Honestly there are a lot of ways this can go down. Good and bad. I’ll assume everyone reading this is well versed in the overabundance of news and rumors bombarding the Internet. And while the rest of us are left to sit on our hands in quivering anticipation, I thought I’d kill the time. Now keep in mind, this is essentially long-form fan fiction and is founded on everything we “know” so far about the film (which is very, very little). So I can hardly take credit for most of the ideas in this rather lengthy plot summary.
Now without further ado…
THE PITCH
It’s been a year since the end of
Man of Steel and Metropolis is more or less back on its feet, thanks greatly to LexCorp, which has facilitated the reconstruction of the city. But regardless, the people haven’t yet forgiven Superman. News stations all around the world are still criticizing his actions during the Kryptonian invasion in Metropolis. The UN has openly condemned his “citizenship” and has begun a political campaign to exile him from the planet.
Which begs the question: is the world
really ready for Superman?
For Clark, it hasn't been easy. Working for the Daily Planet full-time while trying to maintain his secret identity as Superman with the clever help of Lois Lane, he does what he can to help. But no amount of kittens he saves from trees or small catastrophes he averts will change the fact that the people don’t want him around.
Picture a sequence where Perry White sends Clark and Lois to cover a protest rally held by the families of those who died in the Kryptonian invasion. For the first time, the weight of it all comes crashing down on Clark and he is overwhelmed with guilt. Lois tries to console him.
"You saved everyone, Clark. You're a hero." But all Clark can think about is whether or not the people are right. What right does he have to intervene on the lives of humans? Was his father wrong?
Enter LEX LUTHOR.
To the people he's their champion, their white knight. He's Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg rolled into one. A young and successful entrepreneur and a brilliant scientist who applies his intellect to developing new technologies and weapons for the military. He even works closely with General Swanwick on matters mainly concerning Superman. Lex, after all, is
very interested in Superman.
But under the surface, Lex is a sociopathic, amoral xenophobe who has a deep and dark obsession with the Man of Steel. Though his obsession is a bit different than what we’ve seen before in the comics. To him, Superman is God’s greatest gift to mankind. He’s the lamb with which mankind will sacrifice to finally achieve the most unattainable dream: peace. Just as the apostles glorified the death of Jesus to start a new religion, Lex plans to launch a media campaign to rebuild Superman’s image and turn him into a Christ figure, the modern messiah. And then he will destroy him, and through his martyrdom, lead the world into a new age.
And Clark goes for it. To him, this is his only chance to restore the world’s faith in him. He wants to be the hero, to be accepted. And he’s so desperate for it that he blindly sells his soul to the devil and becomes the poster child of the new Metropolis – the Man of Tomorrow!
Enter BRUCE WAYNE.
He's in the autumn of his years. Not quite the geriatric from
The Dark Knight Returns but he's definitely a man with many scars. And most of all, he's a man who's at his breaking point. Gotham is virtually beyond saving. It's the DCU version of Detroit, a crime-ridden wasteland. And no amount of money is going to save it, despite what Bruce Wayne likes to think. Even his current lover Diana Prince, a strong businesswoman working on the Wayne Enterprises Board of Directors, is convinced that his crusade is a futile one, driven by delusion and guilt for the death of his former protégé Jason Todd 10 years ago. Despite this, Bruce can't help but persist.
He watches television and follows the pro-Superman campaign very closely. He believes that Superman is a force for good, but he doesn’t trust Lex. So he does his own digging. Spending his midnights in the Batcave, he hacks into secret government files and learns about a mysterious “PROJECT CADMUS.” He does some more digging. He then discovers that Lex has been gathering pieces of debris from the World Engine and has been using it to synthesize something called “Kryptonite.” He also discovers that following the invasion Lex had confiscated the remains of Zod’s corpse and has been using his tissue to develop a bio-weapon. And that’s when he decides that he must take matters into his own hands and don the cape and cowl once more.
Picture a sequence where Lex is giving a speech live on television, lauding the deeds of Superman. Superman is present. Behind them is an enormous object covered by a tarp. They unveil the tarp to reveal a towering statue of the Man of Steel, a monument to the champion of the human race. There is widespread applause. Clark looks on with heartfelt gratification. This is what he’s always wanted. To be the hero. And then suddenly, there’s static on the big screens behind them. And a voice is heard.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Batman!”
On national television he calls Luthor a liar and a false prophet. He then calls out Superman. Claiming to know his true identity, he calls him "a puppet who can't see his own strings" and challenges him to a face-to-face.
“You know where to find me.”
Now Lex is shitting bricks. He persuades the government to issue a manhunt for Batman led by Superman. Clark eagerly accepts the mission.
Now Batman is public enemy number one.
The military occupies Gotham overnight and declares marshal law in an attempt to smoke him out. But Batman has rigged the city with non-lethal traps and sets them off to disable the military.
"You go to war with Gotham, you go to war with me!" Superman and Batman square off on the rooftop of the Gotham Police Department.
“Good that you could show, Clark. Now let’s see what you’re made of.”
And so it begins!
But it’s not all brawn. Batman knows where to hurt Superman most. He taunts him.
“You’re beginning to get the idea. We could have changed the world. Now look at us! I’ve become a political liability and you…you’re a joke! I want you to remember, Clark! In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you!”
Superman loses it. He finally overpowers Batman, holds him up by his throat, and is ready to burn a hole through his head. But then he stops himself.
“No more.” He lets go and in his moment of mercy, he breaks down in tears.
And that’s when Batman delivers the knockout punch. Beaten unconscious, Batman drags Superman away just as the military moves in. But they’re gone.
Clark wakes up in the Batcave. And you can imagine he’s not happy to be there. Bruce shows up and calmly explains that his plan the entire time was to capture Clark so that he could show him the truth about Lex Luthor and hopefully recruit him to take him down. But Clark isn’t hearing it. He charges up his heat vision and is ready to go for another round. But just then, Bruce reaches into his pocket, opens up a lead case, and reveals inside a glowing piece of Kryptonite.
Clark collapses to the ground. It's a pain unlike anything he’s ever experienced before. Bruce closes the box and goes on to explain that Lex has been synthesizing Kryptonite to develop a weapon with the sole purpose of destroying Superman. As it’s made clearer to him the true extent of Lex’s machinations, Superman knows what he must do.
“Are you with me, Clark?” The two shake hands and don their costumes. The World's Finest Superheroes together at last!
So they travel to New Mexico, to the secret underground headquarters of Project Cadmus. They break in and fight every obstacle Lex throws at them—from waves of armed soldiers to armies of mechanical drones. But it’s no use. Watching from live security feeds in Metropolis, Lex triggers his fail-safe:
“Activate Doomsday!”
A gigantic alien abomination of raw cataclysmic power, engineered from the tissue of Zod and infused with kryptonite. And he’s literally ripping through Project Cadmus and killing everything in his path. Finally he comes face-to-face with Batman and Superman, growling like a ravenous wolf. Batman throws a smoke bomb at his face and charges at full force, but Doomsday just knocks him aside like he’s nothing. He then barrels into Superman, moving at Kryptonian speed, and the two of them go exploding up through the earth and into the sky.
You thought the Superman/Zod battle was epic? This is taking it to a whole new level. Doomsday is literally a killing machine that doesn’t tire or relent. Superman doesn’t even stand a chance by himself. Doomsday throws him back to the earth directly outside of Metropolis. The people in the city see the dust cloud in the distance that almost looks like an atomic mushroom cloud.
Oh no… it’s happening again.
Back at LexCorp, General Swanwick storms in.
“What the hell is going on, Lex!” Now all the cards are on the table. General Swanwick is just about ready to call in security and order his arrest. But as he picks up the phone, Lex grabs a pen and jams it into Swanwick’s neck.
“It’s too late. No body can stop it now.”
Meanwhile, Superman is having ass handed to him on a platter. Doomsday charges towards Metropolis but Superman keeps throwing himself in the way. He won’t have a repeat of last year. No body else is going to die today.
Fighter jets are sent in and start firing everything they’ve got at Doomsday, but it barely slows him down. Doomsday rips the fighters jets out of the sky. And as the last one plummets to the earth in a fireball, the Batwing zooms in and unleashes the full payload of advanced weaponry. At most, it makes a dent.
Batman fires his last rocket at Doomsday, and it goes as well as you would expect. Doomsday catches the rocket in mid-flight and hurls it back at the Batwing. Batman ejects at the last second. BOOM! His parachute is smoking. He uses his cape to slow down his fall but still he crashes hard. In a daze, he looks up as Doomsday lifts Superman off the ground by his throat. This is the end.
And just as Doomsday is about to deliver the killing blow…
WONDER WOMAN FLIES IN!
Decked out in her traditional Amazonian armor, Batman can’t believe his eyes.
“Diana?”
“Hi, Bruce.” And she just unloads on Doomsday. She has the strength of Superman and the fighting skills of Batman combined. The best of both worlds. She drives her sword into Doomsday’s shoulder, nearly taking off his arm, and backs off to rejoin forces with the other two.
Superman and Batman are back on their feet. The time it took Wonder Woman to disable Doomsday gave them a resting period. And now they’re all together side-by-side. THE [frick]ING TRINITY!
“Let’s finish this!” Superman mutters and like a whirlwind, they bombard Doomsday with every attack they’ve got. In the end, as Doomsday is reeling, Superman charges up his heat vision and blasts him through the forehead. Instant lobotomy! With his head smoking, Doomsday drops to his knees and collapses. The fight is over.
Jump ahead a few weeks… It’s Lex Luthor’s public trial. Superman is present. The two archrivals are scowling at each other. Meanwhile, Bruce sits in the Batcave watching the trial on the news intently with Diana standing behind him. As Lex is charged with the murder of General Swanwick and crimes against humanity, Lex laughs at the judge and jury, exclaiming that their laws won’t matter in the end.
"I'll be released from prison in no time, and when I do, I'm coming after you, Superman!" As he’s being dragged away, he gets up close and personal to Clark.
“You think this is over? This is only the beginning.”
Diana turns at Bruce.
“The beginning of what?” Bruce strokes his chin and smiles.
THE END
Okay...
FINAL THOUGHTS!
Again, this is just my speculation and should be treated as a fan fiction. But personally, I wouldn't be surprised if the final film looked like this. Sure, this doesn't involve Aquaman or Cyborg, but that's only because I personally don't think those character will have a dramatic impact on the upcoming film. If anything, they will have small cameos. Or maybe even a post-credit sequence.
So what do you guys think? Do you approve or is this on par with "Batman and Robin"? And if you have your own ideas of how BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE should be done, share it on the comments below! Thanks for reading!