leaving a screening of the film. This trend was originally set in reference to the fact that Batman was largely based on the character of Zorro.

In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Ben Affleck said he was warned by Warner Bros. about the possible negative reaction to his casting, and was advised to remain off the Internet after the casting announcement. He also said to assuage his concerns, the studio showed him negative comments that fans had initially made to previous superhero castings. Affleck said in spite of the studio warnings, he still checked out an online message board. The first comment he read was, "Affleck as Batman? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" After seeing that, he immediately went offline.

The film was originally pitched in August 2001 by Andrew Kevin Walker, with Wolfgang Petersen to direct and Akiva Goldsman to script. Goldman's script had Bruce Wayne's fiancée slain by the Joker, which sends him on a revenge rampage and brings him into conflict with Superman who tries to stop him. The film was shelved, but in Goldman's I Am Legend (2007), a teaser poster for the film (the Superman shield inside a bat) was seen in the opening scene. It was rumored at the time that George Clooney would be playing Batman (reprising his role from Batman & Robin (1997)), and John Travolta would be playing Superman,

Ben Affleck gained an additional 20 pounds of muscle and reached 8 percent body fat for his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

In this film, Batman wears a voice modulator in his suit to electronically alter his voice. After the casting of Ben Affleck in the role, this was an idea that had been suggested by his friend, director Kevin Smith, as he felt Affleck's natural speaking voice was too high-pitched for Batman.

Ben Affleck stated in a interview that he had asked if he could have the batsuit when filming was complete. The producers said yes, but that he would have to pay $100,000 in order to keep it. Affleck quickly changed his mind and asked if he could just take a picture with it instead.

The batsuit that Ben Affleck wears is based on Batman's suit in the comic book "The Dark Knight Returns," written by Frank Miller and published in 1986. The film itself is partly based on the graphic novel.

A rough cut of the film was shown for the executives at Warner Bros. They were reportedly so impressed that they not only gave the film a standing ovation, but also began negotiating a deal with Ben Affleck to have him make three solo Batman movies, rather than the original plan to make only one.

Ben Affleck will portray Batman in the film, Suicide Squad (2016), Justice League (2017), The Batman, Justice League Part Two, and possibly two sequels to the The Batman.

According to Ben Affleck, he was surprised when he was offered the Batman role and was at first hesitant to commit to it. He was won over after a meeting with director Zack Snyder, who pitched Affleck his vision of Batman and showed him concept art for the film.

When discussing the film, Henry Cavill said that it would address a major issue that fans and critics had with Man of Steel (2013), involving the huge amount of collateral damage caused in the film's climax during Superman's battle with General Zod in Metropolis. Cavill said that future battle scenes in movies featuring Superman would involve him making sure to not harm civilians himself and to protect them from evil villains.

When Gal Gadot was asked by a reporter about how she would get Wonder Woman's breasts from the comics, she answered, "Wonder Woman is Amazonian, and historically accurate Amazonian women actually had only one breast. So, if I'd really go 'by the book,' it'd be problematic." (Amazonian warriors would sever their right breast in order to fire a bow & arrow.) Gadot practiced Kung Fu, kick boxing, sword fight, jiu-jitsu and capoeira as part of her physical preparation for the role. There is no historical record to prove that Amazon women had a breast removed. If that were the case then statues or carvings would have been found with a missing right breast. Other translations of Amazon means "large breasted" or "without husband" rather than "without breast". Check the Etymology of the word Amazon for further details. The idea of Amazonian woman severing a breast for the sake of being better with a bow and arrow comes from the historical fiction novel The Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield.

Jimmy Fallon once asked Ben Affleck what his daughters thought of him being Batman and he said, "They don't care. All they want to watch is Frozen (2013)."

Alfred's line about an empty wine cellar is taken directly from the graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns.

Christian Bale mentioned in an interview that he felt like he wanted to continue playing Batman. He then jokingly said, "I'm jealous of someone else playing Batman." Bale portrayed Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012).

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. He was subsequently given the role of Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father.

Superman's suit is considerably brighter, with the blue of the suit being lightened to suit the comic version. The yellow background behind the "S" has been made into a bright gold. Certain patterns in the suit have changed also, notably on the "S."

Ben Affleck began working out two hours a day the very next day after he was cast as Batman, to get ready for the role.

Michael Wilkinson, commenting on the design of the Batman look, said that "Zack Snyder said that the most important thing for our Batman is that he come across as a really hulking big guy who's super pumped up. He's going to be even bigger than our Superman in silhouette. His strength is not through armor and gadgets, he's basically a tower of muscle. Zack is a huge fan of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, and we looked a lot at that silhouette when we were creating our silhouette, the cowl I am super proud of. There's always been this huge thing about can he actually turn his head. It does allow full range of movement and he can do all his stunts in the cowl."

Costume designer Michael Wilkinson put Amazonian writing into Wonder Woman's suit design, similar to how Kryptonian writing was put into Superman's suit design.

According to Tao Okamoto, Jesse Eisenberg changed several of his lines causing some of the actors' reactions to be genuine.

After seeing his performance in Cloud Atlas (2012), the studio wanted Tom Hanks to portray Lex Luthor.

There is a Riddler style question mark graffitied in one of the pillars.

This will be the 11th time Batman has been portrayed since 1943. Superman, on the other hand, has been portrayed sixteen times since 1939.

Ben Affleck's portrayal of Batman was actually indirectly predicted and foretold two decades ago. In the opening credits of the Kevin Smith film Mallrats (1995), there are parodies of comic book covers featuring the stars of the movie. The one featuring Ben Affleck parodies none other than Batman.

Doomsday is portrayed by Robin Atkin Downes in motion-capture and voice. This is Downes' third film as a Superman villain: he had previously played Solaris in All-Star Superman (2011) and Manchester Black in Superman vs. The Elite (2012).

This is the first live action film to include Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman together.

Jesse Eisenberg would walk to the sets in disguise so his Lex Luthor look would not leak.

Michael Wilkinson described the updated Superman suit in the following manner, "There are some subtle differences in the belt, the buckle and the glyph (shield). Zack Snyder loved the idea that there is some Kryptonian script embedded in the suit (at the point where the deltoid meets the bicep). He gave me this fantastic quote that he wanted us to translate into the Kryptonian script and incorporate into the suit. The quote deals with the nature of power and the responsibility that comes with it."

The producers declared that this is the very first DC Comics film that opens up to a cinematic universe for its heroes, saying, "Batman is being brought into the universe that now this Superman lives in."

Ben Affleck was originally offered to direct the predecessor, Man of Steel (2013), but turned down the offer, saying he wasn't experienced in visual effects shots, "A lesson I've learned is to not look at movies based on budget, how much they'll spend on effects or where they will shoot. Story is what's important." He was later cast to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman in the sequel.

Before Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Lex Luthor, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Joaquin Phoenix, Adam Driver and Jean Dujardin were on the Warner Bros.' list to play the part.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont makes a cameo appearance as Senator Purrington. It's the fourth live action Batman film for the senator, and he's faced four different Batmans: Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck.

At 6'4 which is 2 inches from Batman's height at 6'2, Ben Affleck is the tallest actor to portray Batman.

Charles Roven revealed that at the time, there were 1500 visual FX shots, relatively little compared to other visual effects heavy superhero films.

Costume designer Michael Wilkinson deliberately made the Batsuit out of cloth, removing all traces of armor, saying, "Our Batman's power comes from his incredible physical strength and fighting skills."

Stephen Amell, who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in the TV series Arrow (2012) reportedly wanted to be in this film. Promotional material revealed that Oliver Queen does exist in the DC Extended Universe.

Ben Affleck stated in an interview that Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor in this film, was the most interesting character. Eisenberg has previously said that Chris Terrio (writer) has created his character with psychological realism.

The glasses Henry Cavill wears as Clark Kent are made by British spectacle designer Tom Davies. Apparently, the costume designer found most glasses sat too high on Cavill's face because he has a high bridge. They sought out Tom Davies, who makes bespoke glasses, to design a one-off pair of spectacles for the job.

At his absolute peak during the process of training for the film and filming it, Henry Cavill reached a size of 100 kg (220 lbs.). However, he did not remain at that size for the entire duration of the shoot or the training.

Superman only had 42 lines of dialogue throughout the entire movie.

When Batman/Bruce Wayne has been gathering newspaper clips about Superman, a picture is seen where Superman is lifting a car, about to smash it against a rock. The picture is a photo version of the cover of Action Comics #1 from 1938, Superman's debut.

According to one of the producers, Charles Roven, Ben Affleck was their first choice and the first person they went to for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Timothy Dalton was considered for the role of Alfred J. Pennyworth.

The film was originally scheduled for release in 2015, but it was moved to 2016 to "allow the filmmakers time to realize fully their vision, given the complex visual nature of the story."

This movie depicts the geographical location between Gotham and Metropolis as being across a bay from one another; a la New York City & Jersey City, NJ.

This is director Zack Snyder's fifth film with WB, his first being 300 (2006), second being Watchmen (2009), third being Sucker Punch (2011), and fourth being Man of Steel (2013). Snyder has signed on to direct two more movies, Justice League (2017) and Justice League Part Two.

During the Cyborg clip Dr. Stone mentions he has "US GOV object 6-19-82" which attaches itself to Victor Stone to create Cyborg. The number 6-19-82 is a reference to the comic Tales of the New Teen Titans #1 (June 1982): "Cyborg".

Both the Batsuit and the Batmobile appear as DLCs in Batman: Arkham Knight (2015). Christian Bale's and Michael Keaton's Batsuits and Batmobiles appear as well.

This film marks the third time that the role of Batman has been played by an Oscar-winner. Ben Affleck won best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997) and Best Picture for Argo (2012), Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor for The Fighter (2010), and George Clooney won Best Supporting Actor for Syriana (2005), as well as Best Picture for Argo (2012), along with Affleck. This is also the second time an Oscar winner has played Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred. Jeremy Irons won Best Actor for Reversal of Fortune (1990) and Michael Caine won two Best Supporting Actors for The Cider House Rules (1999) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).

Gal Gadot is the first non-American actress to play Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. She is also the first actress to perform the role in theatrical films. The character's only previous live action appearances were on television in the 1970s Wonder Woman (1975).

Ben Affleck is seventeen months older than Christian Bale, marking the first time the actor taking on the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne is older than the actor who last played the role in a live action movie since the modern movie sequence started in 1989. In all other Batman roles since, the actor succeeding the role has been younger than the actor who previously played the character. Val Kilmer took the role from Michael Keaton and he is eight years younger. George Clooney, who is eighteen months younger, took the role from Kilmer. Bale is thirteen years younger than Clooney. The FIRST (and only OTHER) time this happened was in 1949, when Robert Lowery took over the role from Lewis Wilson, who played Batman in 1943.

In one scene, Clark says to Perry, "When the Daily Planet was founded, it used to stand for something." Perry responds with, "Yeah, and if it were 1938, you could too." Action Comics #1, featuring Superman, was published in 1938.

Bradley Cooper, Chris Pine, Ryan Kwanten, Matthew Fox and Scott Porter were all linked for the role of Barry Allen/The Flash in a previous iteration. Ezra Miller was cast.

The metal exosuit is the first Batsuit not featuring a Batsymbol on its chest.

In Hollywoodland (2006), Ben Affleck stars as George Reeves, the actor who played Superman/Clark Kent in Adventures of Superman (1952). This makes Ben Affleck the first actor to portray, in one form or another, both Batman and Superman as part of a major motion picture.

Before Ben Affleck was cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman, he was reportedly approached by Warner Bros. to direct a Justice League film adaptation in which he would have also portrayed Batman. He was also previously approached to direct Man of Steel (2013).

During the opening battle in Metropolis a grey horse is seen passing Bruce Wayne in the rubble. In the graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns" Batman is seen riding a grey horse.

During the Batman/Superman fight, in one of the walls in the foreground you can see spray painted the Latin rhetorical question "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" The exact literal translation of this is "Who will guard the guards themselves?" Which is a prominent theme in the film. Also in Justice League: Divided We Fall (2005) Batman makes this question in Latin to Green Arrow to which he gives a paraphrased reply "Who guards the guardians? We got it covered". It is also a major theme and repeated quote - "Who watches the watchmen?" - throughout Watchmen (2009) which Zack Snyder also directed.

The film was partially shot on IMAX.

Scott Adkins auditioned for the role of Batman before Ben Affleck was cast. When asked in an interview why he wasn't chosen, Adkins wryly responded "Look, Ben Affleck was always going to have the part, all right? He's got Oscars."

The code name title for this film on and off set was "Sage and Milo."

Michael B. Jordan, who lent his voice to Victor Stone/Cyborg in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013), was considered for the role of Victor Stone/Cyborg in the live action film. He plays Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four (2015) reboot.

Composer Hans Zimmer said this will be that last superhero movie he will compose music for.

Zack Snyder's son Eli Snyder was rumoured to play Jason Todd/Robin in a flashback during the movie. This was later denied publicly by Snyder in an interview.

Metallo was considered for the role of the villain before Batman and Wonder Woman were brought in.

Lynda Carter did not like Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman outfit, as she said it was missing the red, white, and blue.

Alfred mentions that one of Batman's targets may not even be real - "a phantasm". A possible nod to the widely loved animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993).

Actor Henry Cavill did the ALS ice bucket challenge on set with actress Amy Adams, although Cavill had extra buckets of ice thrown on him.

Ben Affleck called the bat suit his "visual effects pajamas."

Released in the same year as a Marvel comics movie also revolving around two heroes battling each other, Captain America: Civil War (2016).

The actor portraying the seventh JLA member was unknown when this film was released.

Batman is only called "Batman" once in this movie by Perry White ("nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman). Most of the time he is referred to as "the Bat".

Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan play Bruce Wayne's parents in the film. They also both appear in the television series The Walking Dead (2010) as Maggie Greene and Negan, respectively. They were both in Supernatural (2005) as well.

This is the second superhero film in that Ben Affleck has played a starring role. The first was as Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the film Daredevil (2003). Similar to Batman, Daredevil was also a martial artist and was driven to crime-fighting due to the death of a family member.

Lex Luthor's assistant Mercy Graves is portrayed by Japanese actress Tao Okamoto. This is the second time Mercy Graves is portrayed of Asian origin, after The Batman (2004).

When Wallace visits the wall etched with the names of the people who died during Superman's battle with Zod, most of the names on the wall are the names of crew members who have worked on Zack Snyder movies.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan's role as Thomas Wayne was strongly rumored and unconfirmed until he appeared in the San Diego Comic Con trailer.

Holly Hunter plays a Senator investigating Superman for his destructive actions and powers. In The Incredibles (2004), she voices Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible, who is in hiding due to society's suspicion and fear of superheroes' destructive powers.

The 'v' in the title is an abbreviation of the Latin word 'versus,' meaning 'against.' The title of the film is styled the way court cases are titled. The first party is the claimant (Batman), and he is taking action because he has grievances with the second party, the defendant (Superman).

In the Daily Planet when everyone is watching the news on the TV, the screen next to it shows a football game with the teams being Metropolis and Gotham.

Armie Hammer was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. He also had signed on to play the role in George Miller's canceled film "Justice League: Mortal". It would be the second movie with Hammer and Henry Cavill together after The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015).

Michael Cassidy who plays Jimmy Olsen in DoJ also played Grant Gabriel/Julian Luthor in the TV series Smallville (2001).

First live action film that includes Batman to not be released in the summer.

Bill Finger (developer) co-created Batman, originally named "the Bat-Man" who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). However, Bob Kane didn't publicly acknowledge Finger's contributions until years after Finger's death. As such, this film is the first theatrical feature film to officially credit Finger as co-creator of Batman.

The film's title is a reference to the Justice League.

There is a boat yard in the scene where Batman first meets Superman which is named Nicholson's boat yard. A reference to Jack Nicholson who played the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) movie.

Over 4 different 'leaked plot summaries' have been released online. None of which were true.

Towards the end of the movie, Batman grabs on to a wall in a position resembling the cover of the Book One of The Dark Knight Returns comics.

It was rumored that Callan Mulvey would be playing the Joker in this film. However, these turned out to be untrue when it was announced that Jared Leto would play the role in the DC Cinematic Universe.

This version of Batman is based off of the Frank Miller version of the character. Ben Affleck said that is part of the reason why he accepted the role of the character.

The line "This is flesh and blood" is taken from Excalibur (1981), the "Coming Soon" film at the theater Bruce Wayne was at with his parents the night they are killed. A similar line is said in Batman Begins (2005).

WILHELM SCREAM: At approximately 1 hour, after a car is thrown crushing a cabin after a crash.

Carla Gugino, Patrick Wilson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, all of whom have cameos in this film (with Gugino and Wilson providing voice cameos) have all previously collaborated with Zack Snyder on another D.C. Comics film, Watchmen (2009).

Jason Momoa, who portrays Aquaman, also appeared in Atlantis in the TV series Stargate: Atlantis (2004).

While Bruce is talking to Clark during Lex Luthor's party, Bruce says that Gotham already has enough trouble with villains that like to dress up as clowns. This is a reference to The Joker.

Joe Manganiello was up for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. He will appearing as Deathstroke in The Batman.

When Bruce Wayne enters the Wayne family crypt, a stained glass window depicting a guardian angel in a blue clothes and red cape over a burning city can be seen. The angel's appearance resembles that of Superman, foreshadowing Superman as a guardian angel protecting a burning city.

Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson/Falcon from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said that the best thing about Batman v. Superman (2016) was Ben Affleck.

Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor, said in an interview that he has not seen the movie nor does he want to see it, simply because he doesn't like watching his own movies.

Though this is the first live-action film in which Batman and Superman have appeared, it is not the first time that a Batman and Superman actor have appeared together. Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeve appeared together in Speechless (1994).

The football scenes that Zack Snyder filmed when he began principal photography ended up in the background in a Daily Planet scene.

Media reports in 2013 mentioned that Jackie Earle Haley auditioned for a role in the film.

This film marks Callan Mulvey's third comic book/graphic novel adaptation, following his role as Scyllias in 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) and Jack Rollins in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom and Luke Evans were considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. All three men were given roles in The Hobbit film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, Evans as Bard the Bowman and Bloom reprising his role as Legolas from The Lord of the Rings trilogy also directed by Jackson.

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is never referred to as either on screen, in either the extended cut or the theatrical. She is only called Miss Prince by an Air Stewardess.

There was massive fan speculation that Dan Amboyer would be portraying Hal Jordan in the build up to the film. Amboyer's own Website put this to rest when it was revealed he would be playing 'Lt. Christie'.

Ben Affleck starred as Daredevil, a Marvel character, before starring as Batman, a DC character. Also this year Ryan Reynolds starred as Deadpool, a Marvel character, after previously starring as Green Lantern, a DC character.

DC is Marvel's main rival in the superhero/comic book genre. Ben Affleck previously starred in Daredevil (2003) alongside co-star Jon Favreau, who went on to direct Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010) which started up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This movie is the second movie to be released in the DC Extended Universe.

During the battle between Batman and Superman, Batman says "I bet your parents taught you that you mean something; that you're here for a reason." Jonathan Kent, played by Glenn Ford in Superman (1978), says to Clark "And one thing I do know, son, and that is you are here for a reason."

Tyler Hoechlin was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

In the Daily Planet office, a cubicle belonging to "Jay Oliva, Sports Writer" can be seen. A black & yellow GCU (Gotham City University) football jersey is seen. Jay Oliva is a Filipino-American storyboard artist, film producer, and animated film director working for Warner Brothers Animation who has worked on many Batman, Superman, and Justice League animated films, and also worked as a storyboard artist on this film. Black & yellow are colors traditionally associated with Batman, who is from Gotham CIty.

Third movie directed by Zack Snyder to have an extended cut of the film released. The other two are Watchmen (2009) and Sucker Punch (2011).

Many of the news cuttings on Wallace's wall are events which were featured in the Christopher Reeve Superman films.

Gal Gadot is the second actress who participated in the beauty pageant and portrayed as Wonder Woman respectively. Lynda Carter, who previously portrayed the character in the 70s, also participated in beauty pagent.

There are at least four actors in this movie that also had a role in Smallville (2001), a TV series about a young Superman. Amy Adams played Jodi Melville in Smallville: Craving (2001). Joe Morton played Dr. Steven Hamilton in Smallville: Craving (2001), Smallville: Nicodemus (2002), Smallville: Obscura (2002) and Smallville: Duplicity (2002). Michael Cassidy played Grant Gabriel in Smallville: Kara (2007), Smallville: Fierce (2007), Smallville: Action (2007), Smallville: Wrath (2007), Smallville: Blue (2007), Smallville: Gemini (2007) and Smallville: Persona (2008). Chad Krowchuk played Wendell Johnson in Smallville: Forever (2005).

Josh Brolin was considered to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman before Ben Affleck was cast.

Both Laurence Fishburne (Perry White) and Harry Lennix (Swanwick) were part of The Matrix trilogy Fishburne playing Morpheus and Lennix playing Lock.

After driving his jeep through the streets of Metropolis, Bruce Wayne exits the vehicle. A street sign that reads "Shelby" can be seen above him. "Shelby" is the name of the Kent family dog, who appears in comics such as Superman - For All Seasons. He also appears in Smallville (2001), having been introduced in Smallville: Krypto (2005).

The glass house portrayed as Bruce Wayne's home is almost an exact copy (though slightly longer and painted black) of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois. The movie house was purpose built in Orion Township, Michigan about 40 miles north of Detroit. At one point it was on Google Maps where one could take a 360 degree tour of it and the Batcave. The movie house is outfitted with Mid-Century Modern furniture very similar to what is on display in the Farnsworth House.

Prior to appearing as Mercy Graves in this movie, actress Tao Okamoto appeared in "The Wolverine" (2013) based on Marvel comic book characters.

Jon Hamm and Gerard Butler were considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Both actors have worked previously with director Zack Snyder; Hamm on Sucker Punch (2011) and Butler on 300 (2006).


This will be the second time both Michael Cassidy and Scoot McNairy will be in a movie that has Ben Affleck as a lead actor, and the third time that this pairing has been the case for Affleck and McNairy. The first time was for Argo (2012) where Cassidy was an analyst and McNairy was Joe Stafford, one of the six hostages. The second was in Gone Girl (2014), where Affleck's character, Nick Dunne, has a meeting with McNairy's character.

Jason Momoa, who plays Aquaman, was raised in Norwalk, Iowa. Brandon Routh, who played Superman in Superman Returns (2006), is also from Norwalk, Iowa.

Scoot McNairy has played characters who exist in both the MCU and the DCEU. As Jackson Norris, a "reporter" in the Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014) and as Wallace Keefe, an employee for Wayne Enterprises in this movie.

The film's cast includes four Oscar winners: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, and Kevin Costner; and five Oscar nominees: Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Shannon.

Second film of Zack Snyder with "Dawn" in the title, the first was Dawn of the Dead (2004) which was his directorial debut.

The ruin of Wayne Manor is based on a 3d model of Sutton Scarsdale Hall, a ruined stately home in Derbyshire, England managed by English Heritage.

During the S.T.A.R. Labs Cyborg footage, Dr. Stone calls the Mother Box "US Gov, object 6-19-82". Superman II was released in theaters on June 19, 1982 (06/19/82)

The names Wonder Woman and Diana Prince are never spoken in the film.

In the cyborg scene, Dr. Stone refers to the computer as the MOTHER BOX. The Mother Box is a super computer that is used on Apokalips, which is ruled by Darkseid, a major enemy of the Justice League.

The first appearance of Batman is Detective Comics 27. The Gotham squad car in the scene just before Batman appears is Delta Charlie 27 or DC27, much like the CW shows

At the beginning of the movie, when child Bruce Wayne runs from his parents graves, the both he and the camera shot pass a tombstone with the name Solomon Grundy, the villain in the comics.

Both Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne) and Michael Shannon (Zod) previously starred together in Pearl Harbor (2001).

Both actors portraying Bruce Wayne's parents are known for previous live-action comic book adaptions. Jeffrey Dean Morgan played Edward Blake/The Comedian in Watchmen (2009) while both Morgan and Lauren Cohan are cast members of The Walking Dead (2010) with Cohan playing Maggie Green and Morgan playing the villainous Negan. This is significant considering Ben Affleck's casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman after his prior role as Matt Murdock in Daredevil (2003).

This movie is featured in episode 243 of the "bad movie" podcast, We Hate Movies.

Ben Affleck plays Batman, a character which is based on bats, a flying mammal that uses echo-location. Ben Affleck had earlier played a blind superhero in Daredevil (2003), who also uses a process similar to echo-location to perceive his surroundings.

No one in the film actually calls Doomsday by that name. The Kryptonian ship's interface refers to the monster during its creation as 'The abomination without name', and Lex describes it to Superman as 'your doomsday'. Everyone else simply refers to it using terms like 'thing' or 'creature'.

In the Season 2 series finale of Fringe (2008), the film "Superman vs Batman" is displayed on a movie theater marquee.

Towards the end of filming, Jason Momoa reportedly stocked his personal refrigerator with beer to prepare for the wrap party.

Jeffery Dean Morgan, who plays Thomas Wayne, previously appeared in Zack Snyder's 2009 superhero film Watchmen as The Comedian.

When Bruce Wayne looks up the files for Wonder Woman, Cyborg, the Flash and Aquaman, four symbols appear on a monitor. The symbols resemble stylized letters W, C, F and A. They also resemble the letters W, E, T, A, which spells Weta, one of the companies that did this film's visual effects.

Both Ben Affleck and Callan Mulvey have both starred in Marvel movies: Ben Affleck in Daredevil (2003) and Callan Mulvey in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

Spoilers 

The trivia items below may give away important plot points.

Batman has a Robin costume that reads: "The joke's on you." This is a reference to Jason Todd, who served as the second Robin, Batman's sidekick, and who was tortured and beaten to death by the Joker. In some story lines Jason Todd returns as the murderous vigilante, the Red Hood, and in others he never actually died but instead suffered endlessly at the hands of the Joker in an attempt to turn him into an heir to the clown prince of crime.

In the picture where Wonder Woman is shown to be a "meta human" in the Lex Corp documents, the man on her right in the picture is Steve Trevor (who will be played by Chris Pine in Wonder Woman (2017)).

The Flash appearing from the future to deliver an ominous message to Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman is a nod to Marv Wolfman's "Crisis On Infinite Earths" which featured The Flash doing the exact same thing, including disappearing before he could make it clear what exactly he was warning Batman about.

Joe Morton is shown as the creator of Cyborg, which is the second time he has made a cybernetic organism. The first being in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) where he was cast as Miles Dyson.

At least three of Batman's hand-to-hand takedowns in the warehouse are taken directly from the Batman: Arkham games. One where he bursts through a wall, another when he breaks a thug's arm backwards, and one where he throws a thug's face straight to the ground. Additionally, there are: the batclaw slam, when Batman uses his batclaw to draw an enemy closer to his fist which knock him (the enemy) down, and the use of devices that destroy the thugs' weapons (aka the Disruptor).

During the dream sequence while Bruce waits for the files to decrypt, a giant Omega symbol on the sand and some Parademons helping Superman's soldiers can be seen. Parademons and the Omega symbol are linked to Darkseid, ruler of planet Apokalips, and an archenemy of the Justice League.

In the film, Superman apparently dies but at the end his heart is heard beating during his funeral. In "The Dark Knight Returns", Batman fakes his own death and Superman is the only one who hears his heart beating.

Lex Luthor uses his own blood to resurrect General Zod and turn him into Doomsday. In the DC Comics, a secret laboratory called Project Cadmus uses Luthor's blood to mix it with Superman's DNA in order to replicate Superman after his death by Doomsday, creating Conner Kent, new Superboy.

Superman is dead at the end of the movie after killing Doomsday. This is similar to "The Death of Superman" ( Superman comics #75, volume 2), published in 1993, in which they both killed each other.

Jason Momoa's portrayal of Aquaman is heavily based on Aquaman's appearance in the comics during the 1990s.

Superman's name was mentioned multiple times during the movie, Batman's only once by Perry White (most of the time he's only referred to as The Bat), and Wonder Woman's, despite her prominent role, not even once, only her undercover name is mentioned once as Ms. Prince.

A leaked picture of Dick Grayson's grave in this movie was posted prior to the film's release.

Lex Luthor's role in this film is based on his appearance in the comic "All-Star Superman", where he is contemptuous of Superman due to his alien nature.

Gal Gadot has 16 lines in the film. She is given one or two more lines in the Extended cut.

In "The Dark Knight Returns", a 4 issue mini series published in 1986, Batman and Superman fight long after the Justice League is disassembled. In this movie, they fight before the League is even formed.

Although he was only in one short scene, this is Kevin Costner's first sequel of his career.

A deleted scene, made available online after the movie was released, depicts Lex talking with an alien creature who wields a Mother Box. As a SWAT team comes in to arrest Lex the being disappears, hinting that Lex knows more then he lets on.

When Superman begins to fly into space with Doomsday, the government launches a nuclear missile which leaves Superman floating in space. The scene with Superman decaying in space after being hit with the nuclear rocket is similar to a sequence from The Dark Knight Returns, from which this film takes ideas. In the graphic novel, Superman is caught in a nuclear explosion from a nuclear warhead, he then absorbs sunlight from plants so that he can regain his powers. This is different from the film, however, as Superman gains strength back from the sun as the Earth's rotation causes its rays to come into contact with him.

In the original comics, The Justice League was formed when the alien being Starro came to conquer Earth. Here, it appears that Future Batman sends The Flash back in time to warn Bruce about Superman. This is most likely a nod to when Batman sent The Flash back in time to tell everyone that Darkseid had corrupted Superman. This scene could most likely set up either Justice League (2017) or Justice League Part Two.

The device Silas Stone uses to rebuild his son Victor (aka Cyborg) is a Mother Box, that in DC Comics can teleport people through Boom Tubes and it comes from Apokolips, Darkseid's home planet. Mother Box and the Boom Tubes are also used by the people of New Genesis, Apokolips' good version who lead by Highfather try to defeat Darkseid and his evil companions.

A giant creature emerges through Martha Wayne's grave in Bruce's dream. It resembles Kirk Langstrom the Man-Bat, one of Batman's allies, who first appeared in 1970.

Superman's coffin is black with a silver "S" on top. This is a nod to when Superman came back to life in "Reign of the Supermen!" and wore a black costume with a silver "S" on it.

Doomsday in this version is based on anything but his origin in the comics (the ultimate lifeform created by scientists on Krypton), and arguably incorporates elements from the Golden Age Green Lantern villain Solomon Grundy (an undead villain brought back to life).

In the final battle Wonder Woman uses silver bracelets as weapon to attack Doomsday, sending a powerful energy wave. In the DC Comics, they are called Bracelets of Submission and Wonder Woman is capable of using them to deflect bullets from any automatic fire, project energy blasts and other projectile weaponry and to absorb forces from a long fall.

Alfred only interacts with Bruce Wayne, never encountering any other character.

Alfred jokes about the possibility that Bruce Wayne someday turns in the father of a new generation of the Wayne's family. In the comic "Batman: Son of the Demon" published in 1987, Batman and Talia Al'Ghul become the parents of Damian Wayne, who eventually became the fifth Robin, the Boy Wonder (following Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown).

During the battle between Batman and Superman, Batman utilizes different weapons in his fight against Superman. Some of these weapons have similarities to weapons from The Dark Knight Returns. The sonic amplifier weapons that deploy when Superman steps on a panel in the ground have similarities to Batman's sonic rifle from the graphic novel. The Kryptonite grenades that Batman fires from his grenade launcher are similar to the Kryptonite arrow that Green Arrow uses against Superman in the book. The two both explode and emit Kryptonite Gas from their cases.

Ben Affleck is, at the point of the movie, the oldest actor to play Bruce Wayne/Batman (he was 43). Christian Bale was 30 when he played Wayne for the first time in Batman Begins (2005). Michael Keaton and Adam West were both 38 when they played Wayne in Batman (1989) and Batman (1966), meanwhile Val Kilmer and George Clooney were both 36 in Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), respectively.

Batman kills over 30 people in the movie, which caused outrage and turmoil from fans of the character who firmly believe that he never kills people. He also uses a gun at one point in the film, which also angered fans. Since Bruce Wayne's parents were killed with a gun, he wouldn't resort to using one at all.

Gal Gadot improvised the smirk Wonder Woman does as she battles Doomsday in the climax.

In the video clip introducing Cyborg his father refers to the mysterious shape-changing cube that merges with him as "Object 61982." Though he first appeared in DC Comics Presents #26 in October 1980, Cyborg debuted as a Teen Titan in Tales of the New Teen Titans on June 19th, 1982.

There are cameos of The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg as "Meta-Humans".

At the end of the movie, Lex Luthor's prison uniform sports the prisoner number 16-TK-421. TK-421 is a reference to Star Wars. During the making of this movie and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), both Zack Snyder and J.J. Abrams poked friendly fun at each other's respective films. Jon Stewart declined an offer from Abrams to cameo as a stormtrooper but filmed a brief appearance as himself hosting The Daily Show (1996) making jokes about Superman which was cut from this film's theatrical release (likely because he'd left The Daily Show prior to its release) but included in the extended cut.

The Russian mercenary that works for Lex Luthor is KG Beast, a villain who appeared in Batman's "Ten Nights of The Beast" story.

When Clark Kent is in the mountains, he encounters the ghost of Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner). Although it seems to be a vision or hallucination, this experience is based on fact and is known as Third Man Factor, which occurs in situations of extreme risk or mortal danger where voices or even presences help to keep a person alive. One of the most common places where Third Man Factor happens is accurately the top of a mountain.

In the end of the movie, written on the tombs are the words "If you seek his monument, look around you". This is, famously, the translation of the Latin phrase on architect Christopher Wren's tomb at St. Paul Cathedral in London, England. Wren is best known for rebuilding the cathedral, along with most of Central London, after the Great Fire of 1666, so everything people see around them while at the site is, effectively, Wren's work.

When Lois Lane is walking towards Anatoli Knyazev, the song "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" (written by Cole Porter; performed by Mark Jonathan Davis & Lounge Against The Machine) can be heard. The lyric in question is "Every time we say goodbye, I die a little." This is a foreshadowing of what Knyazev says to Martha Kent after she has been kidnapped: "We must say goodbye soon. And every time we say goodbye, you die a little."

Despite previous cinematic incarnations portrayed by Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey, where Lex Luthor was shown as a criminal mastermind wanted for justice, Luthor is now head of a complex corporation named LexCorp. This reflects his portrayal in the 1987's Superman comic reboot, following the limited series "Crisis on Infinite Earths" published in 1985 (which restarted all DC Universe), where Lex Luthor is depicted as a powerful and wealthy businessman of his own company Lexcorp, who becomes obsessed with defeating Superman. This version of Luthor was also featured in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993).

At the end of the rooftop confrontation between Lex Luthor and Superman, Lex warns Superman of the time left to kill Batman to save his mother, saying "When you came here you had an hour...now it's less." The extended version of the movie is 2 hours 54 minutes long excluding the end credits. Superman actually arrives on the rooftop to confront Lex at 1 hour 54 minutes into the movie. When he arrived, there was an hour left of the movie.

A couple days after the release of the movie, Warner Brothers released a deleted scene, which included Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) interacting with Steppenwolf, who is rumored to be the main villain in Justice League (2017). Director Zack Snyder said that this clip acts as the movie's post-credits scene. This scene is included in the Ultimate Edition version of the film; however, it does not take place after the credits.

After Superman's death, the cellular towers form crosses in the background, alluding to the connection of a savior laying down his life like in the Christian religion.

At the beginning of the movie the Wayne family is seen walking under a marquee advertising the movie Excalibur (1981). In this movie King Arthur is killed when Mordred runs him thru with his sword. Arthur then grabs Mordred by the hands and forces the sword deeper inside him so he can get close enough to kill Mordred. This foreshadows the climax of the battle between Superman and Doomsday.

Lois Lane's photographer, who turns out to have a listening gadget in his camera, and is then murdered by the terrorists because of this, is not named in the theatrical cut. In the extended version, he is revealed to be Jimmy Olsen, "Superman's pal" from the old comic books. Zack Snyder explained that in this reinterpretation of Superman's world, there isn't anything for Jimmy to do, hence the decision was made to eliminate him in a dramatic fashion.

After Clark's funeral, Lois stays behind and drops a handful of soil onto Clark's casket. In the television series Smallville (2001), Clark Kent (Tom Welling) does the same thing at Jonathan Kent's funeral in season 5, Lionel Luthor's funeral in season 7, and the destroyed truck where Lex Luthor was killed in season 8.

Near the end, a guard addresses Lex Luthor by his prisoner number, AC231940. This is a reference to the first appearance of Lex Luthor in Action Comics #23, published in April of 1940.

According to Batman-News, the suit of armor is outfitted with Kryptonite and packing firepower beyond raw strength (in this case, "missiles"). The details are claimed to be secondhand from Ben Affleck's trainer on the film, Rehan Jalali. That implies these details be taken with a grain of salt, but there has been prior evidence that Zack Snyder would be turning to Kryptonite to help even the playing field, despite keeping it absent from Man of Steel (2013) entirely.

In the scene where Diana "Wonder Woman" is packing her things, you can see on the bed 4 framed comic books: Justice League, Action comics, Detective Comics and Wonder Woman .

In the scene where Lois Lane is in Clark Kent's bedroom weeping on his bed after his death the wallpaper mimics the wallpaper in Hogarth Hughes' bedroom in "The Iron Giant". This may be a tribute by director Zack Snyder since in "The Iron Giant" the giant wanted to be like Superman and do good deeds for Earth and its people. In the end of the movie he sacrifices himself to save the town of Rockland, Maine from the nuclear warhead. In a similar way, Superman sacrifices his life to kill Doomsday and save Earth.

Deborah Snyder, producer and wife of director Zack Snyder, makes a cameo appearance as a guest at Clark Kent's wake.

When Lex Luthor places Zod's corpse into the water of Genesis Chamber, he says to Zod: "You flew too close to the sun". This is a reference to the Greek myth of Icarus, who used a pair of wings attached to him with wax to escape from the Laberynth. His father Daedalus warned him not to fly too close to the sun (which would melt the wax) but Icarus ignored him and drowned into the sea.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice reunites Ben Affleck with Diane Lane after Hollywoodland (2006) (a movie with a Superman theme), although they meet for only a few moments in this movie.

During the battle between the two heroes, "MCK" can be seen on a pillar in graffiti. These are the initials of Superman's adoptive Earth mother, Martha Clark Kent, making this a possible premonition to the revelation that ends their fight.

This is the first ever film in 3D to feature not just Batman, but Wonder Woman, Cyborg, The Flash and Aquaman. Superman's first 3d filn was superman returns and Green Lantern had a 3D film in Green Lantern (2011) which is not connected to this DC film franchise.

Throughout most of the film, Lex Luthor is seen with longish hair, a direct contrast to his traditional bald headed appearance. However, by the end of the film, Luthor's hair had been shaved off, showing him as bald. Which plays as a throwback to Gene Hackman with the is it a wig or is it a bald cap question

When Bruce Wayne is in his new office building he gets checks with red writings on them and newspaper headline in an envelope with the same red writing on it haunting Bruce and with his family not saving their youngest son Lincoln March Wayne after he was presumed dead in Arkham Asylum years ago. Lincoln March Wayne is the head leader of Court of Owls empire.

This is the second time that Jeffrey Dean Morgan played a D.C. Comic hero's father in a Zack Snyder. The first was in Watchmen (2009) when he played The Comedian, Silk Spectre II's father.

When Luthor confronts Lois Lane on the helipad he quotes Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, "Plain Lo in the morning. Lola in slacks." Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth) starred as Humbert Humbert in Lolita (1997).

In "Man of Steel", Zod kills Jor-El by stabbing him in the side. In "Batman v Superman", Doomsday, created using Zod's body, stabs Superman in the side, the same side his father was.

After the nuclear blast, Superman is referred to as "Projectile 2". This is a remote reference to "P.R.O.J.E.C.T. 2" to All-Star Superman, which is a project dedicated to creating a second superman after Superman's death in the comics.

This is the second time actor Michael Cassidy has portrayed a Daily Planet staff member who has been unceremoniously knocked off by Lex Luthor; in the seventh season of "Smallville", Cassidy's character, Grant Gabriel, was revealed to be the clone of Lex's deceased baby brother, Julian, whom Lex murders once he becomes too close to their father, Lionel. Cassidy's Jimmy Olsen is killed in this film amidst Lex Luthor's machinations to turn public ridicule against Superman.

The first live action Batman film to not have Commissioner Gordon as a supporting character.

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