Remember how — despite all my trepidations — I started actually getting excited for the Man of Steel sequel I refuse to call Batman vs. Superman? It was just last week.
Well, that didn’t last long.
Seems like all the good will Warner Brothers engendered from their sneak peek at Ben Affleck under the cowl has been squandered away with the reveal of the dumbest superhero movie title in the history of dumb superhero movie titles.
That’s right, Man of Steel 2 is now, officially, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Ugh.
I’ve already gone on record saying how putting “versus” in the title was beneath these iconic DC heroes.
Dear @wbpictures please drop the "VS" from the #BatmanVsSuperman title. This ain't Freddy/Jason or Aliens/Predator. Aim for better.
— Keith Chow 周樂文 (@the_real_chow) July 24, 2013
I guess they took my advice? Because they did drop the “VS” and just went with a “V” instead. Now, the internet has already made every conceivable “Batman and Superman in court” joke it could make — because the internet’s got jokes — but the issue remains: someone in the braintrust at WB Pictures actually signed off on that title.
As fellow NOC Will pointed out on twitter:
Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice sounds like the shitty videogame *based* on the movie
— William Bruce West (@williambwest) May 21, 2014
Ya know, maybe the “V” in question isn’t supposed to be “Vs.” Maybe it’s the roman numeral for five, and that Batman V Superman is really the fifth movie in the Nolanverse franchise? I mean, Affleck’s supposed to be playing an older, established Batman after all. Maybe he really is supposed to be Bale’s Batman. I already laid out how to connect The Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel before. Even if this were the case — and it clearly isn’t — it doesn’t really help.
Beyond the utter ridiculousness of the title — seriously, just go to the movie’s official website and gawk at how awful that URL looks in your browser — there are other problems. ComicsAlliance has already pointed out many of them here. The main issue I have with it is that Superman gets second billing in his own movie! Remember, this is supposed to be a sequel to Man of Steel.
But the subtitle Dawn of Justice (which is also V corny, BTW) doesn’t hide the fact that this movie is less sequel to Superman than prequel to Justice League. Truth be told, most DC fanboys have been salivating at the idea of a full blown JLA movie for years. The fact that we’re finally getting one should make us all jump for joy. Unfortunately, it’s just clear that the folks ultimately charged with bringing the League to the big screen just don’t get it.
The other thing that irks me about the title? Where the hell am I supposed to put the blu-ray on my shelf?! I keep my discs in alphabetical order — but made exceptions for The Dark Knight and Man of Steel, which are with the Batman and Superman movies, respectively. So should this go with the B’s or the S’s? It’s still, ostensibly, the sequel to Man of Steel, so it should follow that, right? That’s the real reason why I wanted the title to be Man of Steel: Dark Knight.
Something like "World's Finest" or even "Man of Steel: Dark Knight" are infinitely better than #BatmanVsSuperman #YoureWelcome @wbpictures
— Keith Chow 周樂文 (@the_real_chow) July 24, 2013
Of course, this is presuming that I’ll buy the blu-ray. Oh, who am I kidding, of course I’m going to buy the blu-ray.
Damn you, WB!