Before moving forward with Batman v Superman, director Zack Snyder asked for Christopher Nolan's approval to essentially make Batman a villain in Dawn of Justice.

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Snyder recalled his discussion with The Dark Knight trilogy director in an interview Empire , saying he told Nolan: "You tell me if you don’t want me to do it." After a few moments of silence, Nolan replied: "Well, we don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will [make them]."Snyder went on to say he thinks Nolan "found it a little bit hard," admitting he "would feel the same way." That said, the director moved forward with his plan to pit the Superman and Batman against one another, aiming to create an intimate conflict between the two. "In a lot of ways Batman v Superman is a very personal concept," he added. "It is just two people trying to understand each other’s point of view." Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens March 25, 2016. According to producer Charles Roven, Ben Affleck's Batman will be " more than a vigilante ." In fact, he went so far as to liken the Caped Crusader to an "executioner."

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and subscribe to him on YouTube