Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, an American superhero film featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman, came to theaters on March 25. It is a sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel which, like the more recent movie, was written by David S. Goyer and directed by Zach Snyder. The film stars Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

The movie was announced by Snyder at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, after which the film received both negative and positive attention. Many of the negative comments were aimed at Affleck due to what some considered to be a controversial casting choice. Some viewers worried that Affleck would have trouble acting the part, since he has never played Batman or any superhero role before. “I totally predicted this,” freshman Rowan Meltmar said. “When I first heard the cast, I wasn’t impressed, but it still is sad now to have my speculation confirmed.”

When the movie came out, many critics felt expressed disdain and skeptics were proven right. The movie received a 28 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and was slammed by reviewers. As an example, Entertainment Weekly said, “It’s overstuffed, confusing, and seriously crippled by Eisenberg’s over-the-top performance,” while The Washington Post called it, “Scattered, annoying and joyless.” While most agreed with the dissatisfaction, some viewers were surprised at the negativity. “I saw the movie because I love superhero movies, and I know it’s not the most popular genre, so I understand the bad reviews,” freshman Clemens Finger said. “I really don’t understand all the outrage, though. It was a good superhero movie. You have to at least give it that.”

Despite its awful reviews, the movie was a box office smash, grossing $170.1 million on the opening weekend. It was the biggest March opening weekend ever, the largest Easter opening and the largest Warner Brothers domestic release. Even though many panning reviews had already been read, people still flocked to theaters. “I guess people just wanted to see it to see how bad it is,” sophomore Annabelle Bailey said. “At least I know I won’t be seeing it.”

Despite the box office records the first weekend, the amount grossed dropped 69 percent in the second weekend. The drop in sales was largely contributed to by the influx of reviews calling the movie was subpar. Most big blockbusters fall at least 50% in their second weekend of release, but this movie fell a much larger amount. With this drop there also came a loss of respect from film critics as well as true fans. Comic book lovers have not wasted any chances to woe the wasted potential of this film. “I was really looking forward to this one,” freshman Sam Sharp said. “I don’t want to say it was horrible, but I was looking for something more. I really wish I’d set my expectations lower because this just wasn’t that good.”