Diane Lane Defends Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ‘Martha’ Scene

Batman v Superman audiences were pretty disappointed by the scene that saw Batman and Superman put aside their differences, but Diane Lane defends it.

There were more than a couple things wrong with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Boom. That’s out of the way.

But fans seem to be most disappointed with how quickly Batman and Superman were able to put aside their differences and how quickly the change was triggered. To refresh anyone’s memory, the first two hours of the film saw Batman and Superman’s conflicting ideals lead them to a final confrontation orchestrated by Lex Luthor. Just as Batman was about to stick a kryptonite spear in Superman’s eye, Superman started to call out for Martha. And because their mothers both have the same name, balance is restored to the Force.

(My biggest issue is that he didn’t refer to her as his mom. “They’re going to kill my mom” sounds more realistic than “save Martha.” If someone captured my mom, I wouldn’t say “Go save Judy,” because they’d be like, “Wait, who’s Judy?” Luckily, Lois was there to explain.)

Now, Diane Lane, who plays Clark Kent’s mother and one of the aforementioned Marthas, however, thought it made sense. Further, she thought it was “appropriate” for the story.

As she explained:

"“It’s the compassion for a man who’s lost his mother. When you understand the wound, you can work better with people.”"

Of course, as soon as Batman hears the name, he’s reminded of his own mother and realizes that Superman isn’t just an all-powerful alien but someone’s son. He had parents, he came from somewhere. The scene was meant to humanize him and give them both common ground. Unfortunately, some people just didn’t like it.

For the most part, the issue isn’t the Martha twist. It’s that suddenly Batman forgot everything that happened to his employees and decided he owed his life to Superman without really conveying that to the audience. The exposition of the film was rooted in the ‘versus’ portion and just threw everything else off.

Related Story: New Wonder Woman Concept Art Shows No Man’s Land

To offset that, I would’ve loved to see flashbacks to Bruce’s childhood when his mother was alive instead of showing his parent’s deaths yet again.

Justice League opens in theaters on Nov. 17.