by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

So Batman as a character has some major rules that he doesn’t break. Chief among them are that he doesn’t use guns and that he doesn’t kill. The original iteration back when he debuted in 1939 broke both of those rules, but for the most part, since the middle of the Golden Age of comics, the Dark Knight does not take a life.

Until now.

Charles Roven, one of the producers of the upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, talked to Empire about why Batman seems so angry in the trailers and TV spots that we’ve been seeing:

[Batman] is not giving people a chance. He is more than a vigilante. He has become not only the cop, if you will, he has also become the jury and the executioner. He’s older and he’s seen the worst of what man can do. He’s been darkened by it, he’s tougher, he’s angrier I guess. He’s still lost those that are near and dear to him and not necessarily from old age or disease.

So Batman kills the bad guys? First Superman killed Zod in Man of Steel (which I was thoroughly enjoying up until that part) and now we have to deal with Batman whacking bad guys left and right? I could see him being a little rougher thanks to what would appear to be a dead sidekick memorial (from the trailer), but killing? To be fair, he has killed in other films, but this quote makes it sound much more cavalier than the killing that’s taken place in other Batman films. I’d say Burton’s Batman was the most liberal with doling out death sentences while Nolan went out of his way to explain why Batman didn’t take lives in Batman Begins.

I’ve been looking forward to Ben Affleck as Batman for some time now, but I’m finding harder and harder to have faith in this film with each and every passing day.

I’ll pass judgment when I see the finished product on March 25. Until then take a look at Empires newest hi-res images…