{"id":1065,"date":"2016-03-26T09:37:34","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T15:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/?p=1065"},"modified":"2016-03-26T09:38:34","modified_gmt":"2016-03-26T15:38:34","slug":"theres-a-reason-why-batman-v-superman-was-released-easter-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2016\/03\/theres-a-reason-why-batman-v-superman-was-released-easter-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a Reason Why Batman v Superman Was Released Easter Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"b<\/a><\/p>\n

I wanted to like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice<\/em>. I really did. The first superheroes I ever knew were from the D.C. stable, and back when I was 7 years old, my best friend and I played Superman and Batman until our capes practically wore out.<\/p>\n

Alas, Batman v Superman<\/em> felt less like a movie than it did a cynical corporate product\u2014a movie whose primary purpose was to launch a lucrative franchise universe (to compete with Marvel\u2019s litany of superhero titles) than draw moviegoers into an exciting, enthralling story. Sure, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) was pretty cool, and I liked the look of the new Batmobile. But for the most part, the superheroes themselves were shallow, two-dimensional creatures. And Batman\u2014never the cheeriest of do-gooders anyway\u2014was a dark, bitter mess. Some of the things that Batman did here made me wonder, frankly, if Director Zack Snyder had a firm grasp of the character, or whether he just read Frank Miller\u2019s uber-dark, non-canonical The Dark Knight Returns<\/em> and decided, \u201cnope, not bleak enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as disappointed as I was with the movie, it did have some interesting spiritual elements. Indeed, it may help answer why Warner Brothers decided to release this surefire blockbuster on Easter weekend rather than waiting for the superhero-friendly summer. Turns out, Batman v Superman<\/em> is a bit of an Easter story itself. (Caution: Spoilers Ahead)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"superman1\"<\/a>
From Batman v Superman, photo courtesy Warner Bros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Misunderstood Superhero<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever since the movie\u2019s trailers landed online\u2014heck, ever since 2013\u2019s Man of Steel<\/em>\u2014it was pretty clear that Snyder and Co. were treating Superman (played by Henry Cavill) as more than just a super-strong guy in a red cape: He\u2019s an unmitigated Messiah figure\u2014a visitor from far, far away who has come to save us. When we see him on screen, it\u2019s often on salvific terms: He\u2019s shown hovering in the sunlight like an angel or surrounded by would-be worshippers straining simply to touch his hem. At one point we see an angel or saint depicted in a stained-glass window, draped tellingly in blue and red.<\/p>\n

He is, in his own way, a miracle worker\u2014one Snyder uses to echo an altogether more important miracle worker who walked the earth a good 2,000 years earlier.<\/p>\n

But the world doesn\u2019t necessarily know how to deal with these strange, powerful visitors. While some worshipped and followed Jesus, others were deeply fearful. Some believed he was possessed or in league with the devil. And the Jewish leaders of the day accused him of not adhering to Mosaic Law.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s fascinating that Superman also is having trouble with the law\u2014not of healing people on the Sabbath, like Jesus, but of saving people without the OK from the State. \u201cIn a democracy, good is a conversation, not a unilateral decision,\u201d says Senator Finch (Holly Hunter). Superman, she believes, must be held accountable\u2014even if it seems forcing such accountability would be impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will not answer to you,\u201d a critic of Superman tells Finch. \u201cHe answers to no one. Not even, I think, to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Congress holds its hearings, other experts debate Superman\u2019s nature and significance\u2014much as Jews and Romans did of Jesus back in the day. \u201cMaybe he\u2019s not just some sort of a devil or Jesus,\u201d one expert suggests, \u201cbut a guy trying to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) isn\u2019t buying that. He suggests to Finch that Superman is a demon. Suitably attired in red boots. \u201cDevils don\u2019t come from hell beneath us,\u201d he hisses. \u201cNot, they come from the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"lex<\/a>
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman. Photo courtesy Warner Bros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But does Lex believe that? Why does he hate Superman so much? It\u2019s not really clear in this murky movie\u2014a fault, I believe, but one that still filters into the spiritual subtext. In Hebrew, Satan means, simply, \u201cadversary,\u201d and Lex Luthor seems to fit that definition here: Perhaps Lex is scared of Superman\u2019s power or loathes his goodness or just doesn\u2019t appreciate his fashion sense. But whatever the reason, the hatred is primal, unquenchable. Lex despises Superman because he must.<\/p>\n

Lex refers to Superman repeatedly as a god\u2014often calling him the <\/em>God. But he\u2019s no believer in a just, loving deity. He\u2019s an antitheist\u2014a stance, it\u2019s suggested, that stemmed from the beatings he suffered at the hands of his father. \u201cIf God is all powerful, he cannot be all good,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if he is all good, he cannot be all powerful.\u201d He manipulates events so that Superman and Batman will eventually have a showdown to the death: \u201cGod versus man,\u201d Lex says. \u201cDay versus night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Batman (Ben Affleck), too, has the air of an adversary\u2014looking even a bit devilish himself in his pointy-eared cowl. But the Dark Knight\u2019s motives are not akin to Lex\u2019s pure hatred. It\u2019s more like those of the Pharisees in Jesus\u2019 day, confronted with a Messiah they didn\u2019t expect: Batman\u2019s trying to protect the world as he knows it from a force that he doesn\u2019t. He will persecute Superman because, in Batman\u2019s eyes, Superman needs to be persecuted.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me, do you bleed?\u201d Batman asks. \u201cYou will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"superman<\/a>
Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in Batman v Superman. Photo courtesy Warner Bros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Passion of the Supes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Superman, like Jesus, winds up submitting to authority\u2014even though, given his abilities, there\u2019s no reason why he has to. He answers a summons to Congress and appears before Finch as a massive crowd of protesters cheer and jeer him outside.<\/p>\n

But the \u201ctrial,\u201d such as it is, does not go well. Lex makes sure of that. And in the aftermath of the disaster, the world at large begins to doubt Superman\u2019s ultimate goodness. And he\u2019s taken his power elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Only temporarily, of course. Circumstances bring him back and force Superman to take an active part in\u2014surprise\u2014saving the world.<\/p>\n

But Batman stands in his way. At the Dark Knight\u2019s hands, Superman does bleed. He suffers in a way that you wouldn\u2019t think a god could or should.<\/p>\n

But when Superman calls out his mother\u2019s name\u2014Martha\u2014Batman sees Superman in a new light. Yes, Superman\u2019s an alien. Yet, somehow, he\u2019s fully human, too. He sees Supes for, really, the first time\u2014as if scales had fallen from his eyes. And he offers to help the guy.<\/p>\n

Together, the two superheroes fly into action against a very disappointed Lex Luthor. \u201cIf man, can\u2019t kill god, the devil will do it,\u201d he says, and unleashes a fearsome beast that, unless it\u2019s stopped, will surely destroy the world.<\/p>\n

Worse yet, the beast is a creation of Krypton, too\u2014nigh immortal, nigh indestructible, just like Superman himself. Only one thing can kill the beast: Kryptonite. But only one man can bring that bit of kryptonite to the monster\u2019s heart: Superman. How can the Man of Steel defeat this evil without dying himself?<\/p>\n

We shan\u2019t get too specific here, but let\u2019s just say that Superman does what Superman has often done since his creation in 1938: He showed a strain of sacrificial love, showing his willingness to die that the world might live.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my world,\u201d Superman tells Lois Lane in the movie\u2019s closing minutes. \u201cYou<\/em> are my world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"superman2\"<\/a>
Henry Cavill in Batman v Superman. Photo courtesy Warner Bros.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a statement that, again, reflects Jesus\u2019 own sacrifice on the cross. \u201cFor God so loved the world,\u201d we\u2019re told in John 3:16, \u201cthat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.\u201d The sacrifice was about the world. But it was also about us. Even if the world had a population of one\u2014you\u2014God still would\u2019ve made the same sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Batman v Superman<\/em> could\u2019ve been better. A lot better. But despite its flaws, I find this spiritual thread in the movie interesting\u2014maybe even a bit redeeming.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wanted to like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I really did. The first superheroes I ever knew were from the D.C. stable, and back when I was 7 years old, my best friend and I played Superman and Batman until our capes practically wore out. Alas, Batman v Superman felt less like a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2036,"featured_media":1071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[21,334,175,80,103,231],"class_list":["post-1065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-superheroes","tag-batman","tag-batman-v-superman","tag-easter","tag-god","tag-heroes","tag-superman"],"yoast_head":"\nThere\u2019s a Reason Why Batman v Superman Was Released Easter Weekend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I wanted to like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I really did. 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