'Batman v Superman' Director Zack Snyder Explains Shocking Ending

Major spoilers ahead -- this is for fans who have seen the movie.

ByABC News
March 28, 2016, 11:38 AM

— -- OK, so there is going to be a huge spoiler in the story, so please, if you haven't seen "Batman v Superman" over the weekend, steer clear of this!

This is your last chance for a spoiler alert.

At the end of "Dawn of Justice," something shocking happened. Doomsday, the Kryptonian killing machine from the books, is running around Metropolis and even Gotham. The trio of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have to figure out how to stop the beast.

Only Batman has the answer, with a kryptonite spear he almost used on Superman himself earlier during their battle.

But it's Superman who picks up the spear, tells Lois he loves her and flies toward Doomsday, trying to save the city and maybe the world ... yet again.

Doomsday has his own spear, which grew out of his arm, and he spikes Kal-El through the heart. They both die. Nope, not kidding, Superman dies, much like in the comic books and the image of Lois holding him at the end is very close to one of the covers of Superman 75, the book two decades ago that saw Doomsday take out the Man of Steel.

Yet, much like in the books, Superman can't stay dead, can he? There are two Justice League movies coming and a slew of other DC films. Superman's burial at the end offers a glimmer of hope, dirt floating above his casket.

Zack Snyder spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the iconic death.

"I felt like we had to kill Superman in this movie in order for us to have been serious with the entire premise of the film,” Snyder told the magazine. “And that’s not to say that he clearly is gone forever.”

Bruce Wayne appears at Superman's burial and tells Wonder Woman he's going to unite Justice League, which was something Snyder wanted actor Ben Affleck to do on his own, without Clark Kent.

"I felt like with Superman around, it’s a different conversation when you create the Justice League, right?" he said. "It’s like, ‘Me and Superman, we want to make a Justice League.’ [Other heroes would be] like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll join!’ I just feel like Bruce Wayne having to go out and find these seven samurai by himself, that’s a lot more interesting of a premise."

"I also I felt like, without Superman, there is definitely a vulnerability to the team that they’re gonna need to figure something out, you know?"

The interview also alludes to the idea that the team may have work together to bring Kal-El back to life.

"There’s the birth, death, and resurrection thing," Snyder continued. "And when you bring him back, who knows what he is when he comes back."