No, Really, Zack Snyder Cut A Scene From BATMAN V SUPERMAN For Being ‘Too Dark’

Did you know...? It took just one cut to transform Batman V Superman from the miserable slog it could have been into the candy-colored romp we all know and love. 

In a new interview with IGN, Zack Snyder discusses Superman's power of hearing. Specifically: why Superman didn't hear Ma Kent's screams for help when she was being kidnapped by Lex Luthor. Snyder says:

"I think all the way – to me, from Metropolis to Smallville is probably just on the edge of his range of hearing. Also the clutter of the city makes it difficult as well."

So, right off the bat this interview is illuminating: we now know an approximate range that Superman's super-hearing will work within. How far is it from Metropolis to Smallville? I'm sure someone who enjoyed this movie will be happy to do the math. It's gotta be much greater than the distance between Metropolis and Gotham (read: a short boat ride), right? 

Then Snyder makes a confession:

"We had a scene that we cut from the movie where he tries to look for her when he finds out that Lex has got her. It was a slightly dark scene that we cut out because it sort of represented this dark side."

Of course. Who in their right mind would want to present the dark side of Superman, particularly in a film where Superman's adversary already represents the dark side of superheroes? Why, that'd be both redundant and not what anyone was asking for.   

"Because when he was looking for his mom he heard all the cries of all the potential crimes going on in the city, you know when you look.

I kind of like the idea that he’s taught himself not to look because if he looks it’s just neverending, right? You have to know when, as Superman, when to intervene and when not to. Or not when not to, you can’t be everywhere at once, literally you can’t be everywhere at once, so he has to be really selective in a weird way about where he chooses to interfere.”

This portion of the quote takes some parsing out. What Snyder's saying here is that Superman gets overwhelmed when he really opens up the floodgates on his super-hearing. I also believe he's saying that the deleted scene showed Superman ignoring some people's cries for help in order to locate his mother (Martha). 

Kudos to the Batman V Superman team for removing this sequence. It's hard - nay, borderline impossible! - to imagine how dark this film might have been had it been allowed to stay in. Probably would've been a real beating.

On a related note, please read Devin's "Superman And The Damage Done" editorial if you haven't already.