Warner Bros
Nope, that whole “Ben Affleck is Batman” thing wasn’t a dream, and will soon be a very expensive reality. Zack Snyder must be out sharpening Warner Bros’ corporate credit cards, as he will be shooting his very first setpiece for Batman Vs. Superman this weekend at an East LA College football stadium. The story is being sourced to ELAC’s college newspaper, which says that Snyder will be shooting several short crowd scenes during halftime, without the presence of the leads Henry Cavill or Affleck. The scene will take place during a college football match between Gotham City University and Metropolis State University. Maybe the “Vs.” in the movie title refers to the ride-or-die football fandom of the two heroes.
Continuing the proud tradition of Christopher Nolan before him, Snyder will be inserting (a probably unecessary) football sequence into his film to pander to locals. But while Nolan at least was hoping to capture some of the working class Pittsburgh energy that was part and parcel of the themes in his movie, and tied in an opportunity for Bane to rain down carnage on unsuspecting sports fans, Snyder’s “20 minutes” of shooting don’t give opportunity for either thematic resonance or heavy plot involvement. Besides, what sense does it make to have this scene set in L.A. when we know the film was supposed to start shooting in Detroit (a very different city) this February (a very different season)?
This whole thing smacks of desperation, a Hail Mary pass (if you will) hoping to get fans on board for what so far sounds like a terrible idea for a terrible movie. The only thing more crowdpleasing than gratuitous sports/college shoutouts is letting fans appear in the movie. Snyder’s already hit both, and they haven’t even started shooting yet. If PR for this film gets any worse, he might have to cast Val Kilmer in a winking cameo or add Krypto the Superdog.
