When Batman V Superman is released on home video later this year, there will be a special edition that’s a whopping 30 minutes longer (bringing the runtime to three hours) and it will boast an R rating, instead of the theatrical cut’s PG-13. Undoubtedly a response to Fox’s Deadpool, but people might be curious what director Zack Snyder had to cut.
So what is the real difference between the PG-13 and R versions of Batman V Superman? The heroes punch each other more. That’s about it.
“There’s a little bit of violence. It just tips the scale.” says Snyder. “It’s not a hard R.”
“The ratings board also judges their PG-13 and R ratings by what they consider to be a level of intensity and how much that intensity goes throughout the entire movie,” producer Charles Roven told Entertainment Weekly. “There are some pretty intense scenes in Batman v Superman, and if they went on longer and had that same level of intensity, that might cause the ratings board to shift their rating.”
If Batman punches Superman five times, it’s fun for all ages, but if he punches him six times, the movie becomes too dangerous to let anyone into the theater without an adult guardian. I don’t think I have to convince you the MPAA is nuts, but here’s another example.
Given this information, we can safely call the R cut of Batman V Superman a marketing trick and little more. The only other reason to watch the R cut is to see a completely deleted character, played by Jena Malone. Malone would not say publicly who her character was, only that it “wasn’t Robin or Batgirl.” A cast list was leaked by accident last week, and Malone played….Barbara Gordon. Nice try!
I'll watch the movie, but I can't believe they are fighting each other, since they are both superheroes.