Ah, yes. The big fight. Ever since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was announced (well, it was Batman vs Superman back then), fans have gathered around proverbial water coolers around the web to discuss how it would it wall play out. What happens when a mortal martial artist meets a demigod that loves punching things for a spirited round of fisticuffs? Will it be the central battle of the film? Will it be a short, fan service-y sequence that mainly acts as a build-up to other, greater developments?

Director Zack Snyder turned to his longtime fight choreographer, Guillermo Grispo, to put together the fights for Batman v Superman. The Argentinian recently sat down with the Los Andes Diario’s Estilo section to shed some light on what drew him to the project, and how he approached putting together one of the most anticipated fights ever to appear on film. 

When asked what it was like to prepare the fights for Batman v Superman, Grispo reveals that this was his second chance to stage a battle for his favorite character- The Dark Knight:

“I was fascinated. I’m telling you, for me, I like both of the characters, but Batman I really love. In 2007 I almost worked on the second part of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, but ultimately questions about the contract were not resolved and my world collapsed. Luckily, afterwards, Zack brought Batman into this project, making it an origin of the Justice League. Which means being in charge of the entire franchise and all the sequels that will be Zack’s next projects.”

After raving about getting the opportunity to work with Snyder again (he also worked on 300, Sucker Punch, and Man of Steel), saying “Zack is the biggest name in action films,” he goes into better detail about what we should expect.

“Look, at Warner Bros., they are very strict, so I can’t say much, but it’s no surprise if I say Batman and Superman come face-to-face in the movie. It’s one of the most important sequences and I was actively involved in the design of the fight: the exchange of punches and the physical movement were put together with my partner Ryan Watson.

There’s a thought that Batman has no chance, that the other [Superman] will squash him like a bug. But when you see the movie, and how it all comes out, there’s a very intelligent explanation as to why they would have a firsthand confrontation though it seems to be totally to Batman’s disadvantage.”

Hmmm…looks like that last part there is the single biggest nugget to come out of that interview. As many have suspected, something’s going to be done to “even the playing field,” so to speak. Some think it will be the introduction of kryptonite. Others hypothesize that Batman was able to work out something using Zod’s left over armor and other Kryptonian tech left strewn about during the Battle of Metropolis in Man of Steel that createsthe effect we saw in that film where Superman’s powers are neutralized while on Zod’s ship. Regardless, Grispo’s comments strongly imply that Batman will not be squaring off against a full-powered Superman.

Grispo also reveals that we’re going to see good ol’ Bats fight in an exciting, new way compared to other cinematic portrayals of the character:

“Now Batman is going to fight the way I’ve always dreamed seeing him fight… he’s a character so prepared in martial arts that you can do a lot of things with him, but filmmakers usually don’t go all the way with it. Even in the last Nolan movies the action scenes aren’t very good from a technical, martial arts point of view to things like choreography, filming, bad camera movements…

But hey, don’t get me wrong, Nolan is great, my hats off to him. He makes fascinating stories, but I think that he did not pay too much attention to the fights. Those are the kind of details that Zack, being so physical himself, loves preparing. I think there’s going to be a big difference when you see these Batman fights in comparison to the previous ones.”

So this doesn’t answer all of the questions, but we now have some of our first insight into the fight- directly from the man who put it together.

What do you think?

SOURCE: Los Andes Diario