Chris Terrio has finally broken his silence about the script changes to both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League and revealed why he hates the title of the former film.
Terrio spoke to Vanity Fair about seeing his script for Justice League finally realized with Zack Snyder's cut and detailed just how much his versions of that film and its predecessor changed from what he turned in to what showed up on the big screen. For Batman v Superman, not only was a major chunk of his script rewrite removed from the final version, but he didn't even get a say in the clunky title.
"I wrote drafts of the Batman/Superman movie, which wasn’t called Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice by me," Terrio said. "I did not name the script. In fact, I found out what the movie was called along with the rest of the world on the internet. I was not consulted on the title of the film, and I was as surprised as anyone. I would not have named it Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
"I don’t know exactly who named it, but I suspect it was the studio and I suspect it was marketing, to be honest with you," Terrio continued. "It might have been the first step toward creating ill will for the film. I suspect that putting the words “Batman” and “Superman” into the title had some marketing component to it."
While it's not uncommon for the studio to name a tentpole film, Terrio (along with plenty of others) was not a fan of the final result, likening it to a professional wrestling match as opposed to the story he set out to tackle.
"I heard it and I thought, it just sounds self-important and clueless in a way. Tone-deaf," Terrio said. "The intention of the film was to do something interesting and dark and complex, not quite as Las Vegas, bust ’em up, WWE match as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
Snyder's director's cut of Batman v Superman restored much of what the Argo writer originally intended -- even if the name remained the same. Similarly, he said he felt vindicated by the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League. "Justice League, the Zack Snyder version, is the only script other than Argo that I have a sole writer credit on," Terrio said. I really did develop this. So I can stand by this version, love it or hate it."
Source: Vanity Fair