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'Batman v Superman' Storyboard Artist Offers Insight into Martha Scene
by Neil Cole
An often ridiculed scene from "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" takes place when the Dark Knight and Man of Steel end their epic fight when both heroes realize that their mothers share the name Martha.
During a recent appearance on the ComicBook Debate podcast, the film's storyboard artist Jay Oliva offerred new insight into the mocked scene which was meant to humanize both characters despite their many differences.
"I thought, 'Did they not understand what that whole point was?'", stated Oliva. "The whole reason why the movie starts with the death of Bruce’s parents is to set up the fact that that traumatic effect has basically given little Bruce, and now adult Bruce, PTSD. He’s had it all his life. I mean, it’s something that I even did in Dark Knight Returns Part 1. I played up the fact that he has PTSD. If you notice I do flashes... when the train goes by overhead it's flashing on the ground and that gives him those flashes of when his mom gets killed."
He continued, "So, at that early stage I was already playing the fact that you had a Batman who had PTSD, you know? So, Zack was just setting that up and if you watch that film, really, without having any kind of preconceived notions or whatnot or just waiting for the 'Martha scene'... he sets it up. So, that way at the end when Batman's gonna kill Superman, the 'Martha' is a trigger to get Batman out of this kind of bloodlust vengeance."
Unfortunately, even though Oliva and director Zack Snyder may have had the best of intentions for how the scene was executed, the majority of audience members did not agree which has lead to the moment getting mocked continuously in the years since the release of the film.
Source: ComicBook.com
