Batman Will Feature More Than Superman in Dawn of Justice

It might be more than six months from release, but anticipation for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice continues to grow. The second film in the DC Extended Universe--following 2013's Man of Steel--will see the two iconic superheroes meet, and inevitably rumours have been flying about what the film will contain.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, director Zack Snyder--who also helmed Man of Steel--has spoken about his approach to the film and addressed some of the gossip doing the rounds. In particular, the suggestion that his new film will feature Ben Affleck's Batman much more heavily than Henry Cavill's Superman was confirmed by the director.

"It's a different Batman than the Batman that was in the Chris Nolan movies, so we have a little bit more explaining to do--and you just had a whole Superman movie," he said.

"But I think only in that way, because you need to understand where Batman is with everything. And that's more toward the beginning, but it evens back out as it goes on.

"It's great fun, but it also has an eye toward the future--it's going toward Justice League. Early on, once we decided that we were going to put Batman in the movie, then I was like, 'OK, good! Because you know what that means? It means the floodgates can open!'"

In an interview earlier this week with Yahoo Movies, Snyder also addressed comments that Steven Spielberg had made that the lifespan of the superhero movie genre was finite and would eventually go "the way of the western."

"He might not be wrong," agreed Snyder. "I think it puts more pressure on us, the filmmakers, to not just crank out superhero movies for the sake of it.

"To me, the one thing I love about working in the DC universe is that Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman are American mythology. It's not about making a superhero; it's a mythological universe that we live in."

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will open on March 25, 2016. It also stars Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and will be the first of eleven DC movies that Warner has scheduled for release over the next five years.