If there’s one film apart from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel that has divided critics and audiences alike, it’s his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Over the years since its release, the film has been dissected with people having varying opinions regarding its plot, character execution, and the climactic fight between the two titular characters.

Many think that the actual fight between Batman and Superman was short and poorly executed. Audiences apparently wanted to see more of the action but it was over too quickly and then in a blink of an eye they became allies to fight Doomsday. However, according to the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), that fight scene in itself was unnecessary.

Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman Faced Trouble Getting A PG-13 Certificate 

Zack Snyder

At the 2023 SnyderCon, Zack Snyder revealed various details regarding his DC trilogy- Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. A lot of his words have riled up social media, especially his comments about people not understanding Dawn of Justice. But there’s one instance where even his staunchest haters will have to take a stand with him.

Zack Snyder and Ben Affleck bts of Batman v Superman

Batman v Superman’s VFX supervisor John Des Jardin explained how much trouble they were having to get a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. He addressed Zack Snyder and said,

“Remember when you kept coming back to me, saying… ‘ The MPAA wants us to take… remember, we couldn’t do the blood splat on the wall for the crate? … But we kept taking all those things out, and it was still getting an R-rating.” 

But why was the MPAA being so hard on Snyder’s team? The organization sent a note to Snyder clarifying their intentions and shocking everyone involved in making the film. As per Jardin, the note said, “‘Well, we just think that Batman’s too mean to Superman.’ And we were like, ’Can you really comment on that?’” This feedback made Snyder push back against the revered rating body since he was baffled by this decision.

The MPAA’s Objection About Batman v Superman Made Zack Snyder Crazy 

Shot from Batman v Superman

Zack Snyder was stunned at the comment he got from MPAA about the film. So he hit back at them and said,

“I didn’t think that was in your domain to just not like the idea of them fighting and so now it’s R… They were just like, ‘We think it’s rude that they’re fighting.’ And I was like, ‘I’m sorry, it’s in the title…’ ‘Yeah, this is an NC-17. This is an X.’”

But the rating organization didn’t back down. They wanted Snyder to completely cut out the parts where the two superheroes go head-to-head.

Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill bts of Batman v Superman

The director quoted MPAA saying,

“Is there any way you can cut them fighting? How about they just team up and like each other?’ How about that? … Maybe, they like, argue at the first act, but then they shake hands, and then like they fight the bad guy together.’”

Snyder replied saying that the two heroes did team up to fight Doomsday at the end. But they weren’t convinced. The MPAA said, “well, there’s a lot of fighting before that.” 

Eventually, the two parties must have sorted out the issue because Batman and Superman did fight in the film and it did get the desired PG-13 rating as well. Even though the movie is divisive, it still grossed a cool $872 million at the box office. However, now, Snyder’s DCEU era is at an end and James Gunn’s DCU will take flight with Superman: Legacy in 2025.