- Batman vs. Superman
The ideas at the heart of Civil War are also at the heart of Batman v Superman, except even more explicit (Superman stormtroopers, anyone?) because the latter film doesn’t have nearly the character development that the Marvel heroes do, so thematic space is filled with its nihilistic ideas instead of actual relationships.
Instead of security vs. freedom, the conflict here is Batman as a symbol of fear and Superman as a symbol of hope. Putting superpowers aside for a second, asking which character is more powerful is asking the quintessential Machiavellian question: is it better to be loved or feared?
Director Zack Snyder intertwines his own cinematic take on Watchmen with inspiration from The Dark Knight Returns to argue that superheroes are fundamentally a discussion of fascism. What is implicit in Cap’s charge against Iron Man’s punitive redemption quest is explicit in Batman’s fear of a Superman-run-amok.
Charlie Jane Anders of io9 does a fantastic job of breaking down how superheroes represent a strain of American authoritarianism by comparing and contrasting Batman v Superman and Civil War. Like Cap, Superman is a boy-scout associated with American dominance out of place in a modern world. Meanwhile, the traditional symbols of rugged individualism are genius billionaires – Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark – who inherited their wealth but decided to make themselves arbiters of righteousness. When Batman rages against the alien Superman, it plays on the very real human fear of ” the other,” whether they be Mexican immigrants, Syrian refugees or new hipster neighbors.
But when Superman and Captain America, paragons of virtue, are placed in impossible situations like Man of Steel and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it’s not because audiences want to see Superman kill Zod at the end. It’s because we want to see Bucky save Cap at the end. Marvel and Chris Evans have stretched Captain America but he hasn’t broke. Zack Snyder was eager to break a brittle Superman and did early. He seemed fixed on the notion that a Superman couldn’t exist. Marvel proved he can; his name is Captain America.
