BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

EVERYTHING’S CHANGED

Low-angle shot on a cave wall as Bruce descends into view on an elevator platform from above, hands together. He steps off the elevator and proceeds down a hallway.

Cut to a low-angle wide establishing shot of our new Batcave for the first time. The camera rises up from beneath the Batmobile causeway running through the centre of the oppressive space, water falling from around to set the tone of the subterranean lair. Up above, Bruce heads left through the cuboid structures built into the rock.

He passes by his faithful butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), who is working on an armoured Batman cowl that will come around later in the film.

Behind the Scene

This graphics of Batman’s cowl and the voice modulator visualisation on the computers beside Alfred were created by designer and animator Ryan Uhrich. The graphics can be seen on his website at his page on Batman v Superman.

“You still working?” Bruce asks, passing the silhouette of the prototype armoured Batsuit displayed in the corner of the work area. Many tables of engineering work and technology are visible, held by beams attached to the ceiling, invoking bat-like imagery in the dimly-lit space. Bruce removes his jacket as he strolls through and continues, “You’re getting slow in your old age, Alfred.” Considering how old Bruce is himself, this might also be a sign of Bruce in denial of his own age.

Alfred look up from his work and responds, “Comes to us all, Master Wayne. Even you got too old to die young.” Under his breath, he says, “And not for lack of trying.”

Bruce folds his jacket at the Bat-computer, glancing at his faithful butler/partner, acknowledging the jab but thinking nothing of it. This playful ribbing between the two characters shows they have a habit of making fun of each other, emphasising that the two have been doing this job for a long time and establishing their relationship as more personal and less professional than traditionally depicted.

Alfred then puts the cowl’s voice modulator to his throat and repeats, “Funnel-ferry butter bar, funnel-ferry butter bar, funnel-ferry butter bar, funnel-ferry–“ multiple times in a deep, electronic voice, introducing us to Batman’s new verbal disguise. He finally puts the device down and says, “There’s nothing wrong with the microphone.”

Cut to the machinery on the desk. The mechanical innards of Batman’s cowl sit exposed, connected to wires and other machines.

He reattaches the device to the mechanical cowl. “It’s this new layer of armour. I’ll just have to rewire.” This sets up Batman’s cowl tanking a bullet to the head during the warehouse fight.

Wide shot of Bruce at the Bat-computer. Alfred approaches from down the row of workshops, now carrying a breakfast trey and asking, “So, last night was productive?” He sets the trey down beside the computer.

Bruce responds, “No. He’s too low-level. He knew nothing,” explaining the significance of the prior Batman scene. Note how Bruce does not consider saving the trafficking victims to be productive. All he cared about was information vital to — as we later learn — his killing of Superman. “This is the man who knows things. Anatoli Knyazev.”

On the screen, the Russian’s profile displays, including a birth date of 02/24/1975, one day after the actor Callan Mulvey’s real birthday.

Bruce explains, “He’s Russian. Contracts all over the globe, but he’s based out of the port of Gotham. Weapons and human trafficking.” The port of Gotham was shown earlier when we first saw the two police officers watching football in their vehicle. Recall the details Bruce reveals here, and we can quickly ascertain that the warehouse fight later in the movie takes place in Knyazev’s hideout.

“So, the White Portuguese is a Russian,” Alfred says sceptically. “That’s the theory.”

Bruce says, “No. The theory is that the Russian will lead me to the man himself.” Then Bruce finally sits, relaxing back in his chair.

Sceptical, Alfred says, “If he is, indeed, a ‘him’. You don’t even know if he exists. Could be a… phantasm.” This might be a reference to the 1993 animated masterpiece Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993).

Bruce looks between Alfred and the screen as he says, “One that wants to bring a dirty bomb into Gotham?”

Medium close-up on Alfred to emphasise his realisation. “Ah, high-stakes round.” He nods, but with the subtlest look of scepticism. In hindsight, Alfred likely knows from this moment that Bruce is being less than honest.

Then he throws the newspaper down on the desk with the headline “BAT BRAND OF JUSTICE” by the Gotham Free Press, showing Batman’s latest branding victim.

“New rules?” Alfred asks, telling us these brutal methods are a recent development.

Low string textures are immediately joined by the Bruce Wayne Motif, still on the distant trumpet linked to young Bruce’s scream. This is the brutality borne from a man’s pain.

Cut between Bruce and the paper as he picks it up. “We’re criminals, Alfred. We’ve always been criminals. Nothing’s changed.” He lazily tosses the paper down, showing his indifference to his morally questionable acts, and his cynicism is indicative of how the line between hero and villain has truly started to blur. This may also be a metaphorical “Wake up!” to Batman fans to see the character for what he really is.

“‘Sure we’re criminals,’ you said. ‘We’ve always been criminals. We have to be criminals.’”

Superman to Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, 1986

Alfred looks down judgingly on Bruce. “Oh, yes, it has, sir. Everything’s changed,” he says, ominously, and with perhaps a hint of disappointment.

A quiet, almost imperceptible Batman Theme A comes in on low percussion, accompanying the Bruce Wayne Motif.

Alfred turns away, and a beep accompanies a stash of footage appearing on the adjacent monitor, consisting of short, blurry shots from Man of Steel. Each clip appears like it was shot for real by bystanders or civilians filming the carnage of Black Zero from their smart phones from a distance, or like a rare UFO sighting, and adds to the film’s goals of achieving a more believable world. The realism-focused cinematography of Man of Steel is beneficial to this goal. The lack of clear footage also shows that Superman has not been one to interact much with the media. Lastly, this serves as a comparison to Lex, who we later learn has also been collecting information on meta-humans and spying on Superman. Each image displays a latitude, longitude, time of day, and delta/speed. For example, Superman’s fight with Zod occurred at 6:20PM EST. The folder containing these videos is BLACK_ZERO_281_B_4122 in case file 0714.2015_87A. These details all indicate that Bruce has been analysing Superman’s abilities.

Goof: “Longitude” is incorrectly spelled as “Longitutde” on the videos.

As we look over the imagery, with emphasis on the destructive battle between Zod and Superman, Alfred says, “Men fall from the sky. The gods hurl thunderbolts. Innocents die.” On this last sentence, young Bruce’s scream can be hard, very quiet.

Bruce is quiet, but looks thoughtful as he takes Alfred’s comments.

Judging eyes focused on Bruce, Alfred goes on, “That’s how it starts, sir. The fever. The rage. The feeling of powerlessness. It turns good men cruel.” Then he steps away. “Men fall from the sky,” is likely referring to Batman’s own moral collapse, yet another reference to the theme of falling. “The gods hurl thunderbolts,” is our second reference to divinity in the film and is likely a subtle reference to the impending appearance of Wonder Woman, whose background is tied to Greek mythology, but on the surface refers to the power of divine beings who fight amongst each other while innocents lose their lives in the destruction. This naturally follows from the death Superman leaves unintentionally in his wake. It might also subtly refer to the loss of innocence felt by both Batman and Superman. This monologue leaves us with a verbalised explanation for how Batman has reached his current point.

The Bruce Wayne Motif is transferred to cello as Batman Theme A starts intertwining with it on piano throughout Alfred’s monologue, still quiet, but louder now to emphasise the invisible rage that drives Bruce now.

Bruce sits still for a few seconds. The scene ends with him throwing aside the newspaper and getting to work.

The Bruce Wayne Motif plays one last time on low brass before stopping. Piano (only the first time), strings, and low percussion play Batman Theme A repeatedly in unison.

SCENE OVERVIEW

In our first look at the new Batcave, Alfred is next on the introductions, established as a snarkier character than past portrayals. His sarcastic presence adds some appreciated levity to help balance the tension and energy of the film. We have also glimpsed his relationship with Bruce: less of a butler and more of a partner, using his engineering skills to help with Batman’s equipment. They make fun of each other, and Alfred’s personality plays off well against Bruce’s generally humourless attitude. This scene also gives us calm and casual Bruce. Though he does not appear to have it out for Superman, we are given some details on how his attitude changed over time, that he is not the man he used to be, and that Superman has a part to play in this change. As Alfred explains, this can be traced back to Batman’s feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy that he seeks to overcome, verbalising the basis of his arc. Lastly, we learn that Batman is currently on the trail of Anatoli Knyazev, seemingly in pursuit of arms traffickers, setting up his real quest.

SCENE ANALYSIS

This scene and the last have both provided us with a personal look at Clark Kent and his moral support (Lois Lane) and Bruce Wayne and his moral support (Alfred Pennyworth). Both scenes have a stark contrast in terms of tone, but both also provide moments of levity to relax the audience after recent events, so placing them together like this works very well.

The music in this scene is Everything’s Changed or Vigilante in the released soundtrack. It has Batman Theme A over Batman Theme B, a typical arrangement, but quieter here than when we last heard it. The tone of this scene is lighter, so the more subdued sinister Batman leitmotif draws us to the underlying issues verbalised by Alfred: Batman has become something bad. In contrast with the previous scene and track possibly blurring the line between Superman and Clark Kent, this scene and track might blur the line between Batman and Bruce by continually playing the Bruce Wayne Motif with Batman Theme A. This track corresponds with the first part of New Rules in the released score.

BEHIND THE SCENE

“Zack needed something for Alfred to be working on during a discussion with Bruce in the Batcave. Of course, the cowl isn’t just a piece of clothing that he’s wearing over his head, it’s actually a huge piece of technology. We did a 3D model of it and scaled it to the outer cowl. We reverse-engineered it, we grew and moulded parts, and we milled certain parts out of aluminium.”

Doug Harlocker, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual, p27, 22 March 2016

The Batcave was constructed across two soundstages at the late Michigan Motion Picture Studios along Centerpoint Parkway, Pontiac, Michigan. Production designer Patrick Tatopoulos in the Art of the Film and Tech Manual described it as “oppressive” with how the roof of the cave is very low, as though you “barely have the space to live in there.” The blocky, minimalistic, concrete aesthetic of the Glass House above is reflected in the design, which is arguably a reflection of Bruce’s anti-social attitude. The intention with the architecture was to make everything suspended from above to be “reminiscent of the concept of a bat,” and work tables in the lab are attached to a gantry system on the ceiling for moving them around. You can see the official Batcave behind-the-scenes featurette on YouTube. Warner Brothers and Google Maps collaborated with Territory Studio to create a 360-degree virtual tour of the Batcave set which is sadly no longer available, but you can still see videos of the tour. The sequences here were shot in June or July 2014 when the crew were filming in Pontiac.