Confusing Plot Holes In Batman V Superman

Critical consensus on Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman hasn't been too kind to the superhero slugfest, and there's a pretty big reason why: it's got more plot holes than you can shake a Kryptonite spear at. Where Man of Steel had very little plot to speak of, Batman v Superman had about six or seven, all with varying degrees of importance or payoff. That makes it hard to figure out what's a plot hole and what's just a tease for a movie that hasn't been made yet.

Still, here are some of the Doomsday-sized logic gaps we found in Dawn of Justice. There may be more, but these are the big'uns we couldn't really figure out. Major spoilers ahead...

Early in the film, Lex Luthor reveals that Kryptonite can damage Kryptonian cells. He proves this by showing a video of scientists slicing through the dead body of General Zod with it. Then, he asks for the government to turn Zod's body over to him so he can do tests. So...if the government had Zod's body, how did Luthor do those tests? Or, if Luthor already had Zod's body, why did he need the government's permission to take it? This is confusing. Help?

Right before the film's title bout between Batman and Superman, Lex reveals that he's kidnapped Martha Kent, and that he's manipulated Batman into fighting Superman. But how does he time the kidnapping of Martha to line up with when Batman planned to call Superman out with the bat-signal in Gotham City? Luthor is smart, but he can't be that smart.

And another thing! Do we ever find out how Luthor figures out Superman's secret identity? Or is he just, like, "I'm way smart, you guys"? When the villain learns the hero's secret identity, that's generally a pretty huge moment. In Batman v Superman, it seems kind of like an afterthought.

When Superman goes to testify before the senate around the middle of the movie, he isn't able to get a word out before the whole building explodes, killing everybody except him. After this, he kind of bails on Metropolis and climbs a mountain, while the media wonders where he's gone, and whether he's to blame. But this plot is never picked up again. It's kind of ironic that the senate hearings designed to pick up the dangling plot of Metropolis's destruction from Man of Steel are, likewise, completely destroyed and then forgotten about.

When Batman figures out that Luthor's got the Kryptonite on a ship coming into Gotham's harbor, he's there, ready for action. He shoots a bat-tracker onto the back of the truck, presumably so he can swoop into Luthor's stronghold under the cover of night and steal the green stuff. But then he just gets in the Batmobile and engages in a high-speed pursuit in the streets of Gotham, which leads to explosions, wanton property destruction, and what has to be numerous deaths. So after Superman confronts Batman and ends the chase...Batman swoops into Luthor's stronghold under the cover of night and steals the green stuff.

And when we see the tracker on the back of the truck, it's hanging on by a shred of metal, meaning that the chase almost dislodged it. What was the point of the chase, then? Other than providing a cool action scene that could culminate in the first confrontation between Batman and Superman, that is.

It's clear that Lex Luthor is totally cuckoo-bananas in Batman v Superman. But he still seems to generally know what he's doing, and why. The big problem, of course, is that the audience isn't really in on his plan. At all. We know he wants Batman and Superman to fight, and perhaps he even knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman (but, again, how?). He also seems surprised when he hears that Batman has saved Martha Kent, so clearly he planned on one of them to die. Assuming this would have happened, he still had his Doomsday monster to unleash on the world. But...why? What would the monster have accomplished if either of the still-living heroes hadn't stopped it? Was he able to control the monster because it was created using some of his blood? Even if he could...where does a giant rock monster thing fit in to his plans? What is his plan beyond getting one of the super-dudes killed? Does it have to do with Darkseid? Or is it just lazy writing? So hard to tell...

Luthor lures Superman back to Metropolis by pushing Lois Lane off a building. The last time we saw Superman, he was hiking around the snowy mountains, talking to the ghost of his dead Earth-dad. So either: Superman was already back in Metropolis and he heard Lois fall, and saved her, or he was way the heck out in the mountains and heard her from there. In either case, Superman definitely has super hearing, right?

Wrong! Because if he did, he probably would've been able to tell that his mom was being held right across the water in Gotham City. So it begs the question: how super are Superman's senses? Super enough to catch Lois Lane anywhere, anytime, but not so super that he'd be able to rescue his mom who's being held in a building across the bay?

Batman wants to kill Superman, because he thinks Superman is a threat to humanity. He is 100 percent sure about this, and has shot at him, blasted him with sonic waves, shot him with Kryptonite gas bullets (twice!), swung him around from a rope and bashed him into giant pillars, and even smashed his head in with a sink. He's just about to literally kill him in the face with a giant Kryptonite spear until he finds out that Superman has a mom, and that her name is Martha, just like his mom, and that she is in some deep trouble.

And that's it. That's all it takes to convince Batman that Superman is 100 percent on the level and is totally a good guy. For starters, couldn't Superman have made more of an effort to get this point across a little sooner? But ignoring that, how does Batman do an about-face that quickly and with that much certainty?

Alright, so Batman and Superman are fighting Doomsday, right? And Batman realizes that the Kryptonite spear (that he casually threw on the ground in Gotham City) is the key to beating the monster. So his plan is to lure Doomsday back to Gotham City so he can get the spear and kill him. But...like...that's not a great plan, is it? Let's discuss.

First, Batman is mad at Superman because Metropolis is destroyed in a fight with Zod in Man of Steel. This is the main motivation for his anti-Superman shenanigans throughout the movie. But the first chance he gets, he wants to lure a gigantic bone-monster to his city? Just so it's near a spear? Wouldn't it have made more sense to get the spear and bring it to the monster?

Second, at one point we see Batman give control of the Batwing over to Alfred, who flies it remotely. If this is one of their routine moves, why not let Alfred fly the Batwing and attack Doomsday while he gets the spear? Or why not send the Batwing to get the spear while he fights Doomsday?

Oh, it's probably because this way Superman could get it and valiantly die in battle with Doomsday. Right, got it. Carry on.