Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice choreographer teases epic fight scenes

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We'll finally be able to see Batman and Superman battle it out on the big screen when BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is released next year, and in an interview with the Spanish website Los Andes Diario, choreographer Guillermo Grispo talked a little about the highly anticipated fight between the two superheroes. Grispo also says the Batman fight scenes will be better than the ones in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy.

On how he felt preparing the Batman vs Superman fights:

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 it all fell apart. 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.

On how Batman's brawls will be different compared to the Christopher Nolan movies.

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 what can Guillermo Grispo tell us about the story?

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.

On what he has to be careful about when preparing fight scenes:

A lot of things… You can come and say “well, now I want to hit against that window and I want to break it” and you’re told “No, no, stop!”, because you can’t turn the camera here or there because of the lighting, or because there isn’t a digital extension prepared for a certain point. For example, imagine a fight in Gotham exteriors: I say “well, on this scene I want an angle looking upwards when he’s kicking”, and I’m told “no, look, if you look upwards that take will cost the production $80,000 more because we will have to add the digital extension from the buildings to the clouds, so try something else because it is cheaper” (laughs).

As much as I love Nolan's Batman flicks, I do think some of the fight scenes were a little weak, and I can't wait to see him kicking all sorts of ass in the Zack Snyder film. It's been rumored the first trailer will be released next month, and hopefully it will provide us with at least a glimpse of the epic Bats vs Supes fight.

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE opens on March 25, 2016.