Batman v Superman Dawn Of Justice : Movie Plot Holes Explained

This happens to be a one time watch movie to satisfy your curiosity. There is a lot of clutter in the film. It sort of settles in your head a day after you’ve watched it. The overall look and feel is great. Zack Snyder’s cinematography shows a dark world where superhumans battle and destroy things on a nuclear scale. It’s not the ideal world where Superman’s actions have no consequences of death. Ben Affleck did not destroy Batman. In fact, he was quite convincing. So if you are worried about acting, that is not a lapse in this film. Also, the fight choreography done for Batman was phenomenal; the moves and body language are spot on. But let’s take a step into the plot – that’s where the disappointment lies. What were the different characters, Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), after? Lots of spoilers ahead. This is Batman v Superman plot holes explained.

Batman v Superman Dawn Of Justice: Plot Explained

Batman

Superman meets world, world meets superman. Zod (Michael Shannon) shows up trying to terraform Earth for Kryptonians to live in. Superman kills and stops him. In the process, Metropolis is massively destroyed; Bruce Wayne’s business partner gets killed during this. Bruce hates Superman as a result. He feels that the “good guy” Superman is, could turn to evil anytime and there is nothing anyone on Earth can do to stop him. Batman wants Superman out. Furthermore, Lex Luthor has been plotting against Superman to make him look bad and reckless. Batman steals information from Lex Luthor which reveals information about a material called Kryptonite. The Bat’s first attempt to get the Kryptonite is thwarted by Superman. Why wasn’t superman able to see that Kryptonite was being transported in the truck though? Superman is not aware of the existence or the effects of Kryptonite on him yet. He is more focused on Batman being a vigilante and wants him to stop this caped-crusading business.

Superman

He feels that Batman is a caped vigilante who is above the law. Instead of getting the other vigilantes arrested Batman decides to beat them up silly all by himself, even brand them with a hot bat logo. Superman intercepts Batman and warns him, tells him to lose the Bat-act. Not only has Bats lost the chance at the Kryptonite, he’s also being talked down to. Obviously, this gets Bats seriously pissed and wants to see Superman bleed.

Lex Luthor

He’s psychotic in nature and cannot stand for a God amongst Men. In this film, it’s not about Lex wanting supreme power but him wanting to remove the existence of the supreme power – Superman. He plots against Superman. He sets up situations where Superman lands up and people die as a result. One such is the event is in the desert where Superman goes to save Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Lex’s undercover mercenaries kill all the people there. They make it look like Superman killed everyone there. The bullets the mercenaries use happen to hit Lois’ note and she gets it analysed to find its origin. Swanwick (Harry Lennix) tells Lois that the bullet comes from Lex Corp. Lex is shown to know the identities of both Batman and Superman, how does he know this is not explained. But over time Lex has collected information about Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. More on this at the end of this article.

The world wants Superman to answer for all the destruction so they summon him in. Though Superman answers the call, Lex plants a bomb in that meeting and makes it look like Superman had something to do with the explosion. Moreover, Lex wants clearance for getting in the Kryptonite found (in the Indian Ocean) so that he can weaponize it. Senator Finch disapproves of it. The bombing gets rid of her as well. The “Grandmother’s Ice Tea” bit was quite evil – though it looked like Finch was choking on poison she was reacting to drinking Lex’s pee. Remember her dialogue to Lex? – “You can piss in a bucket and call it Grandmother’s Ice Tea” but I ain’t drinking”, well she was drinking alright, and got blown to bits right after. Bravo Lex.

Lex Decides to use his other contacts and get access to the Alien Ship (Zod’s ship) and Zod’s dead body. He manages to get his hands on the Kryptonite. But the bombing incident tips Bruce over the edge. Bats steals the Kryptonite from Lex. Now Lex puts together two master plans:

1) Kidnap Martha Kent, Superman’s adoptive mother. Get Superman to kill Batman. But what Lex is hoping for here is Batman to kill Superman because he knows the Bat has the Kryptonite.

2) Lex uses Zod’s biometrics and gains access to Zod’s alien ship. He uses Zod’s body to create a super being using elements of his own DNA, his blood. Why does the computer on the alien vessel speaks English? We will never know. This part is a little weak. There is some learning that Lex gains in the ship which is not disclosed to the audience. But he gains this learning so fast that he understands how he can create a super being. Now does Lex resurrect Zod as a mindless Doomsday or synthesize a new being based on Lex’s and Zod’s genetics, it is not clear. The second plan is sort of a back up incase Batman can’t kill Superman. Why does Lex create one supreme power (Doomsday) to destroy another? Well remember the part where he’s part psychotic? It’s not a great plan given Lex has no clue how to stop Doomsday in case it won.

Wonder Woman

Well, other than the fact that they needed an extra person to take down the enemy Doomsday, she really has no purpose in this movie. Her role is more introductory and fails to make any impact in this storyline whatsoever. She’s knows that Lex has a photo that belongs to her – this is what she tells Bruce. She steals the information that Bruce steals from Lex. But she’s a good girl, she copies the data and returns it to him stating that there is military grade encryption on it. When Bruce decrypts the data, he notices the photograph. What Diana says “belongs” to her is actually a picture of her from decades ago, yet looking the same. Bruce realizes that Diana is not human either. Other than that photo linkage she doesn’t have anything to do with Superman or Batman. She joins them in the end because they need help and she is shown to be a warrior that can wedgie both Batman and Superman at once.

Batman v Superman Dawn Of Justice: Ending Explained

So Batman doesn’t like Superman. Superman doesn’t like Batman. Superman’s mother is kidnapped by Lex. Lex forces Superman to kill Batman. Batman has stolen and weaponized the Kryptonite. Batman is ready to kill Superman. Lex has plan B – Doomsday.

Superman tries to explain to Batman about what Lex has done. Batman doesn’t listen, he unleashes on Superman. They go into battle. With the help of Kryptonite smoke bombs, Batman is able to subdue Superman. Batman is about to impale and kill Superman with the Kryptonite spear. Superman screams out “Martha will die” and Lois reaches and explains that Martha is Superman’s mother’s name. Martha is also Batman’s mother’s name.

The Reason Why Batman Doesn’t Kill Superman

I had to put a title to this. This is probably the worst element of the plot here. Batman was going to KILL superman. He usually cripples people doesn’t feel right about, at best. Yet he’s convinced that he needs to KILL Superman. And the thing that stops him from doing so is because their mothers’ names are the same? Batman befriends Superman because their mothers have the same first name? COME ON! What is this? Batman v Superman Kindergarten Edition? This was weak, very weak. They become friends right after. Batman gives Superman his word and is off to save Martha. Come back you dumb Bat, what if this Superdude is lying? You did no background check on someone you were going to kill? <End of rant>

What was intended to be shown was the realization dawning on Batman – that Lex has been behind this the whole time. That Superman is merely being used by Lex. That Superman, who Batman considered to be alien and potentially dangerous, is just as human and helpless as Bruce once was when he lost his mother. But that did not come through. The Martha – Martha name play could have been avoided, it diluted that moment of Batman’s realization. The fight is brutal and satisfying though.

So the kiddos become friends. Batman rescues Martha. Superman goes to turn Lex in. Lex unleashes his plan B – Doomsday. “Since Man can’t kill God, the Devil must”.

Doomsday

It is a creature of Kryptonian origin (thanks to Zod) which has the ability to adapt to the attack made upon it. Eg: If you nuke it, it becomes immune to nukes. The film doesn’t explain why it tries to kill Superman. It could have killed Lex too. But apparently Lex knew how exactly to have created Doomsday to ensure it wants only to kill Superman (and friends). The Doomsday from the comic,however, is experimented time and over by Kryptonians so it has an innate hatred for Kryptonians. Superman being the last survivor becomes the obvious target. That is not the movie plot.

Wonder Woman joins the battle to assist Superman and Batman. They throw everything at Doomsday. It consumes the energy of the attack and only becomes more powerful. The Kryptonite Spear – is the one thing that can stop Doomsday. What does Lois Lane do with it? Throws it into the bottom of a well, then realizes “Hey, that was silly of me, shucks, we might need this to destroy that large Kryptonian creature (which I magically know of), let me swim back down to get it”. Lois has the building collapse on her and nearly drowns. But Supes hears her and saves her. Then Superman thinks “Let me dive into this shallow water body and retrieve the thing that can kill me, and almost drown trying to do that even though I have Lois here who can get it for me”. He does exactly that. Now Lois saves him. Finally, Wonder Woman lassos Doomsday, Batman kryptonite-smoke-bombs it and Superman stabs it with the Kryptonite Spear. While Doomsday stabs and kills Superman. They both die. Wait, Superman could have handed the spear to Wonder Woman who is impervious to Kryptonite. Well, no time for talk I suppose.

The movie ends with Bruce asking Diana to assemble the other super people for a fight. She’s thinking “What fight dude?” And asks the same. Bruce thinks “Oh right, I almost gave up the plot for the future movies” and replies with a “I think there will be a fight, it’s an intuition”. He also mumbles something about failing Superman. This “failing” is not convincing because of the poor execution of the realization that Batman has about Superman. About how Superman is actually quite noble and is righteous. There is a lot of information that Batman doesn’t have about the defamation of Superman. There could have been more to how Batman sees the truth. Then it would have all add up.

Lex is arrested, Batman tries to scare Lex in prison, doesn’t work. Lex is now bald.

They bury an empty coffin for Superman and bury Clarke Kent in a separate funeral. Two guys have died, but there is one body. The movie ends with the mud on top of Clark Kent’s coffin shaking. Don’t worry guys he’ll be back, he’s signed two movies after this. We’re looking at the death and return of Superman here.

Who are the other Super People introduced in Batman v Superman?

Earlier in the film, Wonder Woman / Diana is seeing video clips of the other Super People Lex has been collecting information about.

Flash

There is a video that shows a guy stopping a store from being mugged. This guy does it at bullet speed. This guy is Flash.

Aquaman

There is a clip Under The Sea with what appears to be Ariel’s dad. But it’s not. That is Aquaman. How did someone get a selfie with him under the ocean? Not explained.

Cyborg

They show half a body being experimented on by a scientist. This half a body is Cyborg.

What is that dream sequence Batman has? Who is that guy from the future?

There is a small section of the movie that is shown to be a random dream sequence where Batman is in a desert and is attacked by a bunch of dudes. After this, he is chained with other people. Superman shows up and apparently kills the people chained and appears to destroy Batman’s heart after unmasking him. Following this, there is someone in Bruce’s computer who appears to have come from the future to warn Bruce saying “You were right about him, you were always right about him”, “Am I too soon, I’m too soon”. This is shown to be a dream but I believe it will get plugged into the script of the movies to follow and will make sense in a later film. This is Flash from the future.