After years of anticipation and fan campaigning, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is finally coming to HBO Max next week. However, if you can’t wait that long, a fan film titled BATMAN: DYING IS EASY might quench your thirst since it fits in line with Zack Snyder's vision of the DC universe.
The 25-minute short film sees Batman taking a trip to Arkham Asylum to confront his old enemy the Joker. The film features incredible attention to detail through the makeup, costumes, and production design. It even features some celebrity cameos, including Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen as corrupt Gotham police detective Harvey Bullock and Doug Jones of Star Trek: Discovery fame as The Riddler. Other classic DC comics characters make appearances throughout the film, including Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Hugo Strange, Mr. Freeze, and Killer Croc.
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Zack Snyder’s Batman was first seen in his 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the follow-up to his first DC film, Man of Steel. In Dawn of Justice, Batman (Ben Affleck) goes up against Superman (Henry Cavill), believing that the Kryptonian superhero could not be trusted after witnessing the collateral damage brought on by his fight with General Zod (Michael Shannon). Batman v Superman was intended to lead directly into Justice League and started setting up the shared movie universe by introducing future DCEU characters like Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot).
Snyder’s version of the Caped Crusader was VERY dark, depicting the bat-themed vigilante as incredibly violent, even going as far as branding criminals with a bat hot iron and committing murder. Considering Snyder’s other comic book films, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the director has developed a reputation for adapting ‘dark’ and ‘gritty’ comic book stories like 300 and Alan Moore's Watchmen.
Snyder took some flack for his depiction of the Dark Knight, with some critics and audiences lamenting that it was too dark and that the film itself was relentlessly bleak. However, many fans clearly enjoyed this depiction and felt that Snyder took the character seriously, adapting him for a more mature audience. Clearly, the folks over at YouTube Batinthesun are fans, as they’ve done an incredible job replicating a similar style and tone to Snyder’s films.
Sadly, it seems like Snyder’s Batman will be retiring after Justice League, as actor Ben Affleck has made it clear he will not be returning to the role. Warner Bros. is pursuing another live-action adaptation in the form of the Matt Reeves-directed film titled The Batman, which is set to star Twilight actor Robert Pattinson as the billionaire turned vigilante. Based on the trailer released late last year, Reeves' film appears to be continuing the dark and gritty tone for Batman. The film looks to depict the character ruthlessly beating criminals even after they’re down. The Batman is currently slated to be released March 4th, 2022, but has been pushed back several times due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League premieres on HBO Max on March 18th, 2021.
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Source: Batinthesun | YouTube