While it’s nice and easy to write off superhero movies as light entertainment, no one making these movie is taking them lightly. That definitely goes for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice screenwriter Chris Terrio, who is also writing Justice Leauge: Part One.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal [via The Playlist], Terrio said:

“I have written 'Justice League: Part One,' but I won’t necessarily write 'Part Two.' This has been the most rigorous intellectual exercise I’ve had in my writing life.” So what was so demanding about the film? Terrio explains, “For 'Batman v Superman,' I wanted to really dig into everything from ideas about American power to the structure of revenge tragedies to the huge canon of DC Comics to Amazon mythology. For 'Justice League,' I could be reading in the same day about red-and blueshifts in physics, Diodorus of Sicily and his account of the war between Amazons and Atlanteans, or deep-sea biology and what kind of life plausibly might be in the Mariana Trench.”

justice-league-image
Image via DC Comics

I definitely admire the amount of thought and effort that Terrio wants to put into every member of the Justice League, especially since the film won’t have the advantage of every member getting a solo feature before Part One opens in November 2017. It’s a very different playing field than we got for The Avengers, and it’s a lot of groundwork to lay for a story that he may not even finish (it’s worth noting that Justice League: Part Two isn’t due until 2019, at which point we’ll also have solo films for The Flash and Aquaman).

As to why he’s pouring so much of himself into a superhero blockbuster, Terrio said, “If you told me the most rigorous dramaturgical and intellectual product of my life would be superhero movies, I would say you were crazy. But I do think fans deserve that. I felt I owed the fan base all of my body and soul for two years because anything less wouldn’t have been appreciating the opportunity I had.”

And regardless of how we feel about these finished films, we should certainly appreciate the work that’s gone into them.

batman-superman-justice-league-movie
Image via Warner Bros.

Finally, if you’re worried that things are only going to get darker and grittier from Batman v Superman, Terrio says not to worry:

Batman v Superman is a bit of an Empire Strikes Back or Two Towers or any similar middle film in a trilogy. The middle film tends to be the darkest one. I do think from Man of Steel through Justice League, it is one saga really. I expect Justice League will be tonally not quite as dark as Batman v Superman. From that point of view, I felt compelled to go back and try to lift us and myself into a different tonal place because I think when you write a darker film, sometimes you want to redeem it all a bit."


So when you hear Batman saying that he’s going to make Superman bleed, just know that some redemption is on the way…hopefully.

For more on Batman v Superman, peruse our recent coverage below. The film stars Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Holly Hunter, and Diane Lane.  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters on March 25th.

Here’s the synopsis for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice:

Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.

batman-v-superman-saturn-awards-nomination