It was the fight of the century. Or at least, that’s how the marketing team at Warner Bros. sold it back in 2016. You remember the trailers. Heavy rain. Glowing eyes. A grizzled Ben Affleck asking a hovering Henry Cavill if he bleeds. The hype was, frankly, exhausting.
But then the movie actually came out.
The superman vs batman rating didn't just stumble; it fell off a cliff. Critics absolutely tore it apart. Fans, meanwhile, were stuck in this weird limbo where half of them thought it was a misunderstood masterpiece and the other half felt like their childhood had been mugged in an alley. It’s been years, and we’re still arguing about it. Why? Because the numbers tell a story of a movie that was essentially two different films depending on who you asked.
The Brutal Numbers: Critics vs. The Rest of Us
If you look at the aggregate scores today, they're still kinda painful to look at. On Rotten Tomatoes, the professional critic score for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice sits at a dismal 27%. That is "certified rotten" territory. It’s the kind of score usually reserved for low-budget horror sequels or comedies that forget to include jokes.
Critics weren't just being mean for the sake of it. They hated the "grimdark" tone. They hated that Superman barely talked (he only has about 42 lines of dialogue in the entire theatrical cut). They especially hated the "Martha" scene, which has since become the internet’s favorite punching bag.
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But check out the audience side.
The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is significantly higher, hovering around 63%. Over on IMDb, it holds a 6.5/10. That’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a "yeah, I’d watch that on a Sunday afternoon" rating. This massive gap—the "Snyder Divide"—is where the real conversation happens.
The Breakdown of the Scores
- Rotten Tomatoes (Critics): 27%
- Rotten Tomatoes (Audience): 63%
- Metacritic: 44 (Mixed or Average)
- CinemaScore: B (Which, for a superhero blockbuster, is actually a bit low)
A "B" CinemaScore sounds okay, right? Not really. In the world of $250 million tentpole movies, a "B" is usually a warning sign. Most Marvel movies land in the A range. A "B" means the casual audience walked out of the theater feeling... confused. Or maybe just tired.
Why the Rating Tanked (And Why Some Fans Didn't Care)
Honestly, the theatrical cut was a bit of a mess. Warner Bros. hacked 30 minutes out of Zack Snyder’s original vision to keep the runtime under two and a half hours. The result? A plot that felt like it was missing its connective tissue.
Characters would show up in places with no explanation. Lex Luthor’s plan seemed nonsensical. If you were a casual fan who just wanted to see a fun superhero brawl, you were met with a 150-minute political thriller about the ethics of power and the trauma of orphans. It was heavy.
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Then came the Ultimate Edition.
This is where the superman vs batman rating conversation gets complicated. The R-rated extended cut added those 30 minutes back in. Suddenly, the African subplot made sense. Clark Kent actually did some reporting. The pacing felt like a real movie instead of a series of music videos stitched together. If the Ultimate Edition had been the one in theaters, we might be looking at a 50% or 60% critic score today.
The Box Office Paradox
You’d think a 27% rating would mean the movie flopped. Nope. It made $873.6 million worldwide.
But here is the catch: it should have made over a billion. It had the biggest Friday-to-Sunday drop in superhero history at the time (nearly 69% in its second weekend). That tells you everything you need to know about "word of mouth." People showed up for the brand, but they didn't come back for a second viewing.
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What This Means for You Now
If you’re looking at the superman vs batman rating because you’re deciding whether to finally watch it, ignore the 27%. But also, ignore the die-hard fans who say it’s flawless.
The truth is in the middle. It is a visually stunning, deeply cynical, and often frustrated take on these characters. It’s an "anti-superhero" movie.
Here is the move: Skip the theatrical version entirely. It’s an inferior product. If you want to see what the fuss is about, watch the Ultimate Edition. It won't turn a hater into a lover, but it at least presents a coherent story.
Check the ratings on Letterboxd if you want a more modern, nuanced take from younger film nerds; you’ll find the score there has actually been creeping up over the last few years as people move past the initial 2016 anger.
Next time you're browsing Max or your 4K shelf, look for the version with the black-and-silver cover. That’s the one that actually earns its place in the conversation.