It wasn't too long ago, when it was announced that the Blu-Ray edition of Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would include an R-Rated Director's Cut. While there was a mixed reaction from some, fans for the most part rejoiced in the news of finally being able to see Batman (Ben Affleck) shed some blood as he takes down the thugs of Gotham City. Recently, during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, producer Deborah Snyder and director Zack Snyder explained their thought process behind creating an R-Rated cut of Batman v Superman.
Following the box office success of Fox's Deadpool, it was widely assumed that DC Films and Warner Bros. were piggybacking on the R-Rated success brought on by the Merc With the Mouth. Deborah Snyder cleared up the misunderstanding: "Online, everyone's like, 'Oh, they're doing an R-rated in reaction to Deadpool,' and you're like (laughing), 'We didn't just shoot it last week, and we also didn't edit it last week.'"
Apparently, the original version of Batman v Superman was intense enough for an R-Rating, but Zack Snyder knew that an R-Rated version would never make it to theaters. "The why of that is [the DVD version] is a half-hour longer, and some of that additional material is some of the stuff we took out for the rating," revealed the director. "I was like, 'Cool, I can put it back in for the director's cut.' There was nothing by design. This was the material I just put back in, and then when [the MPAA] looked at it again, they were like, 'Oh, now the movie's rated R.' And, by the way, it's not a hard R. There's no nudity. There's a little bit of violence. It just tips the scale."
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters everywhere March 25th, 2016.
Fearing the actions of a god-like super hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before. Starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, and Holly Hunter, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is directed by Zack Snyder, written by Chris Terrio from David S. Goyer's screenplay.