[user104658]

*** ENTIRE POST IS SPOILERYISH ***


Follow up thought: I'm still of the opinion that one of the main problems with the film (not for me, but critically) is that it seems to be a film with a 9-figure budget aimed squarely at DC fans. One of the main draws of the MCU films is that you can go and see one with no prior knowledge of the MCU and still enjoy it as a "blockbuster".

BvS seriously assumed a HUGE amount of prior knowledge in order to appreciate the full experience. There are a number of scenes, e.g. Bruce's alternate-future flash forwards, that straight up don't make sense at ALL in only the context of the film. To know what's going on in those you need a fairly broad knowledge of both The Flash and his abilities, and also the Injustice plotline. Without that I can only imagine you'd assume that Batman has eaten some bad shrooms.

There are a lot more examples of this, too. It feels like they've made an awesome movie for people who are widely-read on DC characters and plotlines (awesome if you are) but is obscure and offputting to someone stepping into the universe for the first time... BUT with a budget so high that it NEEDS those casual moviegoers to carry it financially.

MCU is going that way a little bit too, I don't think you could walk into Civil War (and I would imagine moreso the upcoming Infinity Wars films) without knowledge of the MCU... BUT any knowledge you need, you can get from the MCU itself. The first Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Guardians films etc you can watch completely "standalone"... it introduces things bite-sized. BvS is sort of like, "Here's your entire meal, all five courses, I'm not telling you what any of it is just ****ing eat it!".

SO... I guess I'm still of the opinion that a previous Batman film was needed (not necessarily another Origins, but a transitional film where he goes from "classic" Batman to this darker version, showing the actual death of Robin etc), plus probably WW origins and Flash origins, before BvS.