It’s not often that the internet turns a complete 180 in such a short period of time, but that is exactly what fans and critics alike have done with the newly released “Batman V Superman Ultimate Edition.”

It was only a few months prior during February that, after a two year hype train, audiences finally got to see, “the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world,” as Lex Luther puts it. Batman versus Superman. The film directed by Zach Snyder who also directed the films controversial predecessor “Man of Steel”, was initially received with…staggered responses. Fans seemed to positively accept the film despite citing its flaws. Critics such as those from Rotten Tomatoes however were much less impressed in the film that they collectively cited as being a rushed and messy attempt to catch up with the more established and more successful Marvel studios line of superhero films. The film holds an embarrassing 27% rating from critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website; making it the lowest rated superhero film since the renaissance of comic book movies. This quickly took influence over potential movie goers and despite “Batman v Superman’s” record breaking opening weekend, the film’s box office income quickly dropped off the following weeks to come.

As the months went on even the fans began to turn on the film and especially its’ director Zach Snyder. As “Justice League” began production petitions began to surface calling for the removal of Zach Snyder from the director’s chair. Warner Bros responded by placing DC Comics Chief Geoff John’s in charge of all DC Films projects from then out, although Zach remains director and executive producer of JL.

Now fast forward to the present. “Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition” has been released on digital download. Aside from over two hours of bonus features the film also includes over 30 minutes of additional footage not shown in theaters. Though the theatrical release was poorly received many have still gone to their media platforms to buy the digital copy. The response? Overwhelmingly positive! Though the film is still not perfect, critics and fans have almost completely turn tabled their original opinions of “Batman v Superman.” Having seen the original film and the extended cut, I can personally attest that there is a great deal of improvement in how the story unfolds and develops. Characters motivations are more fleshed out, the timing and delivery of events seems more natural, and much of the confusion from the theatrical release is cleared up. This version is actually so much better that it is being requested by many fans that Rotten Tomatoes create a separate review page for the Ultimate Edition.

So if this version is so good then why was this not shown in theaters instead of the ham fisted version that we received? Well in a recent interview, Zach Snyder revealed that the three hour long cut was his original vision for the film and the one intended for theaters. Warner Bro’s however felt that a three hour long superhero film was too big a pill for audiences to swallow. They [Warner Bros] instructed Zach to cut the film down to the standard 2.5 hour run time. Zach Snyder complied and we all know the result.

Now that audiences have had a taste of Zach’s true vision many have taken to the internet to issue him a formal apology for holding him responsible for what was a studio decision. Some have even demanded that Warner Bro’s follow suit and apologize to the director and allow his vision to flourish in the much more anticipated “Justice League” film. It would appear that Zach is back!