Early on in the infamously divisive
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, we were provided with yet another take on Batman's tragic origin story - a story which you're most likely already familiar with as it has featured in almost all media that the Caped Crusader appears. It wasn't until the funeral for Bruce Wayne's parents that we were treated to Snyder's more metaphorical, symbolic interpretation.
During the funeral, young Bruce Wayne runs away from the family crypt in tears, falling down that fateful hole in his yard into a hidden cave below. As young Bruce stands, we get the familiar image of him surrounded by a swarm of bats, which will serve as inspiration for his later crime-fighting persona; however in Snyder's vision, things then take a turn for the weird, as young Bruce begins to hover in the air along with the bats, floating up towards the light at the top of the cave.
During that surreal moment we also get voice over from Ben Affleck's older Bruce Wayne, describing the fantastical moment as a dream he used to have, referring to the light above the dark hole as a "Beautiful lie." It's an introduction to
Batman v Superman's deeper thematic narrative, but like so many other things in the film, it didn't quite play right for a lot of fans.
Zack Snyder recently answered a fan question about the afformentioned scene on
Vero:
Fans of the
DC Extended Universe would cite commentary like this as proof positive that Snyder had a deep understanding and reverence for these characters - even if his execution of their stories didn't make the best connections with a wide variety of fans.
What do you think? Is Snyder's genius, regarding the
DC Comics heroes, going unrecognised? Do you think the scene, or even the movie, plays better with this explanation in mind?