Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
The movie is a 2016 American superhero film in which, after Superman’s destructive battle with General Zod, Bruce Wayne sees Superman as a threat to humanity and prepares to confront him. Lex Luthor manipulates events to push Batman and Superman into conflict, while the world debates what kind of hero it needs. As their battle unfolds, a new danger emerges that threatens mankind even further.
Narrative Score
Full Plot & Ending Explained
Intro
The film opens with Bruce Wayne in Metropolis during Superman’s battle with General Zod, where he witnesses the devastation of Wayne Tower and the city’s civilian casualties, which hardens his belief that Superman is a dangerous force that must be stopped.
Turning Point 1
Eighteen months later, Superman is publicly controversial, Bruce has become Batman for nearly twenty years, and Clark Kent at the Daily Planet condemns Batman’s violent methods while Lex Luthor quietly pushes for access to kryptonite and Zod’s remains through Senator June Finch and her aide.
Turning Point 2
At LexCorp’s gala, Bruce attempts to steal Luthor’s encrypted data but Diana Prince takes it first and later returns it; Bruce then decodes the file, experiences a nightmare of a ruined future ruled by Superman, and is warned by a mysterious portal figure that “Lois is the key” and to “find the others.”
Turning Point 3
During a congressional hearing led by Finch, Luthor’s smuggled lead-lined bomb explodes and kills everyone in the chamber except Superman, who blames himself and goes into self-imposed exile, while Batman becomes convinced Superman is responsible and steals kryptonite from LexCorp to build weapons against him.
Turning Point 4
Luthor lures Superman into a trap by kidnapping Martha Kent and Lois Lane, reveals that he has manipulated Batman and Superman into hatred, and demands that Superman kill Batman in exchange for Martha’s life; Clark rushes to Gotham to rescue his mother, while Batman attacks him with kryptonite gas and a brutal armored suit.
Turning Point 5
After Superman is weakened, Batman nearly kills him until Superman pleads for Martha’s safety and the name “Martha” shocks Bruce into realizing they both lost their mothers, causing Batman to relent; Lois arrives, the two heroes reconcile, and then a government-created creature formed from Zod’s body and kryptonite, Doomsday, emerges as Luthor’s last desperate weapon.
Turning Point 6
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman battle Doomsday across Metropolis, with Wonder Woman revealing herself as Diana Prince and joining the fight, but the monster keeps evolving and the trio is forced into increasingly destructive combat as Batman and Wonder Woman work to contain it while Superman faces the creature head-on.
Ending
Knowing Doomsday can only be stopped by a fatal strike, Superman flies into space with the monster and impales it with the kryptonite spear, killing both of them; the world mourns him, Bruce and Diana later gather at Kent Farm and decide to form a team of metahumans, and in the final image the soil atop Superman’s grave begins to rise, implying his return.
Cross-checked against Wikipedia and other public film references. View on Letterboxd ↗ The Narrative Score above is an experimental 5-axis rating, not a critic score.