The DC Extended Universe has had a fascinating life in theaters. While Warner Bros. seems to have found its footing, filmmaker Zack Snyder was the architect behind the first few installments in the shard universe. Snyder kickstarted it up with Man of Steel, before expanding the story with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The latter movie ended with Clark Kent's funeral services, after he sacrificed himself to kill Doomsday. And now Snyder has explained the seemingly cliffhanger ending involving the dirt on Clark's casket.
At the very end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Amy Adams' Lois Lane is left alone at Clark's resting place. She releases a handful of dirt on the coffin, before heading out. The camera lingers on said dirt, and some of the particles briefly float before the screen cuts to black. Many fans thought this was a tease of Superman's impending resurrection, and Zack Snyder recently clarified his director's vision, saying:
It's always been symbolic of hope and lessons learned.
Well thats interesting. Obviously ending Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with the Man of Steel's joint funeral was a bit of a bummer. But Zack Snyder wanted to leave the audience on a bit of hope, with the floating dirty allowing him to wrap up his movie with a bow. That bow just happened to inspire countless fan theories when the movie hit theaters in 2017.
Zack Snyder's peeled back the curtain on his creative process over on Vero. The visionary filmmaker regularly uses the social media account to directly communicate with the fandom, and recently answered a slew of lingering questions about his time in the DCEU. While this includes some exciting revelations about Justice League and the #SnyderCut, he also revealed some more information about his previous DC projects like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The infamous dirt moment is one that seemed to tease Superman's resurrection, with some fans thinking he would immediately emerge from the coffin. But Clark Kent stayed dead for about half of Justice League, before finally being brought back to life in order to help fight Steppenwolf. So it looks like the dirt moment was mostly metaphorical, and wasn't actually teasing the character's return.
As a reminder, you can watch the last few scenes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice below, including the infamous dirt sequence.
Despite his death, audiences were confident Henry Cavill's Superman would return for Justice League. And while the Man of Steel was noticeably absent from the first trailer and press tour, he did end up being brought back. After a brief fight with his fellow superheroes, Lois Lane was abel to bring his mind back.
The next installment in the DCEU is Wonder Woman 1984, which has its new release date on August 14th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
