BvS : The Consequences Edit v4.04
Dawn of Justice Part 2

Bad Movies Made Less Bad Presents:
The definitive "No Martha" edit.

Major Changes:

• Remove the Africa incident and change public reaction to events of MoS.
• Better establish the classic Kryptonian boy scout in the first Act.
• Remove Batman killing people when possible (he still “lets” bad guys die, but doesn’t kill outright)
• Refine Lex into a better villain – less weird, more obviously paranoid, less daddy issues, more calculated (i.e. making Doomsday as a backup plan more understandable.)
• Clarify the conflict the world has with Superman – its all about fear.
• Batman doesn’t actually see the future, does not see the Flash (I promise to update if the Flash movie is ever released!)
• Change Batman’s moral return to be prodded by fear and the similarities to his parent’s killing - not the realization that their mothers have the same name.
• No foreshadowing of Superman’s resurrection.

Editing Intent:

Ugh! The theatrical release was... frustrating, to say the least. This was the movie that I have worked on the most, due to the "Martha" issue. Tons of small edits like removing the "bats levitating young Bruce" moment, and integrating some of the Batman Begins origins in. 

My fanediting journey began because of Mos and BvS, my passion project. I did a ton of work at the beginning, learning as I went, and my skills were terrible, but I could not stop trying for some reason. After the first year, I was happy with the result, taking out all the parts of the movies I didn't feel matched the characters I wanted. I showed my better half, and her response was that all the characters felt flat, lacked depth. At the time, I thought there was no solution for this due to the source materials. By this time I had also seen TM2YC's amazing MoS edit and Mr. Blue's equally amazing BvS edit. I recognized that I was beating a dead horse, and retired the effort. Their edits are the gold standard, and every faneditor worth a lick already has their own edit of these movies, so I decided to put my edits on a shelf.

Or so I told myself over and over again. I would constantly revisit my edits however, watching them at least once a month and making at least 5 new revisions each and every time, always with an intent to bring more character development and depth to my heroes. OCD if there ever was one. But it was also the greatest hobby for me. I design for a living, working within deadlines and creating the visions of others. Fanediting has allowed me to pursue my own artistic vision, on my own timeline and to the exacting vision I that have, not the client's. I do think the broader audience opinion matters, but its much like my personal art in other mediums I have done in the past.

When Zack Snyder announced his Justice League were on their way, I was once again excited, knowing I may yet again be disappointed. But my little pet MoS and BvS projects had given me new appreciation for the movies, as I now know pretty much every frame WAY too well.

My better half asked what the ZSJL hubbub was all about, and when I mentioned her reaction to my edits a couple years ago, she gave me a completely blank look, not remembering already watching them. So I showed her the edits as they existed at that point. And... she loved them! I brought up the character development issues from the past, but she said she didn't notice them now. Validation. These new edits were not the same as my first attempts.

Next up was to make my friends watch. Most of them liked the movies much better than the original, but one friend had this to say: "If the Martha Name Trivia scene is still in the BvS movie, there is no saving this franchise." And he still wouldn't watch. I told him it was hopeless, and that I think he'll like everything else about the movies. Still a hard "NO" from him, who is even a comic book collector.

I took to Reddit next, sharing my edits there as I was still not an approved editor on this site. Lovely complements, and lots of fans and followers, but not the real constructive criticism I was looking for.

And so, my OCD kicked in again. Over the years and especially since the pandemic, these movies have been polished and honed repeatedly. They have been compared with the original films again as well as the TM2YC, and Mr. Blue edits as well, for any remaining opportunities. Over the past three years and countless viewings, every viewing revealing more opportunities for making the edit just a little better, I now have two edits I can watch completely though without feeling the need to adjust anything.

Cut List:

• Wayne family death flashback and funeral removed.

• Intro rebuilt from Whiplash Dynamo’s “Batman V Superman: MORTAL Prologue”

• Bruce driving stopping, with people moving out of his way removed

• Wallace doesn’t recognize Bruce

• Title sequence moved to after Bruce looking up, with “Part 2” added.

• Whiplash Dynamo’s “Batman V Superman: MORTAL Prologue” Vignette added after title sequence recounting devastation from Zod encounter and that Congress holds Superman accountable

• 18 months changed to 6 months

• Football coverage removed

• New footage inserted of Superman interacting with kids after working with firemen

• When GCPD arrive, they find the branded criminal but do not see Batman in the room on the ceiling (saving the first reveal of the suit for later)

• Batman visiting crypt moved up to here, mixed with shots of parents murder and shot of Bruce in the alley over parents dead bodies (from Batman Begins, color corrected for better visual continuity) No blood or bat coming from grave. Cut to Bruce descending Batcave elevator. (to seem like he visits the crypt often)

• All Africa scenes and references removed

• Lois arrives at the apartment, mail shots removed, bullet shots removed

• Clark and Lois discuss hearings, in regard to Zod battle

• Clark getting into bathtub removed

• Lex’s basketball intro removed

• Mention of “metahuman thesis” removed

• Lex only asks for access to ship, but uses his small tool to THEN remove fingerprints from Zod’s body and gains special access to ship control

• Removed Wallace in his apt before vandalism

• Removed Perry asking for a story about affair with superman over

• Removed Clark showing Gotham mother the newspaper with photo of neighbor

• Trimmed Lex’s discussion with Senator

• Added Wayne parents’ death flashes as Bruce’s nightmare

• Lois bullet discussion and subsequent trip discussion with Clark removed

• Joker laugh added when viewing Robin suit

• Bruce’s naked shower shots removed

• Initial visual contact of Bruce and Diana removed

• Lex’s speech tightened to remove him blundering

• Mention of Pa Kent not traveling removed from Clarks call with mother

• Perry’s line “there’s copy alright” while pointing to a blank page removed

• “The Daily Show” removed

• Knightmare scene reduced to just when Bruce is captured

• Mention of Lois dying removed

• Appearance by the Flash removed

• Bruce’s discussion with Alfred removed the “two years’ mention

• Bruce doesn’t drive into first car

• Bruce doesn’t encounter truck with the turret in it, so he doesn’t destroy it

• Batmobile cutting off top of truck slightly shortened, and shot of two people in truck right after removed (to hopefully draw attention away from the third guy – probably dead but I couldn’t remove more here)

• Clark’s discussion with Martha slightly tightened to remove “you’re not a killer, a threat”

• Senator’s scene with witness about Lex removed

• Senator’s discussion with Lex in hallway tightened

• Scene with Subway death removed

• Tightened sequence when Senator recognizes jar of piss

• Shots about Wallace’s paychecks removed from Bruce’s board room

• Shots about Wallace’s paychecks removed from Alfred at home

• Removed shots of cops getting CPR from Lex’s building break in. (try to reduce implication that people may have died)

• Shots of the Metahuman file Icons removed

• Clark and Lois balcony scene reduced

• Lex’s Zod’s body move up and dialogue reduced

• Lois’s bullet search removed

• Clark and Dad in the mountains moved to MoS

• Bruce leaving old mansion now cuts to Batman placing spear

• Nancy Grace scene removed

• Lois kidnapping tightened to remove her recognition of KGBeast

• Lex and Lois dialogue on roof reduced

• Lex and Clark on roof dialogue reduced

• Clark’s line “nobody says good in this world” is removed

• Clark’s line “there isn’t time” removed

• Bruce’s dragging Batman by the foot and tossing him around by a cord removed, to remove discussion of parental differences

• Metahuman file viewing by Diana removed

• Re-edited Superman execution scene to remove “Martha” motivation and used origin story of Batman Begins to connect the parallels between the murder of the Waynes and the scene with Lois and Clark. Also added Joker’s laugh and Alfred’s advice from earlier in the movie.

• Removed more shots of Batman outright killing people – no blowing up cars with people in them or throwing crates. Note – he still allows people to deal with grenades they brought themselves.

• Trimmed so Batman shoots KGBeast’s gas tank immediately, removed lines about being Superman’s friend to Martha

• Trimmed Lex’s dialogue at introduction of Doomsday

• Mention of populated vs unpopulated areas by Major during Doomsday fight removed

• Mention that Batman needs to “lead” Doomsday to the spear is removed, now Doomsday just follows after Batman

• Mention of populated vs unpopulated areas by Wonder Woman removed

• Lois gets trapped underwater closer to when she is saved

• Lex found in the ship in the blood removed

• Empty Metropolis removed

• Bagpipes song replaced with new audio track, piano and cello rendition of Time by Hans Zimmer

• Priest dialogue and discussion about funeral payments removed

• Bruce and Diana discussion tightened

• Movie ends with tightened Lex and Batman in Cell scene, and painting shot (foreshadowing JL)

• Removed Shot if dirt rising on Clark grave

• MetaHuman video footage viewing moved to credits, cropped CNN webpage out and added Bruce’s mouse clicks