Man of Tomorrow: A Man of Steel and Batman V Superman FanEdit

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9.3 (30)
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Faneditor Name:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2013 / 2016
Original Running Time:
326
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
153
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Brief Synopsis:
'Man of Tomorrow' is a narrative experiment that combines Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman into one film. The goal was to use material from both films to form a single, feature-length, 3-act structure that focuses on Superman.
Intention:
Like many, I was less-than-enamored with Batman V. Superman. The Ultimate Edition was much more coherent, but it was fundamentally the same film. This was a very dark story about Batman wanting to kill Superman… and Superman being kind of a dick most of the time. And while I wasn’t a huge fan of Man of Steel either, I did think it had some pretty great Superman moments, which BvS lacked. I decided to try to combine material from both films, focusing on their strengths and streamlining the narrative to the rise and fall of Superman.

Since I started with Man of Steel (2.2 hrs) and Batman V. Superman: Ultimate Edition (3 hrs), keeping the running-time down to 2.5 hours was no small task. A lot of plot wasn’t used (most of the Krypton sequence, the Smallville fight, the Africa subplot, the jar of pee…), but because the major threads that lead to the 3rd act of Batman V. Superman came directly from the battle in Metropolis (the crashed Kryptonian ship, the Kryptonite from the world engine, Batman’s distrust of Superman’s power) I chose to hone in on those story points as the core of the narrative for Man of Tomorrow. Several scenes were reordered or reworked to fit the new narrative structure and better weave the material from the the two films together. For example: Batman/Bruce Wayne is introduced in the 1st act, Superman doesn’t put on his suit until Zod appears, Lex Luthor interacts with the Kryptonian ship earlier, the dour shots of Superman’s heroism from BvS are used much more optimistically, and the flashback to Pa Kent’s death is utilized very differently, just to name a few changes to the structure.
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Release Information:
Digital
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User reviews

30 reviews
 
73%
 
27%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.4(30)
Audio Editing
 
9.3(30)
Visual Editing
 
9.5(30)
Narrative
 
8.9(30)
Enjoyment
 
9.1(30)
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Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Wow, just wow!
I somewhat liked MOS, I tolerated BVS, but this one takes both and combines them into a masterpiece! A treat from start to finish! Now, nothing is perfect, and few places could certainly have been better, such as Zod's death or Superman's bat-mobile chase. I would also love it if the editor brought down the green tint both movies were loaded with, to make the colors and Superman's costume pop more in a perhaps newer version.
All in all, definitely one of my favorite fan edits out there! Hats off to the editor, he killed it!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
S
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
"Man of Steel" is a decent movie. "Batman v Superman" is a terrible movie with a few fantastic scenes. Both movies have tons of potential buried beneath layers of mediocrity. As a lifelong fan of DC Comics, and someone who can appreciate Zack Snyder's vision despite the botched execution, I've long searched for a fan-edit that can chisel "Batman v Superman" into the gripping melodrama it should've been. To my joyous surprise, this fan-edit not only resuscitates "Batman v Superman", but also dramatically improves "Man of Steel", all within a reasonable runtime. I would not have thought this feat possible, but Job Willins has proven me delightfully wrong.

Pros:
Theatrical-Quality Editing (Mostly)
- I noticed only three glaring issues, mentioned in the "Cons" section.
No Dramatic Recharacterization
- Too many fan-edits of "Batman v Superman" try to force Snyder's interpretations of these characters to match their comic book counterparts. In the edits I've seen, this has never been done effectively. For example, you can't force Snyder's Batman not to kill without making severe and awkward cuts to Snyder's gorgeous action sequences. In my opinion, it's far better to recognize that this is simply a reinterpretation of the character, and live with that. This edit does exactly this, with one notable exception...
Superman
- Snyder really messed up Superman. Thankfully, Job Willins was able to correct most of these missteps with only a few subtle tweaks. Pa Kent doesn't indoctrinate Clark with weird Objectivist philosophy, and as a result, Superman doesn't feel bad about helping people. Superman accidentally kills Zod, but doesn't snap his neck like an executioner. These changes, although small, make a huge difference in aggregate. Now when Superman tells Lois that "No one stays good in this world", it feels out-of-character, and emphasizes just how low Luthor has brought him. This makes his eventual redemption all the sweeter.
Translocated Flashbacks
- A handful of flashbacks from "Man of Steel" were moved to "Batman v Superman" for dramatic effect. This was a masterstroke by Job Willins, and gave certain scenes even more emotional weight.
Wonder Woman
- Diana Prince has a significantly reduced presence throughout the film, making the Wonder Woman reveal much more impactful. As a bonus, the "I thought she was with you" joke finally makes sense, since Batman doesn't send her e-mails in this edit. (A minor detail, to be sure, but nonetheless appreciated.)
Limited Sequel-Bait
- Like most fan-edits of "Batman v Superman", "Man of Tomorrow" removes most "Justice League" sequel bait. However, it is not excised entirely, meaning this film can still serve as a prelude to the Snyder Cut.

Cons:
(Disclaimer: These are the only three edits that took me out of the film. The degree of care and expertise Job Willins exhibited throughout the remainder of the film makes me suspect these particular scenes couldn't possibly have been edited better, given the source material.)
Zod's Death
- The edit to remove Zod's infamous neck-snapping was jarring, largely due to the harsh cut-off of Hans Zimmer's swelling orchestral score.
Bruce Wayne's Introduction
- Bruce appears to have woken up, gazed out the window, and changed from sweats to a full suit in the time it took Alfred to even begin taking off his own coat.
Batmobile Chase
- The start of the Batmobile chase is too sudden, the henchmen's truck is inexplicably mangled, and the music is all over the place.

In conclusion, this is my go-to version of both "Man of Steel" AND "Batman v Superman", miraculously surpassing both original films at once. Job Willins is truly a master of his craft, and I look forward to exploring more of his work in the near future.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 2 0
Overall rating
 
8.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
Another great edit from Job Willins,

My few downsides are : - Somes rough music cuts from 100 to 0 a bit too often for my taste. Can leave the impression that something is missing, like a weird jump cut, it's rare but there.
- Music choice during the Metropolis battle don't really convey the right emotion I find, too heroic and epic, especially during Wayne's scenes. I'm guessing it would have been too hard from an editing standpoint to be able to align everything. Nothing major though, Zimmer fatigue in general I guess.
- Batmobile cuts are a bit much. Too little screentime to be a real scene, and yet too much to be ignored. Rare moment in the whole edit where that made me tick.

Other than that, and considering the material you had to work with (two pretty mediocre movies), the result is really solid. Great pacing, flashbacks add a real value, and structurally it works great.

It's not "Paradise" level but still. A fine edit.
Thanks again for all the hard work trying to save all those average movies (and succeeding).


User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: December 30, 2022)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This fanedit chronicles the TRAJEDY of superman's rise and fall, woven into a single film that combined the best of both movies. I personally loved the sci-fi tone of the original Man of Steel and this film feels like an extended cut of that movie. The source material is from two separate films, so it's impossible to merry them perfectly, but I know who wonder woman and batman are so I didn't need their backstory to understand why they would fight against doomsday together. Some of my favorite edits made by JobWillins started as early as the intro credit scenes... how amazing to splice in all of krypton's backstory as a silent backdrop to the credits! They had to cut many minutes of film for a combo to work, and this choice was epic and helped set the tone for the rest of the film.

What I would do differently (if i had JobWillins' skills):
I would probably delete ALL of lex luther's scenes. Jesse Eisnenberg is great, but they didn't give him a lex luther role to be fair. The jolly rancher scene is cringey and epitomizes why this luther was a poorly written "prodigy man-child billionaire" trope. Not my luther! Easy enough to have batman still collect kryptonite because he is known to create contingency plans against JL superheroes, but it might complicate how doomsday is created... it could be done. Wouldn't miss him lol.

Another thing to consider is concluding this tragedy with superman's rebirth. I feel like including this part of the tale would make it more complete, but would significantly change the climax tone.. Could cut out most of the drama of superman discovering who he is... briefly battling the others until coming to his senses... that would be a nice 15-30min completion to this tale, imo. But I respect JobWillins decision to keep this story a TRAJEDY... it was powerfully told :)

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
M
1 reviews
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(Updated: October 29, 2022)
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I enjoyed both films and re-watched them multiple times, but this was a great and cohesive film combining both into a single story.

The audio/visual editing was fantastic, just a few minor audio issues, most notable for me when Lex first activates the Kryptonian A.I.: you couldn't hear the A.I.'s voice at all.

The narrative was amazing and the use of flashbacks was chef's kiss, and though some favorite sequences were lost from both films (the Smallville battle, Diana and Bruce flirting over the data drive, the Justice League cameos) it served the streamlined storytelling of a single film.

My biggest gripes were that the editing Zod's of death made no sense, the Batmobile sequence was blink- and-you'll-miss-it and omitting Batman's "Do you bleed?" line was completely unnecessary.

Overall, a very solid 9 out 10 for me. Highly recommend.

User Review

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Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B
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