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

"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.

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).

There were always at least parts I liked from each of these movies. This fan edit brings the best out of both nicely. However, there is a little bit too much chopped out at times. We are just supposed to believe the relationship between Lois and Clark even though it's never seen developing in the first place. Both Zod's and Lex's build ups are essentially cut, making the threat escalate rapidly twice in the movie. I mean, that's probably to be expected in this instance. All in all, certainly a better experience than sitting through both Man of Steel and Batman V Superman.

This was, by far, the BEST version of this Narrative I've seen. I put it right up there with the "No Justice" fanedit. This edit reminds me why I loved Zack Snyder's Superman. Well Done Sir.

This edit is a lot of fun. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the original movies, but this is a great version that gets to the heart of the action. It's a non-stop ride and the narrative is surprisingly kept tight. I was disappointed with the audio being only 2.0 stereo - an action flick like this can really shine with a full 5.1 soundtrack - and I felt the Batman v Superman footage was slightly lesser quality than the Man of Steel footage. Other than that, it's edited very well and I would recommend this to any fan of the originals.