"We just don't like the idea of Batman fighting Superman" - When Zack Snyder told Joe Rogan how ratings board compromised the quality of $400M movie

Iin episode #2114 of The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) podcast, movie director Zack Snyder discussed how the ratings board compromised his film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

During a conversation lasting over two hours, Joe Rogan and Snyder discussed various topics and movies. One discussion led to the subject of ratings boards, where Snyder explained how ratings are often subjective.

The 58-year-old revealed that the board repeatedly gave Batman v Superman an R rating simply because they didn’t like the concept of Batman fighting Superman. Snyder stated:

“I remember the ratings board said, we just don't like the idea of Batman fighting Superman. I was like, what? How is that your opinion? How does that have anything to do with the rating? They kept making it an R. They kept coming back with an R for us, and we were like, what do you want us to cut out? And they were like, well, we just don’t like the idea of Batman fighting Superman. And I was like, I can’t take that out. That’s the movie.”

Furthermore, Snyder expressed his disappointment over the ratings board having such influence, emphasizing that he had to trim many scenes from the movie. However, he noted that the director’s cut better reflects his true vision. He said:

“It’s ridiculous that they would have that kind of power. So it was crazy. We really had to trim it a lot. I mean, if you see the director's cut of Batman v Superman, it's much better. In my opinion, it's a much better movie. But it's representative of what you actually wanted to create.

Check out Zack Snyder's comments below (3:34):

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Zack Snyder discussed Batman’s no-kill rule on Joe Rogan's podcast

Batman v Superman received divided opinions, with many DC fans criticizing Zack Snyder for portraying Batman more aggressively than he was supposed to be, according to the comics.

In the aforementioned episode, Snyder defended his stance, emphasizing that if Batman can't kill, it makes him irrelevant for the audience. The director said:

"People are always like, ‘Batman can’t kill.’ So Batman can’t kill is canon. And I’m like, ‘Okay, well, the first thing I want to do when you say that is I want to see what happens. And they go, ‘Well, don’t put him in a situation where he has to kill someone.’ I’m like, ‘Well, that’s just like you’re protecting your God in a weird way, right? You’re making your God irrelevant if he can't be in that situation."

Check out Zack Snyder's comments below (1:09:05):