Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came very close to being an R-rated theatrical release according to Zack Snyder. It is now eight years since Snyder’s second movie really kicked off his grand plan for the DCEU following Man of Steel three years earlier. Even now, the director is still answering questions about the movie, and his time leading the DC franchise for Warner Bros. Pictures. In a new interview, Snyder explained how the Motion Picture Association of America almost slapped an R-rating on the movie for a very strange reason.
The 2016 film, which pitched two of the most iconic superheroes from DC Comics against each other, was supposed to be a big event in the DCEU, but unfortunately the film received a lukewarm response from audiences. Although Snyder would go on to begin working on Justice League, it would not be until 2021 that he would be able to finally complete his version of that movie after he was forced to abandon the project due to his personal circumstances.
Having now moved on from the chaos of what followed, Snyder is still happy to reflect on his DC movies, and did so again while speaking to Joe Rogan. Although Batman v Superman would eventually get an R-rated “Ultimate” version later down the line, Snyder wanted to avoid that for the theatrical cut, which arrived when everyone believed that superhero movies needed to be PG-13 to be successful. Explaining the unexpected reason the movie almost gained a stronger rating from the start, he said:
“That was the whole thing with Batman v Superman. I remember the ratings board said we just don’t like the idea of Batman fighting Superman. I was like, what is that like? How is that your opinion, like that has nothing to do with the rating? They kept making it R-rated, and we were like, what do you want us to cut out, and they were like we just don’t like the idea of Batman fighting Superman. I was like, I can’t take that out. That’s the movie. So it was crazy. We really had to trim it.”
When asked if he believed that the cuts made to the film impacted it as a whole, Snyder responded:
If you see the director’s cut of Batman v Superman, it’s much better.
While Snyder’s movie was released at a time when R-rated cinematic releases featuring the biggest comic book heroes was a risk no studio was willing to take, James Gunn and Peter Safran will kick off their DCU with an R-rated animated TV series, Creature Commandos. It has been clear from the start that Gunn wants to mix releases like his PG-13 Superman, with some darker content, such as Swamp Thing.
It has taken a long time for studios to completely believe that they can find success beyond family-friendly movies set within the universes of Marvel and DC in particular, but movies such as Deadpool, Joker and The Suicide Squad have paved the way for the franchises to really push boundaries in the future.
Although Snyder’s own R-rated “Snyder Cut” of Justice League still failed to really please critics, the film was hailed as a far superior version to the theatrical release directed by Joss Whedon following Snyder’s departure from the movie. It has become very clear, that Snyder’s belief in R-rated superhero movies was something that was not as misplaced as some would have believed 8 years ago.
Snyder’s new movie, Rebel Moon, will release R-rated versions on Netflix this summer. Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is currently streaming on Netflix now.
