BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

CLARK V PERRY #2

“So,” we hear Perry White say at the end of the previous scene, transitioning us.

Cut to the Daily Planet, a shoulder shot from Clark looking over his desk at his boss approaching. “I logged into your Dropbox to find copy,” Perry says and holds up a paper with a large empty space where Clark’s “Underdog Dreams Dashed” story was supposed to be. With a passive-aggressive smirk, he continues, “There’s copy, alright.”

Clark looks annoyed as he takes his jacket off to reveal his plaid shirt. We can infer he has just arrived at work and Perry is confronting him.

Perry continues, “But nothing about football. Nothing about…” — he rips the paper into shreds — “friends of the Metropolis Library, just… the goddamn Gotham Bat thing I told you not to pursue.” Perry has clearly had enough of Clark’s stubbornness and throws down the crumpled, torn remains of the paper.

Firmly and nobly, Clark says, “The police won’t help, the press has to do the right thing.” Note his use of “help” making it clear he’s defining Batman’s enemies as victims over criminals.

“You don’t get to decide what the right thing is,” Perry responds, taking off his glasses and using them to point at Clark. This also takes us back to the questions of Superman making decisions about what matters, and here Perry is essentially telling Superman that he does not get that choice. It also calls to mind questions of objective morality. Does Superman decide what values to pursue? Or is there a higher standard that he merely adheres to?

Clark pleads more firmly, “When the Planet was founded, it stood for something, Perry.” This also emphasises Clark’s more old-fashioned sense of right and wrong, especially in regards to the power of the press. He is also countering Perry by appealing to something besides himself: the Daily Planet stood for what it believed the right thing was, and now Clark wants it to do the same again.

“So could you if it was 1938, but it’s not 1938!” Perry yells, referencing the year Superman first debuted in Action Comics #1.

Clark shakes his head with frustration.

Perry angrily goes on, “WPA aren’t hiring no more. Apples don’t cost a nickel.” He raises his voice further to make his point. “Not in here. Not out there. You drop this thing! Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman.” Obviously, this is referencing the conflict between the two characters. If we go by the theory that Perry knows Clark is Superman, then he might be telling Clark to give up on the press and deal with Batman with his alter ego. This is also the only time in the movie where the full name “Batman” is spoken out loud. Perry is essentially reducing moral arguments to questions of financial practicality, ignoring the worth of a cause because it’s economically unfeasible for the modern press.

“I think that’s a reference also here to what we’re trying to do to Superman compared to what Superman was, this speech right here, ‘Apples don’t cost a nickel,’ you know what I mean? We can’t just [go back].”

Zack Snyder, Full Circle, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice commentary, 29 April 2023

Then Perry walks off angrily.

Again, Clark shakes his head in frustration, clearly disappointed, but perhaps also feeling humiliated.

The scene ends with the voice of Jon Stewart, making a cameo as the host of the Daily Show (at the time), saying, “So apparently, Superman…” This leads us to the next scene.

SCENE OVERVIEW

At the Daily Planet, Perry confronts Clark for persisting in his Batman story, but Clark takes a bold stand for the principles the newspaper was founded on: using the power of the press to highlight injustice and give a voice to the voiceless when civil services refuse to, building his nobility. Perry reminds him that times change and orders him to stop, driving Clark closer towards taking action into his own hands, his resolve unbroken.

SCENE ANALYSIS

During the era of Superman’s debut, he spent a lot of time as Clark Kent, where he uses his mild-mannered alter-ego to fight for justice by outing corrupt politicians or bringing worthy issues to the attention of the public without the cape. Also, it should be noted that Seigel and Shuster were put under increasingly heavy oversight as they wrote, which involved putting less emphasis on the social crusades, which is interestingly exactly what Perry is doing to Clark here. It works as meta commentary on how the classic values of Superman are brought into question today, and further explores the practicality of Superman’s beliefs.

The best way to summarise the value of this scene is its cinematography. The whole sequence consists of just two shots: a shoulder shot from Clark and another from Perry. This represents the simple binary at play: Clark’s idealistic belief in the press as a force for good against Perry’s jaded cynicism regarding the modern world. We switch between their respective points of view both visually and verbally throughout the passionate back and forth.

BEHIND THE SCENE

Based on physical evidence and quotes, the Daily Planet was shot in a retrofitted office space at 2000 Centerpoint Parkway, Pontiac, Michigan, in the late Michigan Motion Picture Studios, a former General Motors building just across the street from the location used for LexCorp. Those with a keen eye for set design may notice a significant number of changes since Man of Steel, implying the building has been heavily remodelled. Updates were inspired by old photographs of the Chicago Tribune. A row of televisions across the walls makes current news updates a constant presence in the scenes here. Lois and Clark can see each other from the placement of their desks. Electrician Erica Kim got a photo from inside. The location was sold to Williams International in 2017, when the studio held a garage sale for props.