Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a 2016 American superhero action film in which Batman, fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs. It is a follow-up to 2013's Man of Steel and is the second installment in the DC Extended Universe. This film also features the first appearance of Wonder Woman / Diana Prince.

Directed by Zack Snyder. Written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer.

Bruce Wayne / Batman

• There was a time above... a time before. There were perfect things... diamond absolutes. How things fall, things on Earth. And what falls... is fallen. In the dream, they took me to the light. A beautiful lie.

• [to Superman] I bet your parents taught you that you mean something, that you're here for a reason. My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all... They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

• [to Superman] You're not brave. [blocks a punch, shocking Superman] Men are brave.
• [upon seeing Doomsday for the first time] Oh, man.

• [to Superman] Tell me, do you bleed? [Superman flies away] You will.

• [to Superman] WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!

Clark Kent / Superman

• Next time they shine your light in the sky, don't go to it. The Bat is dead. Bury it. Consider this mercy.
• This is my world. You are my world.

Lois Lane

• I don't have a halo over my head, General. I walked into the desert, people died. It keeps me awake at night. It should.

Lex Luthor

• [looks at a picture of angels vs. demons] That should be upside down. We know better now, don't we? Devils don't come from hell beneath us. No, they come from the sky.

• See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Joe, 'cause God is tribal; God takes sides! No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from daddy's fist and abominations. I figured out way back if God is all-powerful, He cannot be all-good. And if He is all-good, then He cannot be all-powerful. And neither can you be.

• And now you will fly to him, and you will battle him to the death. Black and Blue. Fight Night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world: God versus Man; Day versus Night; Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!

• Now you don't have to use a silver bullet. But if you forge one, well then, we don't have to depend on the kindness of monsters.

• And now God bends to my will.

• The Red Capes are coming! The Red Capes are coming!

• If man won't kill God, the Devil will do it!

• Ancient Kryptonian deformity. Blood of my blood. Born to destroy you! Your Doomsday.

• [giving speech] Books are knowledge and knowledge is power, and I am... no. Um, no. What am I? What was I saying? The bittersweet pain among men is having knowledge with no power because... because that is paradoxical and, um... thank you for coming.

• [to General Zod's corpse] You flew too close to the sun. Now look at you.

• The night is here.

• [From the Ultimate Edition, after Superman appears in front of Luthor and tells him he's lost] I don't know how to lose. [Superman tells him he'll learn] Ha! I'll learn. I don't hate the sinner. I hate the sin. And yours, my friend, is existing.

Martha Kent

• I figured. The cape.

Perry White

• Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman.

Alfred Pennyworth

• In your dreams, Alfred.
• So falls the house of Wayne.

Senator June Finch

• The world has been so caught up with what Superman can do that no one has asked what he should do.

Diana Prince / Wonder Woman

• A hundred years ago, I walked away from mankind, from a century of horrors. Men made a world where standing together is impossible.

Dialogue

Clark Kent: Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne! Clark Kent, Daily Planet.

Bruce Wayne: Oh, my foundation has already issued a statement in support of … books.

Clark Kent: Sir?

Bruce Wayne: [gazing at Diana Prince] Wow! Pretty girl – bad habit. Don't quote me, alright?

Clark Kent: What's your position on the bat vigilante in Gotham?

Bruce Wayne: "Daily Planet" … Wait, do I own this one? Or was that the other guy?

Clark Kent: Civil liberties are being trampled on in your city; good people living in fear.

Bruce Wayne: Don't believe everything you hear, son.

Clark Kent: I've seen it, Mr. Wayne. He thinks he's above the law.

Bruce Wayne: The Daily Planet criticizing those who think they're above the law is a little hypocritical, wouldn't you say? Considering every time your hero saves a cat out of a tree, you write a puff-piece editorial about an alien who – if he wanted to, could burn the whole place down. There wouldn't be a damn thing we can do to stop it.

Clark Kent: Most of the world doesn't share your opinion, Mr. Wayne.

Bruce Wayne: Maybe it's that Gotham City in me. We just have a bad history with freaks dressed like clowns.

Lex Luthor: Boys! Mmm, Bruce Wayne meets Clark Kent. Ah, I love it! I love bringing people together! How are we? [shakes Bruce's hand] Hi, hello.

Bruce Wayne: Lex.

Lex Luthor: [shakes Clark's hand] Lex. It is a pleasure... Ow! Wow! That is a good grip! You should not pick a fight with this person!

Lex Luthor: Do you know the oldest lie in America, Senator? Can I call you June?

Senator June Finch: You can call me whatever you like. You could piss in a jar and call it Granny's Peach Tea; take a weapon of assassination and call it deterrence. You won't fool a fly or me. I'm not gonna drink it.

Bruce Wayne: We're criminals, Alfred. We've always been criminals. Nothing's changed.

Alfred Pennyworth: Oh, yes it has, sir. Everything's changed. Men fall from the sky, the gods hurl thunderbolts, innocents die. That's how it starts, sir. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men... cruel.

Bruce Wayne: You don’t know me, but I've known a few women like you.

Diana Prince: I don't think you've ever known a woman like me.

[as a montage of TV scenes discussing Superman begins]

Vikram Gandhi: We, as a population on this planet, have been looking for a savior. Ninety percent of people believe in a higher power — and every religion believes in some sort messianic figure. And when this savior character actually comes to Earth, we want to make him abide by our rules? We have to understand that this is a paradigm shift. We have to start thinking beyond politics.

Andrew Sullivan: Are there any moral constraints on this person? We have international law. On this Earth, every act is a political act.

Charlie Rose: Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy?

Senator June Finch: To have an individual engaging in these state-level interventions should give us all pause.

Glenn Woodburn: Human beings have a horrible track record of following people with great power down paths that led to huge human atrocities.

Vikram Gandhi: We have always created icons in our own image. What we've done is we project ourselves on to him. The fact is, maybe he's not some sort of Devil or Jesus character. Maybe he’s just a guy trying to do the right thing.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: We're talking about a being whose very existence challenges our own sense of priority in the universe. When you go back to Copernicus where he restored the Sun in the center of the known universe, displacing Earth, and you get to Darwinian evolution and you find out we're not special on this Earth; we're just one among other lifeforms. And now we learn that we're not even special in the entire Universe – because there is Superman. There he is, an alien among us. We're not alone.

Charlie Rose: Are you, as a United States Senator, personally comfortable saying to a grieving parent, "Superman could've saved your child, but on principle we did not want him to act."

Senator June Finch: I'm not saying he shouldn't act. I'm saying he shouldn't act unilaterally.

Charlie Rose: What are we talking about here then? Must there be a Superman?

Senator June Finch: There is.

Alfred Pennyworth: You're gonna go to war?

Bruce Wayne: That son of a bitch brought the war to us two years ago. Jesus, Alfred, count the dead. Thousands of people. What's next? Millions? He has the power to wipe out the entire human race, and if we believe there's a ONE percent chance that he is our enemy we have to take it as an absolute certainty... and we have to destroy him.

Alfred Pennyworth: But he is NOT our enemy!

Bruce Wayne: Not today... but twenty years in Gotham, Alfred... we've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?

Superman: All this time. I've been living my life the way my father saw it. Righting wrongs for a ghost. Thinking I'm here to do good. Superman was never real – just a dream of a farmer from Kansas.

Lois Lane: That farmer's dream is all some people have. It's all that gives them hope. [touches the S shield] This means something.

Superman: It did on my world. My world doesn't exist anymore.

Alfred Pennyworth: You know you can't win this. It's suicide.

Bruce Wayne: I'm older now than my father ever was. This may be the only thing I do that matters.

Alfred Pennyworth: Twenty years of fighting criminals amounts to nothing?

Bruce Wayne: Criminals are like weeds, Alfred – pull one up, another grows in its place. This is about the future of the world. It's my legacy. You know, my father sat me down right here. Told me what Wayne Manor was built on.

Alfred Pennyworth: Railroads, real estates, and oil.

Bruce Wayne: The first generation made their fortune trading with the French. Pelts and skins. They were hunters.

[Batman steps on Superman's throat and raises his Kryptonite spike to kill him]

Superman: [straining] You're... letting him... k-kill Martha...

Batman: [shocked] [lowers spear] What does that mean? Why did you say that name?

Superman: [choking] Find... him... S-save... M-Martha...

[Brief flashback to the death of Bruce's parents]

Batman: WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?! WHO'S MARTHA?! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!

Lois Lane: [runs towards them both] Clark! Stop! Please! Stop!

Batman: WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!

Lois Lane: It's his mother's name! It's his mother's name.

Lex Luthor: [sees Superman rising above the tower] Boy, do we have problems up here! [Twists his timer] The problem of … of evil in the world. The problem of absolute virtue.

Superman: I'll take you in without breaking you. Which is more than you deserve.

Lex Luthor: The problem of you on top of everything else. You above all. Ah – 'cause that's what God is. Horus. Apollo. Jehovah. Kal-El –Clark … Joseph … Kent. See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Joe. Because God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fists and abominations. Mmnnn. I've figured it out way back: if God is all powerful, he cannot be all good. And if he's all good, then he cannot be all powerful. And neither can you be. They need to see the fraud you are. With their eyes. The blood on your hands.

Superman: What have you done?

Lex Luthor: And tonight, they will. Yes. Because you, my friend, have a date! Across the bay. Ripe fruit, his hate; two years growing, but it did not take much to push him over, actually. Little red notes, big bang – "you let your family die!" And now, you will fly to him, and you will battle him...to the death. Black and Blue. Fight Night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God versus Man; Day versus Night; Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!

Superman: You think I'll fight him for you?

Lex Luthor: Mmm, yes, I do. I think you will fight, fight, fight for that special lady in your life.

Superman: She's safe on the ground. How about you?

Lex Luthor: [smugly] Close, but I am not talking about Lois. No. Every boy's special lady...is his mother. [Superman becomes stunned, as Luthor shows him pictures of Martha Kent tied up and beaten] Martha, Martha, Martha. But the mother of a flying demon must be a witch. The punishment for witches, what is that? That's right. Death by fire. [a stunned Superman drops to his knees as Luthor throws the pictures at him. Superman's eyes soon turn fiery red]

Superman: WHERE IS SHE?!

Lex Luthor: I DON'T KNOW! I would not let them tell me! Now, ah, if you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, mmm, Martha also dies. But if you kill the Bat... Martha lives. [Superman's eyes fade to normal as he bows his head down] There we go. There we go. And now God bends to my will. Now, the cameras are waiting at your ship for the world to see the holes in the holy! Yes, the almighty comes clean about how dirty he is when it counts! To save Martha, bring me the head of the Bat! [Luthor's helicopter comes to pick him up] Ah, mother of God, would you look at the time? When you came here, you had an hour. Now it's less.

Lex Luthor: I cannot let you win. I gave the Bat a fighting chance to do it, but he's not strong enough. So, if man won't kill God ... the Devil will do it! ... Ancient Kryptonian Deformity... The blood of my blood... Born to destroy you! Your Doomsday.

[Doomsday emerges to face a shocked Superman]

Lex Luthor: Now God... is good... as dead.

Wonder Woman: [as they battle Doomsday amidst ruins] Why did you bring him back to the city?

Batman: The port is abandoned. There's a weapon here that can kill it.

Superman: [landing in front of Batman] Did you find the spear?

Batman: I've been a little busy.

Wonder Woman: This thing, this creature, seems to feed on energy.

Superman: This thing is from another world. … My world.

Wonder Woman: I've killed things from other worlds before.

Superman: [curious, turning his head to Batman] Is she with you?

Batman: I thought she was with you.

Bruce Wayne: All the circuses back east – burying an empty box.

Diana Prince: They don't know how to honor him. Except as a soldier.

Bruce Wayne: I've failed him … in life. I won't fail him in death. Help me find the others like you.

Diana Prince: Perhaps they don't want to be found.

Bruce Wayne: They will. And they'll fight. We have to stand together.

Diana Prince: A hundred years ago I walked away from mankind – from a century of horrors. Man made a world where standing together is impossible.

Bruce Wayne: Men are still good. We fight. We kill. We betray one another. But we can rebuild. We can do better. We will. We have to.

[Scene of funeral ceremony and graffiti : IF YOU SEEK HIS MONUMENT LOOK AROUND YOU]

Diana Prince: The others like me. Why did you say they'll have to fight?

Bruce Wayne: Just a feeling.

[Batman is suddenly in front of an imprisoned Lex, he has a knuckleduster with a burning bat shaped brand]

Batman: Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll be watching you.

[Ultimate Edition dialogue begins]

Lex Luthor: [unfazed] Oh. Look at us. This is how it all caves in. Civilization on the Wayne Manor's... out the window. Hmm. [Lex briefly chuckles] But who would believe me? I—Ahh... I'm insane. I'm not even fit to stand trial.

Batman: That's right. We have hospitals that treat the mentally ill with compassion. [Lex giggles] But that's not where you're going. I arranged for you to get a transfer to Arkham Asylum in Gotham. I still have some friends there. They're expecting you.

[Ultimate Edition dialogue ends]

Lex Luthor: [sneers, unfazed] But the bell's already been rung. And they've heard it. Out in the dark, among the stars... ding dong, the god is dead.

[Batman grabs Lex and lashes out, but at the last second strikes the wall next to him and leaves a burning bat symbol, then is suddenly gone]

Lex Luthor: [alone in his cell] But a bell cannot be un-rung! He's hungry. He's found us. And he's coming!

Cast

• Ben Affleck – Bruce Wayne / Batman
• Henry Cavill – Clark Kent / Superman
• Amy Adams – Lois Lane
• Jesse Eisenberg – Lex Luthor
• Diane Lane – Martha Kent
• Laurence Fishburne – Perry White
• Jeremy Irons – Alfred Pennyworth
• Holly Hunter – Senator June Finch
• Gal Gadot – Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
• Tao Okamoto – Mercy Graves

See also

• Man of Steel (film)

External links

• Official website
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at Rotten Tomatoes