"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is a flawed movie. While there are moments absolutely worth the price of admission and while it is better than the 28 percent it currently has on Rotten Tomatoes, the fact remains that it is a divisive product. The mixed-to-negative critical reception of the film hasn't stopped fans from piling into theaters ($420 million worldwide), but it has given them pause about the future of Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe.
Love or hate "Batman v Superman," the simple truth is that director Zack Snyder is in charge of the DCEU's ever growing storylines with the two-part "Justice League" series coming later this decade. However, fans have started not one, but two separate petitions on Change.org to request the removal of Snyder from the franchise.
Ouch.
The first petition is based in the United States and calls for a different director for the "Justice League" series. Their argument lies less with the actual quality of 2013's "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman" and more to do with Snyder's polarizing effect on passionate fan bases. It argues that a more crowd-pleasing director should handle "Justice League" and that all of the elements for a great film are in place, just that Snyder is not the one to spearhead the project. The petition is well on its way to its first 1,000 signatures as of this writing.
The second petition is based out of India and requests that Warner Bros. remove Snyder completely from the DCEU. While this group concedes that Snyder is able to generate phenomenal visual imagery (he does), it also argues that he "cannot tell a story" (he can't). This petition is closing in on 500 signatures as of this writing.
What's most interesting about these separate petitions is that they were both started six days ago, before "Batman v Superman" had been released worldwide. After seeing the movie, many have flocked to sign the petitions. But will this inspire actual change? Probably not.
Unless "Batman v Superman" drops more than 70 percent at the box office in Week 2, it's going to flirt with $1 billion at the worldwide box office when all is said and done. When you're making that type of money, it doesn't always matter what the critics say (See: the "Transformers" franchise). More importantly, "Justice League: Part I" is scheduled to begin filming next week. Halting production to find a new director would be a massively expensive challenge that would cause serious scheduling issues with the rest of the DCEU.
Can the DCEU rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe both financially and critically with Snyder at the helm? That remains to be seen. For now, let's keep talking about "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Let us know what you thought of the movie in the comments below.
Follow Brandon Katz on Twitter at @Great_Katzby
