Awesome / Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

"I've killed things from other worlds before!"

"My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all. They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to."

— Batman lets Superman know why he's inferior.

As the first ever live action film to have Batman and Superman sharing the screen (along with the first live action film incarnation of Wonder Woman), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is packed with awesome to begin with.

All spoilers on this page are left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

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Batman vs. Superman

• Really, the whole fight. It's friggin' Batman vs. Superman. A Man against a God. Even people who dislike the movie thought the fight was completely awesome.
• This line shows Superman is practically fighting Batman with mittens on the whole time and doesn't want to kill him:
  "Stay down! If I wanted it, you'd be dead already!"
• For Superman, the fact that he was completely overpowering Batman even in his armor. The first blow of the fight? The blow that sent Batman off his ground and flying a hundred feet backwards? It was a simple push. Supes is not lying when he says that he could have killed Batman anytime he wanted.
• Things seem to be going well for Superman...until Batman hit him with Kryptonite gas, which brought his power level down to near-human levels. As all of his world-destroying powers fade away, Batman taunts him with this line, just to show how, without all of his strengths, he is just as vulnerable as anybody.
  Batman: (to Superman) Breathe it in...that's fear.
• Batman blocks one of Superman's punches and keeps his arm there for several seconds, while Superman has a brief look of pure shock on his face, as he realizes what Batman has done to him. Goes to show, it is easy to be brave when you're a god, but much harder when you're a man.
  Batman: You're not brave. Men are brave.
• Batman's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Superman. One could only imagine how the Man of Steel is getting the reckoning of life, receiving and feeling actual pain for the first time, and from a human, no less!
  • Superman may be all-powerful, but Batman is the better fighter. Throughout the fight, Bruce consistently dodges and parries all of Supes' blows effortlessly, and follows it up with an even stronger counter.
  • And then the fact that Batman is able to No-Sell an (admittedly weakened) punch from Superman by headbutting it.
• Batman stomps Superman through a glass ceiling to the floor.
• In rather quick succession: Batman throws a flawless No-Holds-Barred Beatdown upon the weakened Man of Steel... up until a fateful punch is thrown that ineffectually bounces off Superman's chin with a metallic clang. Cue Batman backing up with his hands raised defensively, as he has made a tactical blunder and knows exactly what he's in for.
  • Ben Affleck deserves some acting props here; at this point, only Batman's mouth and chin are visible as the rest of his face, even his eyes, are covered by the suit's armor. Yet his Oh, Crap! face comes through loud and clear.
• After hitting Superman with another can of Kryptonite gas, Batman straight-up uses a bathroom sink to knock him out.
• Superman pulls forth some fighting spirit to charge Batman in a weakened state. That's right. Even after being recently gassed, he manages to catch a kick from Batman's suit and throw him through a wall. And it should be noted that he doesn't suffer any real damage, except from the Kryptonite Spear. Only direct contact with the Spear makes him bleed.
• The fight itself looks noticeably more refined than the fight scenes in Man of Steel, which involved a lot of long-shots chasing the combatants around. Here, every shot looks like it was lifted from the page of a comic book, with closeups on faces and fists letting the audience drink in the action in one viewing.
• How does Batman manage to hit Superman with the Kryptonite gas grenade the first time? He drops a smoke bomb in front of him, with Superman rushing through the smoke towards him just a few seconds later... only to find Batman is not there. And where is he? Right behind Superman, ready to shot the grenade at him. That's right, in a matter of seconds, Batman sneaked behind the man with x-ray vision and super hearing completely undetected. Truly a master of his craft.

Superman

• The arrival of Superman just as Lois is kidnapped an African warlord. He breaks the sound barrier in a thunderous "BANG!" and lands right inside the leader's house through the roof.
  • When Lois is held hostage by said leader just as Superman has arrived, the Man of Steel just rushes the bastard through the walls with his Super-Speed.
    • As the terrorist makes his threat... Superman and Lois lock eyes. Very subtly, they exchange a nod... and a smile. Cue the badass.
  • The Ultimate Edition amps up the awesome. Instead of just swooping in to rescue Lois, Superman first stops an ill-advised drone strike, saving any innocents in the area, then he rescues Lois.
• Superman saves a crew of astronauts from their exploding rocket on its launching pad by ripping off the crew compartment and taking it away from the explosion. Cue the Atlas Pose.
• The fact that Superman wasn't even doing anything when he trashed the Batmobile. The car hit him and just bounced off. This is the same vehicle that could tear through metal and brick.
• Superman willingly submits himself to a Senate hearing on his actions. Some people consider him a god, but this one act proves that he doesn't.
• Superman flawlessly rescues Lois in a shot that would look great in a museum; awesome and romantic at the same time.
• Superman confronting Lex Luthor for the first time.
  Superman: I'll take you in without breaking you. Which is more than you deserve.
  • When Lex gleefully reveals he kidnapped Martha Kent, Superman screams: "WHERE IS SHE!?" with red eyes of fury. Lex mildly loses his composure, ecstatic at seeing Superman so angry. Props to Henry Cavill for making this line sound genuinely terrifying.
  • Despite being the first scene between the two, Henry Cavill and Jesse Eisenberg's acting makes it completely believable that these two are mortal enemies who absolutely detest one another.
• When Luthor introduces Doomsday to Superman, the first thing Doomsday tries to do is try to hit Lex, so what does the Big Blue Boyscout do? With absolutely zero hesitation, he gets in between them to stop the punch and save Luthor. There's a reason this guy is the superhero.
• Also, as he punches Doomsday beyond the atmosphere, Supes notices a nuclear missile trailing after them. He realizes what it's for and holds Doomsday so that he doesn't move for the nuke, which will hit them both, thus attempting to sacrifice himself to save Metropolis.
• Despite being exposed to Kryptonite, Superman never gives up, never stops fighting and never forgets what he's fighting for.
• Superman's revival in space after being nuked, thanks to the Sun's radiations. With glowing red eyes to boot!
• When fighting Doomsday, Superman punches him further and further into the sky until he's in orbit. He's improved greatly from the inexperienced hero who couldn't drag Zod away from Metropolis, both in strength and in strategy.
• Superman engages in an epic Beam-O-War with Doomsday. Doomsday wins and throws Superman into a nearby building, but give props to Superman for trying. Superman then quickly recovers and prepares to counterattack.
• Superman saves Lois and dives into a pool of water to recover the Kryptonite spear. It almost ends up killing him, but hey that's what heroes are for, right?
• Superman's Heroic Sacrifice. He charges Doomsday and impales him with the Kryptonite spear. Doomsday manages to free himself from Wonder Woman's lasso and impales Superman through the chest with his bony fist blade. What does the Man of Steel do? He holds on and pushes the spear further through Doomsday!
  • Clark believed we were worth it, he could have turned back. Fly off thus letting Lois, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of us die but he didn't, he believed his own death was worth it so we as a race could live on.
  • It's subtle, but they actually show that holding the spear is sapping his powers and strength. Superman has to struggle to fly at all, and to pick up the speed that allowed him to impale Doomsday? The very definition of Heroic Resolve.
  • It also proves definitively that anything Batman thought about Superman not being brave was completely, 100% false.
• The final shot of the movie is Superman's coffin. Then the dust on top of the coffin begins to rise, looking a lot like what happens when a Kryptonian is about to take flight.
• An Off Screen Moment Of Awesome, but sometime between BvS and Man of Steel, Superman prevented an earthquake by shifting an entire tectonic plate!

Batman

• Bruce Wayne's Super Hero Origin sequence:
  • It starts with Thomas and Martha Wayne going into full Papa Wolf and Mama Bear. While, as expected, it didn't save them, they went out fighting to protect Bruce.
  • It ends with young Bruce dreaming he's ascending up the shaft he fell into, surrounded by a flock of bats.
• Bruce goes to Metropolis at the time of Superman's fight with Zod in Man of Steel. Whereas other people run away from the dust cloud, Bruce runs in to help his employees and saves a little girl without the aid of his Batsuit or any gadget. Proof that Batman is more than just his wealth.
• Batman goes after the Lexcorp convoy transporting the Kryptonite sample to steal it. The newly-designed Batmobile shows what its capable of during the chase as the Bat of Gotham eliminates the cars of the convoy one by one with a towing cable and a mounted machine gun, and crashes his way through buildings. He would have succeeded, had Superman not stopped him.
  • Superman rips the roof off of the Batmobile like a can of pilchards. What does Batman do? Is he scared to death? Shaking in fear? Hell no. He stands up, glares at the Man of Steel, and throws the now-iconic Badass Boast, reinforced by the voice changer.
    Superman: Next time they shine your light in the sky, don't go to it. The Bat is dead. Bury it. Consider this mercy. (turns away)
    Batman: Tell me...
    (Superman stops and turns to look at him)
    Batman: Do you bleed?
    (Superman takes off into the sky)
    Batman: You will!
    • Keep in mind that with Superman's range of hearing, it's a certainty he would've heard Batman's last two words...
• The blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment as the Batmobile returns to the Cave after Batman's first encounter with Superman. The two-seconds visual of Batmobile jumping into a gate opening for it in the surface of the lake is so cool.
• Knightmare!Batman's Last Stand, where he kills over a dozen Regime foot-soldiers, only being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and even then, it takes a Parademon to render him unconscious! Also this sequence takes place in ONE TAKE.
• The warehouse scene.
  • For starters, Alfred casually takes control of the Batwing as Batman races into the warehouse and wreaks havoc on Luthor's forces with it.
    Batman: You have to take it, Alfred.
    Alfred: Ah. Right. (deploys controls) Commencing drone mode...
  • Batman takes down the goons and confronting Anatoli (who is holding Martha hostage), with a choice line from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
    Anatoli: Drop it! I said drop it! I'll kill her! Believe me, I'll do it!
    Batman: I believe you. (Batman shoots his flamethrower's fuel tank's valve and rescues Martha)
  • The way Batman handles the goons in the warehouse. Batman's fighting style is both fluid and brutal, with him moving with such agility and power that he's nearly untouchable for most of it. It looks like it's taken from the Batman: Arkham Series and is a clear improvement over the fight scenes of The Dark Knight Trilogy.
    • The way one mook manages to get to point-blank range and shoot Batman in the back of the skull. The bullet is deflected. This version of the Dark Knight has a proper helmet.
    • While the bullet wasn't fatal, it certainly did hurt. Batman shouts in pain and staggers for a moment after the shot. Awesome for two reasons: first, the filmmakers remembered that armor does not stop kinetic energy completely, and even if Batman's helmet is completely bulletproof, there will be energy transfer into his skull, and that will hurt. Second, Batman is only staggered for a moment, then keeps fighting, likely with at least a mild concussion. Badass Normal, indeed.
    • Four of the thugs who forgo Mook Chivalry and rush Batman from every direction at once with knives drawn. Batman doesn't care. With just his gauntlets, he's able to deflect and counterattack so swiftly that the fight is over in less than a minute.
• Superman just got nuked. Wonder Woman is nowhere to be seen. Doomsday is on an island wreaking havoc. Batman flies in and makes the monster chase him to Gotham so he can retrieve the spear and kill it. Batman was ready to take Doomsday on by himself.
• Batman confronting Lex Luthor. The absolute rage he displays at realizing he was an Unwitting Pawn is something to behold, and when Lex gloatingly talks about how he's not fit to stand trial, Batman outwits him by revealing he arranged to have Lex transferred to Arkham Asylum. The smug grin evaporates off of Lex's face.
• Just the awesome, artificial, bassy resonance that Batman's voice modulator applies to Affleck's normal voice is amazing and so quintessentially Batman. For some, more so than Christian Bale's constant growling underneath the cowl.

Wonder Woman

• Even before displaying her supreme Action Girl skills in the climax, we see that Diana is pretty good at being stealthy too, what with stealing Lex Luthor's data in his own house, and doing so right under Bruce Wayne's nose.
• Wonder Woman is fearless and made of awesome, and she displays it gloriously in the climax.
  • Her superheroic introduction scene in full costume, where she jumps in battle to save Batman from Doomsday's eye-blast. She doesn't use her shield to block the blast like the trailer would have you believe. She uses her bracers! It's one of the most epic dynamic entries for a superhero in movie history, hands down, and to the tune of some of the most epic music for a superhero to boot! However one might feel about the rest of the movie, there is no one who felt nothing watching the moment when Doomsday's blast is about to obliterate Batman, and then something drops into its path, blocking it, and when it ends, we see her, accompanied by that music, the glow of the heat fading from her bracers as she lowers her arms, showing that look of fierce determination. A worthy entrace for one of the most iconic superheroines into the big screen seven and half years after her getting creations.
  • She then sends a shockwave at Doomsday with her bracers. While it doesn't hurt him, it's enough to budge him several metres back!
  • Wonder Woman gets center shot between the other two (photo) and leads the charge against Doomsday. She also manages to get several good slashes against Doomsday and even slices off his hand at one point.
  • She can leap over a dozen meters when charging Doomsday.
  • Doomsday throws a car at her, and she cuts it in half with her sword.
  • She takes a brutal shot that sends her flying onto a pile of debris... and she just smiles as if enjoying being in the thick of battle again. Typically, the designated Action Girl is given much weaker foes to finish off so she can come out unscathed, but not the Amazing Amazon. She's that tough, and given her long history, this isn't the first fearsome creature she's slain.
  • Then we get to see her use her magical lasso, which proves to be as indestructible as legends have told and successfully restrains her opponent.
  • In fact, much of the entire fight belongs to Wonder Woman. She manages to go toe to toe with Doomsday with only a few instances of being thrown around and for much of the confrontation, is the only one actively doing some kind of damage and keeping him from getting too far. It's telling that her theme literally takes over most of the entire final action sequence from the very second she steps in, only fading out when Superman goes to save Lois and when he chooses to make his Heroic Sacrifice.

Lex Luthor

• The infamous "Granny's Peach Tea" scene, actually: The look on Senator Finch's face when she sees the jar, then reads the label, tells you she knows she's screwed.
• Lex Luthor's master scheme to get Batman and Superman to kill each other is incredibly impressive. The fact that he went through ridiculous extremes to kill Superman is a testament to his determination.
• Lex has some seriously brass balls on him, to push Lois off a building, then taunt Superman by telling him that he has his mother hostage and shows no fear when Clark's eyes go red or he says he'll take Lex in without breaking him.
  • Lex making Superman kneel.
    Lex: Now God bends to my will.
• The fact that, in this movie, Lex knows the secret identity of both Superman and Batman (hence the reference to having let his family die), while in the comics it has eluded him for decades.
  • And he not only knows their secrets, but keeps them for two years as part of his long game and even making meta-jokes to them when they meet at a party.
  • It's even implied that he knows the secret identities of other superheroes, like the Flash and Cyborg.
• His façade of being a harmless freak throughout the movie, especially during his bumbling speech at the fundraiser which contrasts his much more eloquent remarks when he's around fewer people (like Senator Finch and Clark, who are dead by the end of the movie), was him planning for the possibility of his arrest. He wanted to make sure there was evidence to support his potential insanity plea.
• Lex not even flinching when Batman has him alone in his cell with the bat brand in hand. Lex might be loathsome but he's no coward.

Lois Lane

• Lois venturing into Africa to interview a terrorist leader. General Swanwick was right to say that she has some impressive balls!
• The fact that Lois has the guts to confront the rich and powerful Lex Luthor and call him "psychotic" to his face.
  • As Lex partakes in Evil Gloating, he feels free to basically act like a complete pervert to Lois, even making a show of smelling her. Lois somehow manages to grit her teeth and keep her cool, albeit clearly filled with Tranquil Fury.
• A bit later, she outdoes herself, when she puts herself between Clark and the Goddamn Batman, who was in the middle of a PTSD moment and about to kill the former, to tell Bruce that Martha is Clark's mother.
• It's smaller compared to the rest, but the extended cut gives Lois more screentime for her investigative skills, showing that she's quite skilled at connecting dots and ferreting out information. It's reminiscent of her sequence in Man of Steel where she manages to track Clark down using nothing but assorted good Samaritan stories.

Others

• Overlapping with Heartwarming is Jonathan Kent's beyond-the-grave cameo. Clark's biological father needed advanced alien technology to communicate with his son, while Jonathan's presence in Clark's life embedded itself in his subconscious enough for him to give Clark just the advice he needed. Sometimes love really is the greatest power of all.
• Martha flat out rejects the notion of With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, instead saying that Clark doesn't owe the world a thing and that his continuing to do help people and be their hero should be his choice, something he wants to do rather than what others make him think he needs to.
• Doomsday's energy dome blasts, which are capable of wiping whole city blocks in seconds and get bigger and bigger as he feeds on energy.
• The brief cameos by Aquaman and Flash. Cyborg also gets one but with Body Horror.
  • Flash in particular, who's at a convenience store buying milk when a gunman holds up the clerk behind the register. Barry drops the bottle of milk, zips over to stop the robber, then resumes the position he was in before the milk can even fall.
  • Aquaman's Megaton Trident Strike. Even Diana is impressed.
• The Trinity work together to finish off Doomsday. First, Wonder Woman traps Doomsday with her lasso. Then, Batman shoots him with his last Kryptonite grenade. Finally, Superman delivers the killing blow.
• The musical score by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL mixes some great themes for Batman and Wonder Woman. The highlight is easily the rocking electric cello riff for Wonder Woman's entrance that's guaranteed to get you going. Zimmer, in particular, reused his epic themes from The Dark Knight and Man of Steel for Batman and Superman, respectively.
• The page image. If you're respectably familiar with DC Comics, then you know, even without the movie's subtitle Dawn of Justice, that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman teaming up is going to result in the formation of the Justice League, and as The Stinger and the sequel show, it does.

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