Rumor Round-Up: All of the Batman v. Superman Speculation So Far

Are you excited for Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice yet? Because if you aren’t, you should be! Rumors and speculation are running rampant and I’ve gathered the best of the best right here for your convenience.

Please keep in mind that these are rumors, which means they should all be taken with a grain of salt. Also, for the sake of brevity, I haven’t included rumors or speculation that have already been either confirmed or debunked. With that said, let the speculation begin!

Bryan Cranston is the top contender to play James Gordon.

Seriously, how awesome would this be?! The Breaking Bad star absolutely dominated television and recently gave a thrilling performance on the big screen as Joe Brody in 2014’s Godzilla. 

Cranston has the look, the charisma and the natural presence to play the character and would mesh well with stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill.

Denzel Washington is being considered for the role of Green Lantern.

Heck yes! Denzel Washington is a prolific actor and his last few major roles have been steeped in action and adventure. Given the casting of Ben Affleck to play an older, more grizzled interpretation of the Dark Knight, Washington is perfectly suited to play John Stewart’s Green Lantern and seeing this version of the Lantern on the big screen is long overdue.

Superman will be feeling the effects of killing General Zod.

This is to be expected. Superman has always lived by a code, with one of his primary rules being the show of compassion to his enemies. The Man of Steel doesn’t kill, but was forced to snap Zod’s neck to stop him from killing a group of innocents near the end of the Man of Steel movie. This has to be weighing heavily on his mind and the act certainly won’t sit well with the Dark Knight, whose only rule is “never kill”.

Batman isn’t going to be speaking to Robin/Nightwing.

Another expectation. As Dick Grayson matured, he and Bruce began to butt heads more and more, until finally Dick stepped out from the Dark Knight’s shadow and shed the Robin persona to become Nightwing. The tension between the two leading up to, and following, the birth of the Nightwing persona is well documented and there’s a very good chance that Nightwing may end up being more foe than friend to Batman in Dawn of Justice.

Batman has semi-retired and become a recluse, using drones to fight crime.

We saw a taste of a reclusive Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises, as he refused to be seen by the public and was forced to resume the mantle of Batman when Bane began his reign of terror.

Given Dawn of Justice being partially based on Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, this will likely be taken to the next level. In Miller’s book, Bruce Wayne has aged significantly and entered retirement and it looks like Dawn of Justice will be running with this storyline. Given Bruce’s expertise with technology and the resources provided by Wayne Enterprises, it’s no surprise than an aging Dark Knight may fall back on using drones to combat Gotham City’s crime to preserve his body and health.

There will be consequences to the damage done to Metropolis in Man of Steel.

This is something that is absolutely not touched upon enough in superhero movies. There have to be consequences to the levels of collateral damage done to places like Metropolis. How likely would you be to embrace a hero if you associated them with terrifying levels of destruction?

One of the primary themes of The Dark Knight Returns was the general public’s distrust and fear of heroes, especially Batman. Combined with the fallout from Superman’s deadly tussle with General Zod in Man of Steel, both legendary heroes are likely to face an overwhelming amount of public backlash. In fact, in The Dark Knight Returns, Superman ends up becoming a pawn of the American government, likely as a way to stay in better standing with the people.

Themyscira will have an embassy in Metropolis.

Take this one with a grain of salt. The Amazons are, for the most part, dead set against man’s world and setting foot off the island of Themyscira is forbidden. Still, we know that Gal Gadot will be rocking the Wonder Woman armor in Dawn of Justice and her fated meeting of the other Justice League heroes will likely come as a result of her breaking that rule.

Still, seeing the Amazons portrayed this way could be interesting. Should they choose to be involved in the world of man, a diplomatic embassy would be exactly the way to do it.

Wonder Woman won’t be able to fly, but the Invisible Plane will.

Wonder Woman’s powers vary depending on her interpretation but classic Wonder Woman was the proud owner of the (horrendously illogical but completely awesome) Invisible Plane.

While other incarnations of Diana possessed the powers of super speed and flight, given to her by the Messenger God Hermes, it sounds like Dawn of Justice is going old school and busting out the plane, which is rumored to be so stealthy that even Superman can’t detect it. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how it’s portrayed in the movie.

Superman will be in exile at the end, and the Justice League will be a government approved superhero team.

By far the most interesting bit of speculation we’ve heard and it seems to be in line with DC’s master plan, which all points to an epic Justice League movie that DC will no doubt look to top Marvel’s Avengers with.

In Justice League: The Animated Series, the team operates from a space station in orbit over the Earth known as “The Watchtower” and the group is very much government-approved, as Earth’s leaders regularly call on the League in times of crisis.

Given Dawn of Justice‘s rumored focus on strained superhero/public relations and the fallout from Superman’s battle with Zod, ending with the formation of the Justice League makes sense and would put that much more hype behind DC’s stand-alone movie outings en route to the Justice League film.