Superman taking out General Zod and half of Metropolis during the Man of Steel finale is still a sore point for fans. It caused a lot of backlash (opens in new tab). So much so in fact, that it’s become a motivating factor for the Dark Knight in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (opens in new tab). And to be fair, Bruce Wayne’s got every right to be angry. Shouldn’t Superman have known not to fight in a highly-populated area? He’s supposed to be one of the good guys!
According to Henry Cavill, Superman’s decisions all come from a good place. “It’s the fact that he does really love humans,” he tells Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab). “He loves what they bring to the world, he loves this planet and who he lives alongside, and he wants to really, really help them. We could go deep into the psychology of what that means and what that makes ones intentions on a daily basis when you’re a super-powered alien.”
Essentially: give him a break guys, he’s new at this. Regardless, might we see him show just a bit of remorse for the incident? Cavill says no, not really: “I think the most difficult thing for him at this stage of the story is that he has just come to terms with the fact that he is really, really quite powerful and he hasn’t found any major vulnerabilities yet, and despite this, despite the enormous power that he has, he still cannot do everything, and he really struggles with that.”
There’s a lot of brooding, regretful superheroes out there – Batman, for one – and so it’s refreshing to know that Supes isn’t going to beat himself up. But if faced with that exact scenario again, Cavill believes he’d probably respond in a similar fashion:
“Let’s say now, [if] Superman has the same threat again, that’s a different story. He would, of course, bring collateral damage to an absolute minimum, but in that, he’s just trying to survive because if he doesn’t, the planet’s gone. That’s the excuse I make for Superman. He’s fresh and he’s new, and it’s very easy to point out the faults in someone after they’ve done it, but put yourself in their shoes and see what happens.”
Directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, and Amy Adams, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will arrive in UK and US cinemas on March 25, 2016.
Images: Warner Bros.