Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is easily one of DC’s most controversial movies, and Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Part Two has managed to do the DCEU film’s “Martha” scene better eight years later. The DCEU faltered throughout its run, with major characters like Superman going missing for years, and when they were finally onscreen, more often than not, they were handled incorrectly. Among the many divisive movies in the DCEU, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was the one that tipped the scales for the franchise.
The film failed to be the resounding success that the first cinematic meeting between Batman and Superman should have been, ranking far away from the best movies in the DCEU. There were many controversial decisions in the DCEU film, ranging from Jesse Eisenberg’s hammy Lex Luthor performance to killing Henry Cavill’s Superman in only his second film and more. However, the most talked about moment of the movie is undoubtedly its big “Martha” scene, and the recently released Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Part Two finally made that line work in a neat callback.
Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Part Two is part of an ambitious trilogy of animated films that will serve as the big finale of the animated Tomorrowverse. The movie featured a callback to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s “Martha” moment, though neither Batman nor Superman were present in the scene. Instead, the moment in question featured the Green Lantern John Stewart and Pariah, the latter who was revealed to be John Constantine.
When Pariah and John Stewart were talking, the Green Lantern angrily spoke his own name, reminding Pariah of his true origin — John Constantine. This version of DC’s Hellblazer is the same as the character that was part of the DC Animated Movie Universe, with Constantine surviving the animated franchise reboot at the end of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War and becoming Pariah in the new Tomorrowverse. The “John” moment is a neat callback to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s “Martha” scene.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder’s intentions were clear, as he wanted to use the “Martha” moment to bring out Superman’s humanity and make Batman reconsider his actions, with the Man of Steel telling the Dark Knight to save his mother as he was just about to die. However, the scene came out stiff, with Superman shouting for Batman to “Save Martha!” instead of saying something more natural, like begging to save his mom.
“Martha” was only used as it was also the name of Bruce Wayne’s mom, but the context of the scene did not work at all, which made the moment one of the most joked about in DC movie history. While the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice moment was not handled greatly, the callback to it in Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Part Two was more effective. The animated movie moment made sense and led Constantine to naturally remember who he was, not stopping the film to a halt like the DCEU scene.