document_title: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

question_text: who won in the batman vs. superman movie

text: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

text: Plot[edit]

text: Eighteen months after the battle between Superman and General Zod in Metropolis, Superman has become a controversial figure. Billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has operated in Gotham City as the vigilante Batman for two decades, sees Superman as a potential threat to humanity. After learning of Batman's form of justice, Clark Kent seeks to expose Batman via Daily Planet articles. Wayne learns that Russian weapon trafficker Anatoli Knyazev has been contacting LexCorp mogul Lex Luthor. Meanwhile, Luthor unsuccessfully tries to persuade Senator June Finch to allow him to import kryptonite retrieved from the Indian Ocean following Zod's terraforming attempt, claiming he wants to maintain it as a "deterrent" against future Kryptonian invasions. He instead makes alternative plans with Finch's subordinate and gains access to Zod's body and the Kryptonian scout ship.

text: Bruce attends a gala at LexCorp to steal encrypted data from the company's mainframe, but has it taken from him by an antiquities dealer named Diana Prince; she eventually returns it to Bruce. While decrypting the drive, Bruce dreams of a post-apocalyptic world, where he leads a group of rebels against a fascist Superman. He is awoken from his vision by an unidentified person who warns him of Lois Lane's crucial role in the future, and urges him to find "the others" before vanishing.[N 1] Wayne later discovers that Luthor is also investigating metahumans. One of them is Prince herself, who is shown in a photo taken during World War I. Wayne admits to Alfred Pennyworth that he plans to steal the kryptonite to weaponize it, should it become necessary to fight Superman.

text: At a congressional hearing, as Finch questions Superman on the validity of his actions, a bomb goes off and kills everyone present but Superman. Believing he should have detected the bomb, and frustrated by his failure to save the people, Superman goes into self-imposed exile. Batman breaks into LexCorp and steals the kryptonite, planning to use it to battle Superman by building a powered exoskeleton, creating a kryptonite grenade launcher, and a kryptonite-tipped spear. Meanwhile, Luthor enters the Kryptonian ship and accesses details of a vast technology database accumulated from over 100,000 worlds.

text: Later, Luthor kidnaps Lois and Martha Kent, Clark's adoptive mother, to bring Superman out of exile. He reveals to him that he manipulated Superman and Batman by fueling their distrust for each other. Luthor demands that Superman kill Batman in exchange for Martha's life. Superman tries to explain the situation to Batman, but instead Batman fights Superman and eventually subdues him. Before Batman can kill him with the spear, Superman urges Batman to "save Martha", whose name is also shared with Bruce's late mother, confusing him long enough for Lois to arrive and explain what Superman meant. Realizing how far he has fallen and unwilling to let an innocent die, Batman rescues Martha, while Superman confronts Luthor on the scout ship.

text: Luthor executes his backup plan, unleashing a genetically engineered monster with DNA from both Zod's body and his own.[N 2] Diana Prince arrives unexpectedly; revealing her metahuman nature, she joins forces with Batman and Superman to fight the creature. It becomes clear that the creature can absorb and redirect energy, and outmatches Prince, Batman and Superman. Realizing that the creature is vulnerable to kryptonite, Superman retrieves the kryptonite spear. With Batman and Prince's help containing it, Superman impales the monster, killing it. In its last moments, the creature stabs a weakened Superman with one of its bone protrusions, apparently killing Superman.

text: Luthor is arrested and Batman confronts him in prison, warning Luthor that he will always be watching him. Luthor gloats that Superman's death has made the world vulnerable to powerful alien threats. A memorial is held for Superman in Metropolis. Clark is also declared dead, with various friends and family members including Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince attending for him in Smallville. Martha gives an envelope to Lois, which contains an engagement ring from Clark. After the funeral, Bruce expresses his regrets to Diana about how he failed Superman. He reveals to her that he plans to form a team of metahumans, starting with those from Luthor's files, to help protect the world in Superman's absence. After they leave, the dirt atop Clark's coffin begins to levitate.

text: Cast[edit]

text: Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman

tag: ul

text: Henry Cavill as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman:

text: Amy Adams as Lois Lane:

text: Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor:

text: Diane Lane as Martha Kent:

text: Laurence Fishburne as Perry White:

text: Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth:

text: Holly Hunter as June Finch:

text: Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman:[47]

text: Scoot McNairy as Wallace Keefe:

text: Callan Mulvey as Anatoli Knyazev:

text: Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves:

text: Robin Atkin Downes as Doomsday:

text: Additionally, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan portray Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce Wayne's deceased parents,[70][71] Patrick Wilson portrays the President of the United States in a voice role, and Michael Cassidy portrays Jimmy Olsen, a CIA agent.[72] Reprising their roles from Man of Steel are Harry Lennix as Secretary Calvin Swanwick,[73] Christina Wren as Major Carrie Farris,[74] Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent,[75] Rebecca Buller as Jenny Jurwich, Chad Krowchuk as Glen Woodburn, and Carla Gugino as the Kryptonian A.I. Kelor.[76] The corpse of General Zod also appears in the film in a crucial role; however, Michael Shannon did not film any scenes for the film and the corpse was created using the physique of fitness model Greg Plitt and a head-shot of Shannon.[77] Mark Edward Taylor portrays Jack O'Dwyer, an executive of Wayne Enterprises.[78][79]

text: Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, and Ray Fisher appear as Barry Allen / Flash, Arthur Curry / Aquaman, and Victor Stone / Cyborg respectively in brief appearances, which will lead to their inclusion in the Justice League film.[80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87] Joe Morton appears in a role as Silas Stone, Victor's father.[88] U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy makes a cameo appearance as Senator Purrington, whilst U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow also makes a cameo as the Governor of New Jersey.[89][90] Neil deGrasse Tyson, Soledad O'Brien, Anderson Cooper, Nancy Grace and Charlie Rose appear as themselves. Jena Malone was cast as S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Jenet Klyburn, but her scenes were cut from the theatrical release, along with Man of Steel characters Coburn Goss as Father Leone and Joseph Cranford as Pete Ross; they were restored for the Ultimate Edition home media release.[91] Talk show host Jon Stewart has a cameo in the extended cut. To further establish the interconnection between the films of the shared universe, Chris Pine appears on Diana Prince's photo as Steve Trevor, as well as Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, and Eugene Brave Rock as the members of his team: Sameer, Charlie, and Chief, which they reprised in Wonder Woman.[92][93][94][95]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"... after Man of Steel finished and we started talking about what would be in the next movie, I started subtly mentioning that it would be cool if he faced Batman... You're in a story meeting talking about, like, who should [Superman] fight if he fought this giant alien threat Zod who was basically his equal physically, from his planet, fighting on our turf... You know, who to fight next?... But I'm not gonna say at all that when I took the job to do Man of Steel that I did it in a subversive way to get to Batman. I really believe that only after contemplating who could face [Superman] did Batman come into the picture."

— Snyder, on how Batman came into the film[96]

tag: div

text: In June 2013, Warner Bros. announced that director Zack Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer would return for a Man of Steel sequel,[97] with the studio considering the release for the film in 2015.[98] The following month, Snyder confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con International that the sequel to Man of Steel would feature Superman and Batman meeting for the first time on film. Goyer and Snyder would co-write the story, with Goyer authoring the script,[20][99] and Christopher Nolan involved in an advisory role as executive producer.[100] According to Snyder, the film would take inspiration from the comic The Dark Knight Returns.[101]

text: In November 2013, Snyder clarified his film would not be based upon the aforementioned graphic novel. "If you were going to do that, you would need a different Superman. We’re bringing Batman into the universe that now this Superman lives in."[102] Batman v Superman marks the first appearance of Wonder Woman in a live-action, theatrical film,[47] which Warner Bros. had been developing as far back as 1996.[103] In December 2013, Chris Terrio was hired to rewrite the script, due to Goyer's commitments to other projects.[104] Further commenting on the influences, Terrio revealed in an article published by the Wall Street Journal that the movie would draw inspiration from Nolan's Batman trilogy, Italian semiotician Umberto Eco’s 1972 essay “The Myth of Superman”, and the W.H. Auden poem “Musée des Beaux Arts” which contrasts the quotidian details of normal people’s lives with the epic struggles of mythological figures. According to him, "In superhero stories, Batman is Pluto, god of the underworld, and Superman is Apollo, god of the sky. That began to be really interesting to me — that their conflict is not just due to manipulation, but their very existence."[4] The Joker and the Riddler were supposed to appear in the film, but Snyder ultimately decided to cut them from the final script.[105]

text: The film's official title, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, was revealed in May 2014.[106] Snyder stated that having the "v" in the title instead of "vs." was a way "to keep it from being a straight 'versus' movie, even in the most subtle way".[107] Henry Cavill later stated, "I wouldn't call this a Superman sequel [...] This is Batman versus Superman. It's a separate entity altogether. It's introducing the Batman character and expanding upon the universe, which was kicked off by Man of Steel."[108] Forbes noted that although the film originated as a sequel to Man of Steel, it was "revamped into a backdoor pilot for Justice League and/or an eventual stand-alone Batman movie."[109] As part of a settlement with his heirs, this is the first Batman production that lists Bill Finger as a co-creator.[110]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Harry Lennix and Christina Wren reprise their roles from Man of Steel.[73][74][111] Joining the cast are Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth,[111] Ray Fisher as Cyborg,[85] Jason Momoa as Aquaman,[83][84] and Tao Okamoto as Luthor's assistant Mercy Graves.[63] Scoot McNairy and Callan Mulvey were cast as Wallace Keefe and Anatoli Knyazev, while Jena Malone was cast as Jenet Klyburn, a character that was featured exclusively in the Ultimate Edition home media release.[41][57][92][112]

text: Dawn of Justice is Affleck's second film as a comic book superhero; he played Daredevil in the 2003 film of the same name,[113] and was initially reluctant to accept playing Batman, citing that he "felt [he] didn't fit the traditional mold. But once Zack [Snyder] showed [him] the concept, and that it would be both different from the great movies that Chris[topher Nolan] and Christian [Bale] made, but still in keeping with tradition, [he] was excited."[114] Affleck previously stated in 2006 that Daredevil had "inoculated [him] from ever playing another superhero".[115]

text: Snyder cast an older Batman to be a layered juxtaposition against a younger Superman; while "bear[ing] the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain[ing] the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne."[9] Nolan was involved with the casting of Affleck and he was the first actor Snyder approached for the part.[100] The director had also discussed the part with Josh Brolin.[116] Bale admitted he wanted to play Batman again after The Dark Knight Rises,[117] though he stated that his Batman does not belong in any other film and he was never approached by Warner Bros. to play the role again.[118][119]

text: On casting Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Snyder offered, "Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions".[25] Bryan Cranston was considered for the role before Eisenberg was cast.[120] Producer Charles Roven revealed that this incarnation of Wonder Woman would use the character's origins in The New 52, wherein the character would be a demigoddess, and the daughter of Zeus. This deviates from the character's original origins, where she was "a clay figure brought to life by the gods".[49] Olga Kurylenko was considered for the role of Wonder Woman before Gadot was cast.[121] Dawn of Justice is Ray Fisher's feature film debut,[122] and the first live-action film to feature Cyborg,[123] whose role will become more significant in future DC Comics films.[124] It is also the live-action theatrical debut of Aquaman.[125]

text: The casting of Affleck, Gadot, and Eisenberg was criticized. Affleck's casting caused significant backlash from comic book fans, with multiple online petitions demanding his removal from the role; unlike previous Batman actors, he was not considered intimidating enough for the role by the protesters.[126] Conversely, PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III supported Affleck's casting as Batman, stating, "Way back when the news was new I wrote a PopMatters article defending the choice of Ben Affleck as Batman. I’ll let that one speak for itself."[127][128] Via social media, fans criticized Gadot's small frame in contrast to Wonder Woman's warrior-like build in the comics.[129] Responding to this, Gadot stated that she had been participating in various training regimens to achieve a body that stays closer to the source material.[130] Fans also criticized Eisenberg's casting, feeling that the then-30-year-old was too young for the role, and not physically imposing enough.[131] Upon the film's release, both Affleck and Gadot received considerable praise for their performances, despite the overall negative reception of the film itself.[132][133]

text: Design[edit]

text: Michael Wilkinson reprised his duties as costume designer. He updated the Superman suit from Man of Steel so that it "feels fresh and right for this installment of Zack Snyder's comic-book universe".[134] The first Batsuit featured in the film is influenced by The Dark Knight Returns;[135] unlike the suits seen in previous live-action Batman films, it is made of cloth instead of armor and is a cast of the physique of fitness model Rossano Rea.[136][137] An image of the Wonder Woman costume was revealed at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, in which the costume desaturates the red, blue, and gold colors that make up the costume of most versions of the character.[138]

text: A second Batsuit was also unveiled at Comic-Con, and unlike the first, it is armored.[139] Aquaman's look in this film shows him "tattooed in Maori-like patterns", and wearing a suit "decked out in shades of gold, black and silver armor".[140] According to the Warner Bros. Studios lot, the next generation Batmobile combined inspiration from both the sleek, streamlined design of classic Batmobiles and the high-suspension, military build from the more recent Tumbler from The Dark Knight Trilogy. Designed by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, the Batmobile is about 20 feet long and 12 feet wide.[141] The glasses Cavill wears as Clark Kent are made by British spectacle designer Tom Davies.[142]

text: Filming[edit]

text: In September 2013, Larry Fong joined the crew as cinematographer, having previously worked with Zack Snyder on 300, Watchmen, and Sucker Punch.[143] Initial filming commenced on October 19, 2013, at East Los Angeles College, to shoot an American football game between Gotham City University and rival Metropolis State University.[144] At the end of the month, construction began on the Kent farm seen in Man of Steel for the film.[145] Principal photography involving the main cast of the film began on May 19, 2014, in Detroit, Michigan,[146] with scenes featuring Gal Gadot as Diana Prince being filmed early on May 16.[147] While filming in Michigan, the production spent a total of $199 million in the state.[148] The scene of a state funeral at the Arlington National Cemetery, a tribute by the United States Army,[149] was actually filmed in Michigan as well, using green screen.[150]

text: Additional filming began in Chicago, Illinois in November 2014.[151] Other locations included the Michigan Motion Picture Studios, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, Yorkville, Illinois, and New Mexico.[152][153][154] Sequences of the film, including a scene depicting the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, were filmed using IMAX cameras.[155] The planned shoot in Morocco was shifted to New Mexico due to incidents related to the 2014 Ebola outbreak.[156] Principal photography wrapped on December 5, 2014.[157]

text: Music and soundtrack[edit]

text: Hans Zimmer composed the film score,[158] emphasizing a challenge to not reuse the themes he established with the Batman character from Christopher Nolan's trilogy.[159] Junkie XL, who provided additional music in Man of Steel, also returned for this film, helping to compose the theme for Batman.[160] Originally, Zimmer enlisted Junkie XL to compose the Batman material, with Zimmer planning to focus solely on the Superman side of the score, but the final Batman theme was written by both composers as a collaboration.[161] Zimmer noted that he had significant trouble in finding a new angle from which to tell the story and after the release of the film, Zimmer announced that he was retired from superhero films.[162] The soundtrack album of the film was released on March 18, 2016 by WaterTower Music.[163]

text: Songs featured in the film include: "Kang Ling (An Instrument Made From A Human Thigh Bone)", a traditional song performed by the monks of the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, Dharamshala; "Night and Day" and "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" written by Cole Porter and performed by Richard Cheese; "Shostakovich: Waltz II (Jazz Suite No. 2)" written by Dmitri Shostakovich[164][165] performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly; and "Amazing Grace" arranged and performed by John Allan[166] and again performed by the Canadian Scottish Regiment Pipes and Drums and the United States Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band.[167][168]

text: Release[edit]

text: In November 2013, it was announced that the film would be released on July 17, 2015. In January 2014, Warner Bros. announced that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was delayed from its original release date of July 17, 2015, and moved to May 6, 2016, in order to give the filmmakers "time to realize fully their vision, given the complex visual nature of the story."[169] The release date was moved once again in August 2014 from May 6, 2016, to March 25, 2016, with a Warner Bros. insider saying the studio was "not flinching" in regards to the previous opening date being on the same day as Marvel Studios' Captain America: Civil War, but instead stating that March 2016 was a "fantastic corridor" for them.[170] According to sources obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. considered the possibility of having a 70mm release for the film, which was partially shot in the 65mm IMAX format.[171]

text: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on March 19, 2016,[172] followed by a New York City premiere on March 20 at Radio City Music Hall.[173] Following the Brussels attacks, Warner Bros. originally cancelled the red carpet of the London premiere, but decided to carry on with the premiere for the fans.[174] The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on March 25 in 3D.[170][175] It opened simultaneously in North America, China and Japan, the world's three largest film markets, as well as additional international territories,[176] with the exception of Poland, where theaters do not open on Good Friday.[3] The film debuted simultaneously across 30,000 screens in nearly every major foreign territory across 61 markets, including China, with domestic open across roughly 4,242 locations of which 3,500 theaters (85%) were in 3D, 390 IMAX screens, 470 PLF locations, 150 D-Box theaters and ten 70 mm prints.[177][178][179]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: An estimated $165 million marketing effort helped promote Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[180] At the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International, Snyder introduced the film's first footage intended to be exclusive to the event.[181] A teaser trailer was scheduled to be screened in selected cinemas on April 20, 2015.[182] However, on April 16, the trailer leaked online,[183] and within a few hours Snyder officially released the trailer to Twitter.[184] At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, Snyder and the cast attended to present an initial trailer of the film. The trailer was, unlike the teaser, which received mixed response, positively received by attendees, who gave the trailer a standing ovation.[185] Mark Hughes of Forbes said the trailers "both set the stage for a story about the world’s distrust and fear of Superman, Batman’s rage at Superman and intention to duke it out with the Man of Steel, and Wonder Woman’s participation in a big fight featuring the 'Trinity.'"[186]

text: Warner Bros. Consumer Products partnered-up with "a powerhouse slate of global licensees for a broad, multi-category licensing and merchandising program", including Mattel, Lego, Rubies, Funko, Thinkway Toys, Hot Toys, Junkfood, Bioworld, Pez, Seiko, Converse and among many other licensees to sell merchandise related to the film.[187][188] Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was also a licensee for the film, offering a special edition Jeep Renegade in exchange for a near-exclusive product placement deal; aside from Bruce Wayne's Aston Martin, all vehicles in the film were either from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, or Iveco.[189] Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Cross Fire, an original companion novel tied to the film, telling a tie-in story set before the events of the movie, was published by Scholastic Corporation.[190]

text: A five-issue comic-book prelude exploring what happened in the weeks and months leading up to the events of the film was released as a tie-in with Dr Pepper's character-branded bottles.[191] Also, there are a series of four minicomics found in Batman v Superman-branded General Mills cereals. Additionally, those who purchased Batman v Superman-themed Doritos Family Fun Mix at Walmart received the comic book prequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Upstairs/Downstairs.[192] Rocksteady Studios released a downloadable content for the video game Batman: Arkham Knight that featured the Batmobile and Batsuit from the film.[193]

text: The third trailer debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 3, 2015. It received positive responses,[194][195][196] with Scott Mendelson of Forbes calling the trailer a "Saturday morning cartoon nerd’s wildest dreams."[197] Molly Driscoll of CS Monitor stated that it looks like the film "will continue the trend of adapting comic book stories as timely tales."[198] Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter noted that based on the trailer's content, the film might be the anti-Civil War, referring to Marvel's Captain America: Civil War as "Superman and Batman complete the comic book trope by overcoming their differences to fight a common foe, alongside a third hero, who saves them both — that feels the most fresh, especially in light of the Civil War trailer. While that ended with a showdown between three heroes, this trailer moves beyond that to show three heroes standing united."[199] However, it was criticized for revealing that,[200] with Rob Tornoe of NewsWorks pointing out that this trailer was targeting the "broadest audience" rather than just fans, as studios try to "maximize a film's opening day box office."[201]

text: Warner Bros. did not buy a Super Bowl 50 commercial;[202] instead, they worked with Turkish Airlines to put together a pair of Batman v Superman-themed airline commercials.[203] McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the spots "inform interested parties about the culture, geography and history of Batman and Superman's individual stomping grounds, each one filled with Easter eggs for the comic book faithful and newcomer alike."[204] Jesse Eisenberg's part as Lex Luthor in these commercials was praised, as Dirk Libbey of CinemaBlend noted that "he matches up well with Bruce Wayne by playing the welcoming billionaire business man. It's a far cry from the somewhat cartoonish villain we’ve seen in the clips from the film."[203]

text: The final trailer was released to the public on February 11, 2016, which was described as "intense" by Kwame Opam of The Verge.[205] Mendelson of Forbes felt that Warner Bros. "probably wouldn’t have even dropped this one had the prior trailer back in December been received better. So now we have this fourth and final sell, and at least they are going out on a high note."[206] Jonathon Dornbush of Entertainment Weekly said that the footage "works to establish Batman as his own independent crime fighting force, while also providing a deeper look at his existential struggle against Superman."[207]

text: In February 2016, Warner Bros. and Doritos formed a partnership, creating a website offering fans the opportunity to enter codes found on Doritos purchases branded with the film's logo, and enter to win movie tickets, tech toys, and a trip the premiere in New York City.[208][209] Warner Bros also partnered with Omaze to give fans who donated a chance to win "The Ultimate Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Experience", while benefiting three nonprofit organizations nominated by Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Jesse Eisenberg. "The Ultimate Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Experience" offered a fan and their friend the chance to win tickets to the premiere of the film, as well as fly on a helicopter with Cavill or ride in the Batmobile with Affleck.[210] Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drove cars based on Superman and Batman respectively, at Auto Club Speedway on March 20, 2016.[211] A tie-in endless runner video game to the film, entitled Batman vs Superman – Who Will Win?, debuted March 16, 2016, released by Warner Bros. International Enterprises.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film grossed $166 million in the USA & Canada in its opening weekend,[212][213] the eighth-biggest opening of all time, ahead of The Dark Knight Rises' $160.9 million.[212] The film had a worldwide opening of $422.5 million, which stands as the second-biggest for Warner Bros. and the fourth-biggest of all time.[214][215] It became the fourth film to have a global opening above $400 million.[216] It also had an IMAX worldwide opening weekend total of $36 million from 945 IMAX screens, the third-biggest ever, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($48 million) and Jurassic World ($44 million).[216] However, both inside and outside of the United States, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice experienced a notable poor Friday-to-Sunday hold and set a new record for the worst Friday-to-Sunday drop for a superhero movie release in modern box office history with a 58% decline, which was previously held by Fantastic Four.[217]

text: In its second weekend, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice experienced a "historic" box-office drop,[218][219] with an 81.2% decline on Friday that was "one of the biggest Friday-to-Friday drops any blockbuster has ever seen", and an overall 68.4% drop for the weekend despite not "facing any big competition at the box office",[220][221][222] making it the second largest decline for a marquee superhero title, behind only 2003's Hulk.[218] Brad Brevet, writing for Box Office Mojo, reported that "it appeared Batman v Superman was looking at a drop anywhere from 58–68% and it ended up settling in on the wrong side of those expectations."[222] Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, said "Whether or not the movie is any good, and whether or not audiences respond to the picture, is best measured by the second and third weekends...Yes, we’re still talking about a $15.35 million second Friday and a $50m+ second weekend, but in terms of legs, this film sadly doesn’t seem to have any."[223] Continuing this trend, in its third weekend, the film dropped by 54.3% in which Brad Brevet concluded in a follow-up for Box Office Mojo that "the legs on this one are proving quite short."[224]

text: In the weeks leading up to the film's release, advance ticket sales outpaced The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and Furious 7.[225] Worldwide, it was estimated to gross between $300–340 million in over 35,000 screens in its opening weekend.[177][226] It passed the $50 million mark in IMAX ticket sales on its second weekend, grossing a total of $53.4 million from 571 IMAX screens.[227][228] Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein described the film's box office performance as a "fantastic result, by any measure."[229] Box office analyst Jeff Bock said "Still, outside of Christopher Nolan's two Dark Knight movies, and Tim Burton's Batman films when you adjust for inflation, this is the highest-grossing property in DC's bullpen thus far. It tops Man of Steel by more than $200 million," and that "overall, BvS successfully relaunched DC's cinematic universe, but they are nowhere near Disney/Marvel in terms of critical reception and box office prowess. One can only hope that bigger and better is still on the way."[229] The film needed to reach $800 million in revenue at the box office to "recoup its investment" according to financial analysts.[230][231][180] Despite surpassing this amount, it was considered "a disappointment" for failing to reach $1 billion,[230][232][233] This resulted in Warner Bros., in May 2016, creating DC Films, giving a dedicated executive team responsibility for films based on DC Comics, similar to the dedicated Marvel Comics focus of Marvel Studios within the larger Walt Disney Studios group.[234] Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $330.4 million in North America and $542.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $873.3 million, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2016 behind Captain America: Civil War, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Finding Dory, Zootopia, The Jungle Book, and The Secret Life of Pets.[1] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $105.7 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[235]

text: North America[edit]

text: Following reports of pre-tickets sales in both the United States and Canada on February 29, many insiders and analysts predicted an opening weekend haul between $120–140 million for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with projections as high as $185 million.[177][179][226][236][237][238] However, Warner Bros. insiders were more conservative in their estimates projecting in the lower range of $110 million.[3] According to Deadline.com, an undisclosed rival studio box office analyst indicated that if the film is truly pacing in tandem with The Dark Knight Rises, then Dawn of Justice could possibly be looking at a $180 million+ debut.[226] The film also became Fandango's top pre-selling superhero film ever, beating The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers: Age of Ultron, representing 90% of the site's weekend's ticket sales. A survey carried out showed that the introduction of Wonder Woman is a primary draw for moviegoers.[237][239] It pre-sold around $20–25 million worth of advance tickets.[237] Dawn of Justice made $27.7 million in Thursday previews from around 3,800 theaters which is the biggest of 2016, the biggest Easter weekend preview, the second-biggest for a superhero film (behind The Dark Knight Rises), and the seventh-biggest of all time of which $3.6 million came from IMAX showings, also a new record for Easter weekend.[240][241]

text: On its opening day, it earned $81.59 million from 4,242 theaters, including previews, marking the biggest pre-summer opening day of all time, the second-biggest superhero Friday opening and the fourth-biggest opening-day and fourth-biggest single-day gross, with $9 million coming from IMAX showings.[242] Excluding the Thursday previews, it earned $53.89 million on Friday which is the fifth-biggest ever.[242] It fell 37.8% on Saturday, which is the second-worst superhero opening Friday-to-Saturday drop, only behind the 40% drop of The Dark Knight Rises.[217] In total, it earned $166 million for its debut weekend, setting records for the biggest March and pre-summer openings, (these have since been broken by Beauty and the Beast) [243] the biggest Easter opening,[244] the second-biggest opening for Warner Bros.,[245] the biggest for a DC Comics property,[246] and the eighth-biggest opening of all time.[213][247][248] Conversely, the film holds the record for the worst superhero Friday-to-Sunday drop with a 58% decline, eclipsing the previous 48% decline record held by Fantastic Four in 2015.[217] IMAX comprised 11% or $18 million of the weekend's gross from 388 theaters which is the fifth-biggest of all time (a record it shares with Age of Ultron) and 3D represented 40% ($68 million) of the total ticket sales.[249] RealD 3D comprised $47 million of the opening gross.[247] Premium large formats generated $17.6 million (10%), with $3.6 million of that coming from Cinemark XD auditoriums from 475 theaters.[247]

text: Following its record breaking opening weekend, it posted the biggest March Monday with $15.05 million, a drop of 55% from its Sunday gross. This broke The Hunger Games' previous record of $10.8 million,[250][251] and also the biggest March Tuesday with $12.2 million.[252] It made $209 million in its first week full which stands at the eleventh-biggest opening week of all time[253] and surpassed the lifetime total Batman Begins.[254] Despite earning $15.35 million in its second Friday, the film dropped 81.2% and broke the record for the biggest Friday-to-Friday drop for a comic book adaptation film, not including $27.7 million worth of previews which represented an even larger decline.[255] It fell precipitously by 69.1% in its second weekend, grossing $51.3 million from 4,256 theaters (an addition of 14 cinemas) due to poor reviews and mixed word of mouth, establishing itself an infamous record for the seventh steepest drop for a superhero/comic book adapted film and the steepest decline since the -69% posted by X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, despite facing little to no competition or new wide-releases and having the added benefit of 30% K–12 schools off, and 9% of colleges on break, per ComScore.[256][257] The steep drop also marks the fourth-biggest for a film that opened above $100 million (tied with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2).[228] In its third weekend it was overtaken by the comedy The Boss after falling 54% with $23.3 million.[258][259]

text: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice proved to be front-loaded, failing to generate significant revenue after its opening weekend/week release. It earned just 1.99 times ($330 million) its opening weekend numbers ($166 million), which is lower than Man of Steel's 2.28 multiplier.[260] Like other DC films, such as Watchmen, Green Lantern and Man of Steel, it opened to record breaking numbers but then dropped the following weekend onward due largely to bad critical reception and mixed word of mouth from audiences.[261] It earned just 1.99 times its opening weekend, the worst [multiplier] for a film opening above $100 million.[262] A similar result was followed by DC's third superhero film, Suicide Squad released in August 2016,[263] although Suicide Squad became less front loaded than Dawn of Justice.[264]

text: Outside North America[edit]

text: Internationally, it was projected to open between $180–200 million; however, Deadline.com pointed out that these figures were only early predictions pegged to the performance of similar films in their respective territories.[226] It opened in ten countries on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, earning $7 million and debuting at No. 1 in all markets on approximately 5,900 screens.[265][266] The following day, the film was released in 38 additional countries, earning $33.1 million on 19,700 screens for a two-day total of $44 million.[265] On March 25, it opened in the remaining 17 countries delivering $67.2 million in revenue, for a three-day total of $115.3 million in 62 countries on more than 30,000 screens.[265] Through Sunday, March 27, it earned an opening-weekend total of $256.5 million from 66 countries on over 40,000 screens, making it the biggest superhero opening weekend of all time, the biggest overall March opening, the second-biggest opening ever for Warner Bros., and the fifth-biggest international opening on record.[216][267] The film's accomplishements also included the second-biggest IMAX opening record of $18 million, behind only Jurassic World which tallied $23.5 million.[216] 3D accounted 59% or $149.86 million of the weekend gross led by China (98%), Germany (88%), Brazil (81%), Russia (55%), and France (51%).[216] As with North America, the film witnessed a steep decline in its second Friday internationally, falling 72% to $19.2 million, with the biggest decline in the U.K. (77%) and China (87%).[268][269] Its second weekend earnings fell 66% overall to $85.25 million.[227] Despite the decline, the film topped the box office for three consecutive weekends.[270]

text: In Mexico, it had the biggest opening day for Warner Bros. and the second-biggest of all time with $5.8 million, including record-breaking midnight showings.[265] It also scored the biggest opening day of all time in Brazil ($3.5 million) and the biggest opening day for a superhero film in Germany ($2.8 million).[271] Elsewhere, it opened in the United Kingdom and Ireland ($9 million), Australia ($2.5 million), India ($2.54 million), Russia ($1.9 million), South Korea ($1.7 million), Japan ($1.2 million), the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong ($1.1 million respectively).[265][271] In China, it earned $21.22 million on its opening day, including around $1.34 million worth of previews, which is the biggest for Warner Bros. and the sixth-biggest Hollywood opening day of all time.[265][272] However, other Chinese sources have the film open to around $20 million.[273][274] In terms of opening weekends, the biggest openings were recorded in China ($57.2 million), the United Kingdom and Ireland ($20.7 million), Mexico ($18.2 million), Brazil ($12 million), South Korea ($10.2 million), Australia ($9.9 million), France ($8.6 million), Germany ($8.1 million), Russia ($7.7 million), India ($6.6 million), Spain ($6.1 million) and Japan ($4.5 million).[216][275] It broke all-time opening record in Brazil and Warner Bros. opening records in Mexico, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.[216] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it benefited from the long Easter weekend holiday and despite a distinctly mixed bag of reviews in the U.K. press, it posted an opening £14.62 million or $20.7 million from 612 theaters, a record for 2016 so far and for a superhero title on straight Friday to Sunday, but fell short of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, when accounting for previews.[276][277]

text: In Japan, it opened in third place, behind two local films, Assassination Classroom: Graduation and Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016.[278] In South Korea, it scored the biggest March opening after opening on a Tuesday and dominating 68.3% of the market share with $10.2 million.[279] In China, after scoring the biggest Hollywood opening Friday (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction),[280] it earned an estimated $57.2 million from approximately 16,000 screens in its opening weekend, besting all other DC Comics adaption film just by its weekend haul except for Man of Steel and gave Warner Bros. its biggest three day opening there with $7 million coming from 557 IMAX screens.[216][281] However, the opening figure fell below analysts projections of $70–80 million.[282] It held the top spot for its first seven days only, after which it faced stiff competitions from local productions,[269] and fell dramatically from then onwards in accruing revenue.[283] As a result, it fell to third place in its second weekend after falling enormously by 78% to $12.7 million, a record for a superhero film.[227][284]

text: It became the Warner Bros.' highest-grossing film of all time in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.[285] It also crossed $100 million Latin American markets, making it Warner Bros.' second highest-grossing film there.[285] In total earnings, its biggest markets outside of North America are China ($95 million), which analysts predicted that it would not cross $100 million there, followed by the UK ($52.1 million), Mexico ($36 million) and Brazil ($35.5 million).[286]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received generally negative reviews from film critics.[287][288][289][290] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 27% based on 367 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice smothers a potentially powerful story – and some of America's most iconic superheroes – in a grim whirlwind of effects-driven action."[291] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average to critics' reviews, gave the film an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[292] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[293] It earned "B–" from men, "B" from women, a "B" from those under 25 and a "B–" from those over 25.[249] BBC News reported that, "the film had been widely praised by fans after its first screening in New York".[294]

text: Critics were generally less enthusiastic. Lindy West in The Guardian described it as "153 minutes of a grown man whacking two dolls together", asking "(h)as the definition of 'movie' changed from 'motion picture story that a human wrote on purpose' to '700 only tangentially related 12-second grey and red vignettes'?"[295] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The point of Batman v Superman isn't fun, and it isn't thinking, either. It's obedience. The theology is invoked ... to buttress a spectacle of power. And in that way the film serves as a metaphor for its own aspirations. The corporations that produce movies like this one, and the ambitious hacks who sign up to make them, have no evident motive beyond their own aggrandizement."[296] Writing in The Telegraph, Robbie Collin called the film "humourless" and "the most incoherent blockbuster in years".[297] Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters said, "As you’re watching this movie, you might also contemplate your own part, in being swayed into consuming so much of what you’ve consumed before." Adding, "Wonder Woman’s remains Batman v Superman‘s most compelling story, precisely because it’s untold."[298] Matt Patches of Thrillist wrote "what Batman v Superman can do, it does, at the cost of coherency and thrills. The movie is bat-shit crazy. A dour, disdainful demeanor, plus a gluttony of complex plot twists, dissipates most of the contact high."[299] Michael Philips of Chicago Tribune wrote, "A near-total drag, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice plays like a loose, unofficial quarter-billion-dollar remake of The Odd Couple, in which Oscar and Felix are literally trying to kill each other."[300] On his podcast Hollywood Babble-On, film director Kevin Smith, a long-time friend and collaborator of Affleck, praised Affleck's performance but panned the film, commenting that it "didn't really have a heart" and was "humorless", arguing that "there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding of what those characters are about. It's almost like Zack Snyder didn’t read a bunch of comics, he read one comic once, and it was [The] Dark Knight Returns, and his favorite part was the last part where Batman and Superman fight."[301] On a second viewing, however, Smith via his Instagram lightened his stance.[302] Jeremy Irons expressed displeasure with the film, feeling it was "deservedly so" savaged by critics and calling the feature "very muddled" while expressing hope that the forthcoming Justice League (2017) would be better due to its story being "...a lot smaller, it's more linear".[303]

text: Conversely, David Betancourt of The Washington Post and Scott Mendelson of Forbes praised the film's visual spectacle and performances from Affleck and Gadot, though Mendelson also called the film "an utter mess of thinly sketched characters, haphazard plotting, surprisingly jumbled action".[304][305] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "better than Man of Steel but below the high bar set by Nolan's Dark Knight, adding that "Dawn of Justice is still a colossus, the stuff that DC Comics dreams are made of for that kid in all of us who yearns to see Batman and Superman suit up and go in for the kill."[306] Jake Coyle of Associated Press wrote, "it hurtles not with the kinetic momentum of Mad Max: Fury Road nor the comparatively spry skip of a Marvel movie, but with an operatic grandeur it sometimes earns and often doesn't."[307] Mark Hughes of Forbes called it "the follow-up to The Dark Knight that many viewers and fans wanted or hoped for", adding that it's "visually stunning, with powerful emotional storytelling and awe-inspiring action spectacle."[308] Andrew Barker of Variety said "as a pure visual spectacle... Batman V Superman ably blows the hinges off the multiplex doors."[309] Charles Koplinski of the Illinois Times called it "a brooding, but most importantly intelligent take on the seminal figures of our 20th century pop culture mythology, a movie that at once pays tribute to these characters' roots while offering up modern incarnations of them that ring true for our times."[310] Nicolas Barber of the BBC called the film "a four-star epic" praising Affleck's performance as Batman and the visual grandeur of Fong's cinematography.[311] Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian gave an ambivalent review; he especially criticized the "very bad writing", but conceded "there are a lot of moments... that work" and praised Affleck and Gadot's performances, calling Gadot as Wonder Woman the best thing in the film.[312]

text: Multiple commentators have criticized Eisenberg on the grounds that his interpretation of Lex Luthor hewed too close to character traits associated with another DC Comics villain, the Joker.[313] Even before the film was released, Affleck compared Eisenberg's performance to that of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.[314] Once the film came out, critics lambasted Eisenberg's take on Luthor. Sonny Bunch of The Washington Post lamented that "As the film progresses, Lex degenerates into a gibbering mad man, some strange mix of the Riddler and the Joker with a little bit of Mark Zuckerberg added for flair."[315] Charlie Jane Anders of Gizmodo wrote that "Someone clearly told Jesse Eisenberg that this movie is the Dark Knight to Man of Steel’s Batman Begins, and he’s doing his damndest to give a Heath Ledger-esque performance... Watching the trailers, I had thought Eisenberg’s loopy acting might be this movie’s saving grace – but a concentrated dose of his faux mania actually turns out to be the worst thing." Andy Scott of Grunge, in an article titled "How Jesse Eisenberg Ruined Batman v Superman," wrote that "Eisenberg's speech patterns and mannerisms felt almost entirely lifted from Ledger's iconic performance, to the point where he walked the dangerous grey line between respectful homage and downright thievery."[316]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
List of awards and nominations

Award
Category
Recipient(s)
Result
Ref(s)

Critics' Choice Awards
Best Actress in an Action Movie
Gal Gadot
Nominated
[317]

Golden Raspberry Awards
Worst Picture
Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder
Nominated
[318]
[319]

Worst Director
Zack Snyder
Nominated

Worst Screenplay
Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer
Won

Worst Actor
Ben Affleck
Nominated

Henry Cavill
Nominated

Worst Supporting Actor
Jesse Eisenberg
Won

Worst Screen Combo
Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill
Won

Worst Prequel, Remake, Ripoff or Sequel
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Won

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Movie
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Nominated
[320]

Favorite Movie Actress
Amy Adams
Nominated

Favorite Movie Actor
Ben Affleck
Nominated

Henry Cavill
Nominated

Favorite Butt-Kicker
Ben Affleck
Nominated

Henry Cavill
Nominated

Favorite Frenemies
Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill
Nominated

People's Choice Awards
Favorite Action Movie
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Nominated
[321]

Saturn Awards
Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Nominated
[322]

Teen Choice Awards
Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie - Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Nominated
[323]

Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Henry Cavill
Nominated

Ben Affleck
Nominated

Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Amy Adams
Nominated

Choice Movie: Scene Stealer
Gal Gadot
Nominated

Choice Movie: Villain
Jesse Eisenberg
Nominated

Choice Movie: Liplock
Henry Cavill and Amy Adams
Nominated

Jupiter Awards
Best International film
Zack Snyder
Nominated

Golden Trailer Awards
Most Original Poster
Warner Bros. Pictures
Won

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
Best Actress in an Action Movie
Gal Gadot
Nominated

text: Home media[edit]

text: An extended cut of the film dubbed the Ultimate Edition was released on home media platforms, alongside the theatrical cut. This version received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, for more violence than the PG-13 rated theatrical cut,[93][324] and is longer by 31 minutes,[325] totalling 182 minutes.[326][327] The film debuted in first place on the home video sales chart for the week ending July 24, 2016.[328] With the release of the Ultimate Edition, which was the director's original version of the film before additional editing, critics noted that the film would have likely been better received with the additional footage.[329][330] Ben Kendrick of Screen Rant stated that while it was more "intelligible", character portrayal was not "fundamentally changed" and "for viewers who didn't like Man of Steel or Batman v Superman for larger reasons, such as tone, approach, and the darker characterization of DC’s most iconic heroes, the Ultimate Edition is only a longer... version of a film that... is likely to remain divisive, even if the final product is a better film."[331]

text: The film proved to be a financial success with its home video release. Making $20,524,500 in DVD sales, and $54,399,899 in Blu-Ray sales for a total of $74,924,399.[332]

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ Even though the film never explicitly identifies the mysterious man who warns Bruce nor where he comes from, producer Deborah Snyder has confirmed that he is The Flash, played by Ezra Miller, who is traveling back in time.[7]
Jump up ^ While never identified onscreen or in the credits, beyond Luthor telling Superman the creature is "your doomsday," actor Robin Atkin Downes has identified the character as Doomsday.[8]


document_title: Lying in state

question_text: who gets to lie in state at capitol

question_tokens: who gets to lie in state at capitol

root

text: Lying in state

text: Canada[edit]

text: In Canada, official lying in state is a part of a state funeral, an honor generally reserved for former Governors General and former Prime Ministers. It is held in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill, in the national capital, Ottawa, Ontario. Ex-governors general lie in state in the Senate Chamber while former prime ministers lie in the Hall of Honour. During the period of lying in state, the coffins are flanked at each corner by a Guard of honour, made up of four members drawn from the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as members of the Governor General's Foot Guards for former governors general, and guards from the parliamentary security forces for former prime ministers. Guards stand at each corner with heads bowed and weapons inverted (resting on Arms reversed) with their backs turned towards the casket.

tag: p

text: Provinces may also mount state funerals and have a lying in state for a distinguished former resident. For instance, Maurice Richard, nationally known hockey player, was given a state funeral by the province of Quebec when he died in 2000; his coffin lay in state at the Molson Centre.[2] This process was repeated for fellow Canadiens legend Jean Béliveau in December 2014.

text: Municipalities may offer civic funerals to prominent deceased current or former politicians.

text: North Korea[edit]

text: In North Korea, the body of the late leader Kim Jong-il was displayed in a glass coffin surrounded with red flowers at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang prior to his funeral, which began and ended at the palace. An honor guard armed with AK-47s was present. Jong-il's father Kim Il-sung, the founding president, is on display elsewhere in the palace.[3]

text: Russia[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: In Russia, during the time of the Soviet Union (1917–1991), the state funerals of the most senior political and military leaders, such as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko all followed the same basic outline. They took place in Moscow, beginning with a public lying in state of the deceased in the House of the Unions, and ending with an interment at Red Square.

text: For the lying in state at the House of the Unions, the coffin would be placed on display in the Column Hall, which would be decorated by flowers, numerous red flags and other communist symbols. The mourners, which usually would be brought in by the thousands, shuffled up a marble staircase beneath chandeliers draped in black gauze. On the stage at the left side of the Column Hall, a full orchestra in black tailcoats played classical music. The deceased's embalmed body, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and a tie, was displayed in an open coffin on a catafalque banked with carnations, red roses and tulips, facing the queue of mourners. A small guard of honour would be in attendance in the background. At the right side of the hall, seats were placed for guests of honour, with the front row reserved for the dead leader's family.

text: On the day of the funeral, a military funeral parade would take place during which the coffin would be conveyed from the House of the Unions to Red Square where burial would take place. Lenin and Stalin were placed inside the Lenin Mausoleum, while Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko were interred in individual graves in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

text: Singapore[edit]

text: At state funerals in Singapore, the national flag is put on the coffin. The vigil guard may be deployed during the public lying in state of the deceased person at Parliament House. The deployment of the vigil guard is the highest form of respect accorded by the nation to the deceased. Similar to British traditions, the vigil guard is composed of groups of five commissioned officers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) who stand guard around the clock in shifts of 30 minutes. One of the five officers stands facing outward at each of the four corners of the casket, while the fifth and most senior one stands in front and faces inward. Their heads are bowed and their ceremonial swords are inverted.[4]

text:
Vigil guards were stationed at the public lying in state of Goh Keng Swee in May 2010,[5] Lee Kuan Yew in March 2015 [6] as well as S R Nathan in August 2016.
[7]

text: South Africa[edit]

text: Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected president to lie in state in South Africa.[citation needed] The event took place at the Union Buildings, the same site where he was inaugurated as the President of South Africa on May 10, 1994. The body of Mandela was lying in State for three days, starting on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 and ending Friday, December 13. The body was viewed by thousands of South Africans before it was airlifted to Qunu in the Eastern Cape where Mandela was buried on December 15, 2013.

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text: In state and ceremonial funerals in the United Kingdom, the lying-in-state takes place in Westminster Hall. The coffin is placed on a catafalque and is guarded, around the clock, by detachments, each of four men, from the following units:

text:
Sovereign's Bodyguard
Her Majesty's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
The Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard
The Royal Company of Archers, The Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland
Household Cavalry
The Life Guards
The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)
Foot Guards
Grenadier Guards
Coldstream Guards
Scots Guards
Irish Guards
Welsh Guards

text: Each unit mans the guard for a total of six hours, with each detachment standing post for twenty minutes. The four men stand at each corner with heads bowed and weapons inverted; their backs are turned towards the coffin.

text: On two occasions, the guard has been mounted by four male members of the Royal Family. At the lying in state of King George V in 1936, the guard was mounted by his four sons King Edward VIII, the Duke of York (George VI), the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent. For Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's lying-in-state in 2002, the guard was mounted by her four grandsons, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, and Viscount Linley.[8]

text: United States[edit]

text: Lying in state in the United States is the rare honor either authorized by a congressional resolution or approved by the congressional leadership, when permission is granted by survivors[9], to a deceased official whereby his or her remains are placed in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. for public viewing. The casket is guarded by members of the armed forces. By regulation and custom, only Presidents, military commanders, and members of Congress are granted the honor of lying in state. Except for Presidents and former Presidents, the honor is not automatic. Not all those entitled to the honor have it accepted by their survivors. The first leader to receive this honor was Henry Clay, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, when he died in 1852. Since then, the honor has been extended to 27 people, including eleven Presidents, and to 4 Unknown Soldiers, representing U.S. service members who have died without their remains being identified. An additional four individuals have lain in honor, a similar privileged.

text: The process of lying in state at the Capitol is as follows. The coffin or casket is usually placed on a catafalque, usually the Lincoln catafalque, so named as it was constructed for lying in state upon the death of Abraham Lincoln, after his assassination in 1865. The casket is guarded at each of its corners by a serviceperson from each of the branches of the armed forces. In contrast to the practice in the United Kingdom and other countries of the Commonwealth, guards at the Capitol face the casket, hold their rifles with their right hand, and keep the rifle butt resting on the floor. After the viewing and ceremony at the Capitol, the remains are taken to the burial location.

text: Lain in state[edit]

text:
1852 – Henry Clay, long-serving Senator and Representative, Secretary of State, Speaker of the House, and three-time presidential candidate
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in office
1868 – Thaddeus Stevens, Representative from Pennsylvania
1874 – Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts
1875 – Vice President Henry Wilson, served under Grant, died in office
1881 – President James Garfield, assassinated in office
1886 – John A. Logan, Senator from Illinois
1901 – President William McKinley, assassinated while in office
1909 – Pierre L'Enfant – although he died in 1825, his remains were disinterred; he was honored by lying in state before reinterment at Arlington National Cemetery
1917 – Admiral George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy
1921 – The Unknown Soldier for World War I
1923 – President Warren Harding, died in office
1930 – President William Howard Taft, President 1909–1913, also Chief Justice 1921–1930
1948 – General John J. Pershing, General of the Armies of the United States during World War I and after
1953 – Robert A. Taft, U.S. Senator and Majority Leader
1958 – The Unknown Soldiers for World War II and the Korean War
1963 – President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in office
1964 – General Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army
1964 – President Herbert Hoover, President 1929–1933
1969 – President Dwight Eisenhower, President 1953–1961, Supreme Allied Commander during World War II
1969 – Everett Dirksen, Illinois Senator, Senate Minority Leader 1959–1969
1972 – J. Edgar Hoover,  Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 1929–1972
1973 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, President 1963–1969
1978 – Hubert Humphrey, Vice President 1965–1969, Minnesota Senator, 1968 Democratic nominee for President of the United States
1984 – The Unknown Soldier for the Vietnam War (later identified as 1st. Lt. Michael J. Blassie)
1989 – Claude Pepper, long-serving Senator and Representative from Florida
2004 – President Ronald Reagan, President 1981–1989
2006 – President Gerald Ford, President 1974–1977
2012 – Daniel Inouye, President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, Senator from Hawaii, and recipient of the Medal of Honor[10][11]
2018 – John McCain, 2008 Republican nominee for President of the United States, Senator from Arizona, and recipient of the Silver Star.[12][13]

text: To date, William Howard Taft and Robert Taft are the only father-and-son pair to have been so honored.

text: Lain in honor[edit]

text:
The United States Congress has created a similar—though not identical—privilege for distinguished Americans who do not qualify for a lying in state designation. In the process of "lying in honor," the honor guard in the Rotunda is provided by the Capitol Police or another suitable source.
[14][15]

text:
1998 – United States Capitol Police Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson, killed on duty
2005 – Rosa Parks, civil rights activist [16][17]
2018 – Billy Graham, Christian evangelist[18]

text: In 1998, Chestnut and Gibson were killed while defending the Capitol against a shooter. Congress approved their remains to lie in honor in the Rotunda.  Chestnut was the first African American to lie in honor. In 2005, upon the death of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Congress authorized her remains to lie in honor at the Rotunda; Parks was the second African American and the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.[16] Graham was the first religious leader to be honored in this way.[19]

text: Lain in repose[edit]

text: Supreme Court Justices "lie in repose" in the Great Hall of the United States Supreme Court Building.

text:
1974 – Chief Justice Earl Warren
1993 – Justice Thurgood Marshall
1995 – Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
1997 – Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
1999 – Justice Harry A. Blackmun
2005 – Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the first so-honored to have died in office.
2016 – Justice Antonin Scalia, died in office.

text: States and cities[edit]

text: Some U.S. states and cities extend similar honors. For example, in the state of Hawaii, three people have been laid in state at the Hawaii State Capitol, among which include famous Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole upon his death in 1997, and the aforementioned Daniel Inouye, President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate and Senator from Hawaii. Similarly, after the death of U.S. Senator John McCain, it was announced that he would lie in state at the State Capitol in his home state of Arizona before receiving the same honor at the U.S. Capitol.[13]

text: In the City of San Francisco, California, Mayor Ed Lee laid in state at the Rotunda of San Francisco City Hall after his death in office in 2017.

text: Vatican City[edit]

text: A deceased pope customarily lies in state in the chapel of the Apostolic Palace and then in St. Peter's Basilica, between the holding of a Mass of Visitation and a Mass of Requiem.[citation needed] The funeral of Pope John Paul II was an example of this custom.

text: Coptic Patriarchate[edit]

text:
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has a tradition of mummifying the deceased pope and placing his body on his throne to enable church followers to have a farewell look at him for a short period of time.
This tradition is one of the ways that ancient Egyptian rituals have survived in the Egyptian church.
[20]

text: Other notable funerals[edit]

text:
Death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito
Death and funeral of Corazon Aquino
Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo
Death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau
Death and state funeral of Lech and Maria Kaczyński


document_title: A Wrinkle in Time

question_text: when was the book a wrinkle in time written

text: A Wrinkle in Time

text: Publication history[edit]

text: The book was written between 1959 and 1960.[4] L'Engle wrote repeatedly about the writing of the story and the long struggle to get it published. In A Circle of Quiet (1972),[5] she explains that the book was conceived "during a time of transition." After years of living in rural Goshen, Connecticut, and running a general store, L'Engle's family, the Franklins, moved back to New York City, first taking a ten-week camping trip across the country and back again. L'Engle writes that "we drove through a world of deserts and buttes and leafless mountains, wholly new and alien to me. And suddenly into my mind came the names, Mrs Whatsit. Mrs Who. Mrs Which."[6] This was in the spring of 1959. L'Engle was reading about quantum physics at the time, which also made its way into the story.[7] When she completed the book in early 1960, however, it was rejected by at least 26 publishers, because it was, in L'Engle's words, "too different," and "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was really difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adults' book, anyhow?"[2][6]

text: In "A Special Message from Madeleine L'Engle" on the Random House website, L'Engle explains another possible reason for the rejections: "A Wrinkle in Time had a female protagonist in a science fiction book," which at the time was uncommon. After trying "forty-odd" publishers (L'Engle later said "twenty-six rejections"), L'Engle's agent returned the manuscript to her. Then at Christmas, L'Engle threw a tea party for her mother. One of the guests happened to know John C. Farrar of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and insisted that L'Engle should meet with him. Although the publisher did not, at the time, publish a line of children's books, Farrar met L'Engle, liked the novel, and ultimately published it.[8]

text: In 1963 the book won the Newbery Medal which awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The book has been continuously in print since its first publication. The hardback edition is still published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. The original blue dust jacket by Ellen Raskin was replaced with new art by Leo and Diane Dillon, with the publication of A Swiftly Tilting Planet in 1978. The book has also been published in a 25th anniversary collectors' edition (limited to 500 signed and numbered copies), at least two book club editions (one hardback, one Scholastic Book Services paperback), as a trade paperback under the Dell Yearling imprint, and as a mass market paperback under the Dell Laurel-Leaf imprint. The cover art on the paperback editions has changed several times since first publication.

text: The book was reissued by Square Fish in trade and mass market paperback formats in May 2007, along with the rest of the Time Quintet. This new edition includes a previously unpublished interview with L'Engle as well as the text of her Newbery Medal acceptance speech.[9]

text: Plot summary[edit]

text: Thirteen-year-old Meg Murry's classmates and teachers see her as a troublesome and stubborn student. Her family knows that she is emotionally immature but also sees her capable of doing great things. The family includes her scientist mother Katherine, her missing scientist father Alexander, the twins Sandy and Dennys, and her five-year-old brother Charles Wallace Murry, a child genius who can sometimes read Meg's mind.

text: The book begins with the line "It was a dark and stormy night," an allusion to the opening words in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. Unable to sleep during a thunderstorm, Meg descends from her attic room to find Charles Wallace sitting at the table drinking milk and eating bread and jam. They are then joined by their mother, and are visited by their new eccentric neighbor, Mrs Whatsit. In the course of conversation, Mrs Whatsit casually mentions there is such a thing as a tesseract, which causes Katherine to almost faint.

text: The next morning, Meg discovers that the term refers to a scientific concept her father was working on before his mysterious disappearance. The following afternoon, Meg and Charles Wallace encounter Meg's schoolmate, Calvin O'Keefe, a high-school junior who, although he is a "big man on campus", considers himself a misfit as well. They then go to visit an old haunted house near town which Charles Wallace already knows is the home of Mrs Whatsit. There they encounter two companions of Mrs Whatsit's, the equally strange Mrs Who and the unseen voice of Mrs Which. She promises that she and her friends will help Meg find and rescue her father. A budding love interest develops between Meg and Calvin. In the evening, Charles Wallace declares it is time for them to go on their mission to save their father. This is accompanied by the appearance of the third member of the "Mrs Ws", Mrs Which, who appears to materialize out of nothing.

text: Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which turn out to be supernatural beings who transport Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe through the universe by means of tesseract, a fifth-dimensional phenomenon explained as being similar to folding the fabric of space and time. Their first stop is the planet Uriel, a Utopian world filled with Centaur-like beings who live in a state of light and love. Mrs Whatsit herself shows that she, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which are all these centaur-like creatures in disguise as humans. There the "Mrs Ws" reveal to the children that the universe is under attack from an evil being who appears as a large dark cloud called The Black Thing, which is essentially the personification of evil. The children are then taken to visit the "Happy Medium", a woman with a crystal ball through which they see that Earth is partially covered by the darkness, although great religious figures, philosophers, and artists have been fighting against it. Mrs Whatsit is revealed to be a former star who exploded in an act of self-sacrifice to fight the darkness.

text: The children then travel to the dark planet of Camazotz, which has "given in" to the Black Thing. Meg's father is trapped there. They find that all the inhabitants behave in a mechanistic way and seem to be under the control of a single mind. At the planet's central headquarters (described as CENTRAL Central Intelligence), they discover a telepathic red-eyed man who can cast a hypnotic spell and claims to know their father’s whereabouts. Charles Wallace deliberately looks into the man’s red eyes, allowing himself to be hypnotized in order to find their father. Under its influence, he takes Meg and Calvin to the place where Alexander is being held prisoner because he would not succumb to the group mind.

text: The planet turns out to be controlled by an evil disembodied brain with powerful abilities, which the inhabitants of Camazotz call "IT." Charles Wallace takes them to the place where IT is held. In such proximity to IT, the children are threatened by a possible telepathic takeover of their minds. With special powers from Mrs Who's glasses, Alexander is able to "tesser" Calvin, Meg and himself away from Camazotz, but Charles Wallace is left behind, still under the influence of IT. Dr. Murry, inexperienced at tessering, does not know how to protect Meg from the Black Thing which surrounds the planet as they tesser through it, nearly killing her. When they arrive on the neighboring planet of Ixchel, Meg is nearly frozen, and paralyzed. Calvin and the Murrys are discovered by the planet's inhabitants - large, eyeless "beasts" with featureless faces, tentacles and four arms, who prove both wise and gentle. Meg's paralysis is cured under the care of one inhabitant, whom Meg nicknames "Aunt Beast." Meg overcomes her anger at her father for leaving Charles Wallace on Camazotz, realizing that parents can't fix everything, and sometimes children can solve problems themselves.

text: Then the trio of Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which arrive. They charge Meg with rescuing Charles Wallace from IT, because only Meg has a strong enough bond with him. Their father had last seen Charles Wallace when he was a baby and Calvin had only just met him. They each give her a gift. Mrs Whatsit gives Meg her love. Mrs Who quotes to Meg a passage from the Bible about God choosing the foolish of the world to confound the wise, and the weak to defeat the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). Mrs Which tells Meg that she has one thing that IT does not have but doesn't specify what it is. Upon arriving at the building where IT is housed, Charles Wallace is still there under IT's influence. Meg realizes that the one thing she has that IT does not is love. She focuses all her love at Charles Wallace and is able to free him from IT's control. Mrs Who, Mrs Which and Mrs Whatsit tesser the Murrys and Calvin back to Earth. In the vegetable garden they are all reunited with Katherine and the twins. Mrs Whatsit says that although she and the others like the spectacle of the family reuniting, they have to go somewhere. Before Mrs Whatsit finishes her sentence, she and the others disappear.

text: Major themes[edit]

text: Madeleine L'Engle's fantasy works are in part highly expressive of her Christian viewpoint in a manner somewhat similar to that of Christian fantasy writer C. S. Lewis. She was herself the official writer-in-residence at New York City's Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which is known for its prominent position in the liberal wing of the Episcopal Church.[10] L'Engle's liberal Christianity has been the target of criticism from more conservative Christians, especially with respect to certain elements of A Wrinkle in Time.[11]

text: The theme of picturing the fight of good against evil as a battle of light and darkness is a recurring one. Its manner is reminiscent of the prologue to the Gospel of John, which is quoted within the book. When the "Mrs Ws" reveal their secret roles in the cosmic fight against "the darkness" they ask the children to name some figures on Earth (a partially dark planet) who fight the darkness. They name Jesus, and later in the discussion Buddha is named as well, along with various creative artists and philanthropists. The three women are described as ancient star-beings who act as guardian angels.[12]

text: Further, the themes of "conformity" and the "status quo" are present. It is a generic theme that is within every society there is a powerful dominant group that challenges the minority group. Very few of the powerless members of this group are resilient. In this case, IT is the powerful dominant group that manipulates the planet of Camazotz into conformity (i.e., they all have the same rhythm). Even Charles Wallace falls prey (due to flattery) and is hence persuaded to conform. It is thanks to Meg that she and her family are able to break from conformity.[13] According to the author's granddaughter Charlotte Jones Voiklis, the story wasn't a simple allegory of communism; in a three-page passage that was cut before publication, the process of domination is said to be an outcome of dictatorship under totalitarian regimes, and by an excessive desire of security under democratic countries.[14][15]

text: Scholar Jean Fulton writes, "L'Engle's fiction for young readers is considered important partly because she was among the first to focus directly on the deep, delicate issues that young people must face, such as death, social conformity, and truth. L'Engle's work always is uplifting because she is able to look at the surface values of life from a perspective of wholeness, both joy and pain, transcending each to uncover the absolute nature of human experience that they share."[7]

text: Reception[edit]

text: At the time of the book's publication, Kirkus Reviews said, "Readers who relish symbolic reference may find this trip through time and space an exhilarating experience; the rest will be forced to ponder the double entendres."[16]

text: A Wrinkle in Time is on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 at number 23.[17] Reasons given include the book's references to witches and crystal balls,[18] the claim that it "challenges religious beliefs",[19] and the listing of Jesus "with the names of great artists, philosophers, scientists, and religious leaders".[20]

text: A 2004 study found that it was a common read-aloud book for sixth-graders in schools in San Diego County, California.[21] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[22] It was one of the "Top 100 Chapter Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.[23]

text: In 2016, the novel saw a spike in sales after Chelsea Clinton mentioned it as influential in her childhood in a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[24]

text: Characters[edit]

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Margaret "Meg" Murry[edit]

text: Meg is the outcast of the family and also the oldest child of scientists Alex and Kate Murry. Mathematically brilliant but less than adept at other subjects in school, Meg is "awkward", unpopular, and defensive around authority figures as well as her peers. Although she has the brains to accomplish difficult tasks, she rarely puts her strengths to use. She adores her mother and three brothers especially her youngest brother, Charles Wallace, and weeps much for her missing father. Like many adolescent girls, Meg is unhappy with her physical appearance, particularly her mouse-brown, unruly hair, braces and glasses, and considers herself a "monster" in comparison with her mother. But then she meets Calvin. She is about thirteen years old, and is a couple of grades below Calvin, who is fourteen years old but in eleventh grade. Introduced on the first page of the book, she is the story's main protagonist.

text: Charles Wallace Murry[edit]

text: Charles Wallace is the youngest Murry child, being five years old. He is very smart and is the most extraordinary and the most vulnerable of the novel's human characters, and the youngest to journey to Camazotz. Charles Wallace did not talk at all until he was nearly four years old, at which time he began to speak in complete sentences. Now five years old, Charles Wallace speaks only to his family, but can empathically or telepathically "read" certain people's thoughts and feelings, and above that has an extraordinary vocabulary. A biological "sport," he is intellectually curious, loving, and unfazed by extraordinary people and events. He was the first to meet the Mesdames W and brought Meg to see them. Initially able to block IT out of his mind, he opens his mind to the Man with Red Eyes and thus falls under IT's control.

text: Calvin O'Keefe[edit]

text: Calvin is the third oldest of Paddy and Branwen O'Keefe's eleven children, a tall, thin, red-haired 14-year-old high school junior who is not the best in math but has to study to play on the school basketball team, and is one of the popular boys in high school. His mother is a very cranky, tired woman with too many children. Neglected by his own family, Calvin enters the lives of the Murry family, starting in Chapter Two. He also loves Meg Murry. He shows some signs of being able to communicate telepathically, the same power Charles Wallace seems to have, a technique referred to in later books as kything. He also feels as if he has been hiding his true self all his life, and likes the Murry family much more than his own, which is characterized by abuse and dysfunctional dynamics.

text: Primary immortal characters[edit]

text: Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which are immortal beings who can travel across large stretches of time and space by dematerializing and rematerializing. They are capable of shapeshifting, but spend most of their time on Earth as elderly women. All three are billions of years old and were once stars that had sacrificed themselves as a nova or supernova to destroy parts of the Black Thing.

text: Mrs Whatsit[edit]

text: Mrs Whatsit is first described as a very old woman wrapped in layers of clothes with a jacket and first appears in chapter one. Charles Wallace finds her in a 'haunted house' in the woods, where she has been living with her two friends, Mrs Who and Mrs Which. Mrs Whatsit is the youngest of the Mmes. W (despite being 2,379,152,497 years, 8 months, and 3 days old), and the best of the three at interacting with the children.

text: In Chapter Four, Charles Wallace, Calvin, and Meg witnesses Mrs. Whatsit transform into a centaur-like winged being on the planet Uriel. After explaining their sacrificial backstory to the children, Mrs Whatsit admits to Meg that she had once been one of them, and to Mrs Which that it hadn't been very long (from their perspective) since it happened.

text: Mrs Who[edit]

text: Mrs Who is described as a plump woman with spectacles. She communicates in Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese and Greek, notably quoting William Shakespeare, Pascal, Dante Alighieri, Seneca, A. Perez, Horace, Miguel de Cervantes, Delille, Euripides, the Bible and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Mrs Whatsit explains that Mrs Who finds it "difficult to verbalize" in her own words.

text: Mrs Which[edit]

text: Mrs Which's physical appearance is not set; she appears as a shimmering light most of the time. However, she does once take on the appearance of a traditional witch with a black hat and broom. She does not stay long in this form, though, as corporeal appearance is quite difficult for her to maintain. She first appears at the end of Chapter 3. She is the clear leader of the three women and the wisest, and upon appearing, immediately demonstrates her vast knowledge of understanding in tesseract travel. Her distinguishing quirk is her long, drawn-out method of speech, symbolized by doubled and tripled consonants in her words (as in; "Nnoww, cchilldrenn, yyou musstt nott bee frrightennedd att whatt iss ggoingg tto hhappenn,"). She is the one who usually provides the group, most especially Meg, with the clues the children need to solve the problems encountered during their travels.

text: The Man with Red Eyes[edit]

text: The Man with Red Eyes is a being whom Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin encounter on their quest to rescue Meg and Charles Wallace's father on the planet Camazotz. He is the Prime Coordinator on Camazotz. He and IT control Camazotz together and are the main antagonists. He entices Charles Wallace to look into his glowing red eyes in order to find his father. When Charles Wallace does so, he too becomes possessed by the mind of IT, after which the Man with Red Eyes drops out of the story.

text: IT[edit]

text: IT is the bodiless, telepathic brain that dominates the planet of Camazotz and is the main antagonist of the story. IT controls all the people in Camazotz and makes people often do the same things together in a mechanistic synchronism as if they were robots. IT speaks through The Man With Red Eyes and later through Charles Wallace, and is functionally part of the interstellar evil cloud called the Black Thing. IT is described as a giant sized human brain. Housed in a dome near the "CENTRAL Central Intelligence" building, IT is said to pulse and quiver on its dais. IT's aim is to enforce absolute conformity on Camazotz, with the claimed benefit of eliminating war, unhappiness and inefficiency. However, IT is aware of cruelty, referring to "ITself" as "the Happiest Sadist". While IT usually speaks through one of its pawns, IT can speak directly to people through telepathy, but IT only does this once throughout the entire novel. IT's name is always used whenever IT is spoken of (rather than the pronoun "it"), so pervasively that even the word "itself" is rewritten as "ITself."

text: The Black Thing[edit]

text: A formless, shadowy being. According to the Mrs. Whatsit, the Black Thing is the source of all evil in the universe. It is unclear from where the Black Thing came or what its motivations are. It is unclear what its relationship to IT is, although it is suggested that IT is a powerful servant of the Black Thing. Many people have fought the Black Thing and added to the peace of the world, including Mr. Murry.

text: Sub-characters[edit]

text: Alex Murry[edit]

text: Meg's father is a physicist who is researching the mysteries of the space/time continuum, specifically five-dimensional means of travel between planets. He is also the father of Meg, Sandy, Dennys and Charles Wallace. He has been missing for some time at the start of the novel, and not even his government colleagues know where he is. He is usually referred to as Mr. Murry. His first name is revealed in the fifth and last Time novel An Acceptable Time. In the television adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, he is renamed Jack. He first appears in a flashback in Chapter One.

text: Dr. Katherine "Kate" Murry[edit]

text: Meg's mother is a microbiologist, Dr. Alexander Murry’s wife, and the mother of the four Murry children. She is considered beautiful by the Murry children and others, having "flaming red hair" and violet eyes. Her physical attractiveness, academic and scientific accomplishments give Meg a bit of an inferiority complex. She is introduced in Chapter One, and usually referred to as Mrs. Murry. As in her husband's case, her first name is given in the subsequently published An Acceptable Time. The television version of her character is renamed Dana.

text: Sandy Murry[edit]

text: Sandy and his twin brother Dennys are the middle children in the Murry family, older than Charles Wallace but younger than Meg. They are 10 years old at the time of this book. Sandy is named after his father, Dr. Alex Murry. Although they are certainly intelligent, Sandy and his twin are considered the "normal" children in the family: B students, good at sports, and well able to fit in with their peers. Of the twins, Sandy is generally the leader, and the more pragmatic of the two. He and Dennys first appear in Chapter One.

text: Dennys Murry[edit]

text: Dennys is the twin of Sandy Murry. Dennys and his twin are usually inseparable, with Dennys generally following Sandy's lead. However, Dennys is slightly less skeptical than his brother about the strange theories and even stranger adventures of Meg and Charles Wallace. (Note: The name Dennys is a shortened version of "Dionysus", which is the name of a Greek god, but is pronounced the same way as the more common spelling "Dennis.")

text: Mrs. Buncombe[edit]

text: The wife of the constable in Meg's hometown, who has twelve bed-sheets stolen from her at the beginning of the novel.[25]

text: Mr. Jenkins[edit]

text: Mr. Jenkins [25] is Meg's cold and unfeeling high-school principal who calls her "belligerent and uncooperative" and implies that her family is in denial about Mr. Murry's true whereabouts.

text: Supporting alien characters[edit]

text: The Happy Medium lives in a cavern on a planet in Orion's Belt. Human in appearance, she is described as wearing a satin gown and a silk turban, and uses a crystal ball to look at distant places and people. Her title comes from the character's jolly temperament, and her preference for looking at happy things. She helps Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace see The Black Thing through the crystal ball and understand what they are fighting against. She is introduced in chapter five. (The name "Happy Medium" is a pun alluding to the common expression for reaching an acceptable compromise: "to find a happy medium.")

text: Aunt Beast is a character who takes care of Meg and befriends her on the planet Ixchel after Meg is "frozen" by the Black Thing. Introduced in chapter ten, the character is a four-armed eyeless gray creature with telepathic abilities and numerous long, waving tentacles instead of fingers. Aunt Beast has a motherly, nurturing attitude toward Meg. The name Aunt Beast is one that Meg and the alien come up with together, based on the character's perusal of Meg's mind. The character's actual name, if any, is not given.

text: Locations[edit]

text: Early scenes in the novel take place in and around an unnamed village, later established in An Acceptable Time as being in Connecticut. The nearly 200-year-old Murry farmhouse has parallels in the Austin family series of books and in L'Engle's own Connecticut home, Crosswicks.[6]

text: When Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace travel to other planets, the ones whose names are given include the following:

text:
Camazotz – A planet of extreme, enforced conformity, ruled by a disembodied brain called IT. Camazotz is similar to Earth, with familiar trees such as birches, pines, and maples, an ordinary hill on which the children arrive, and a town with smokestacks, which "might have been one of any number of familiar towns". The horror of the place arises from its ordinary appearance, endlessly duplicated. Thus, the houses are "all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray"; this characterization has been compared with "the burgeoning American suburbia"[26] such as the post-war housing developments of Levittown, Pennsylvania. The people who live in the houses are similarly described, with "mother figures" who "all gave the appearance of being the same". Camazotz has also been compared with "an early sixties American image of life in a Communist state", a characterization partially dismissed as too glib.[27] The name Camazotz refers to a Mayan bat god, one of L'Engle's many mythological allusions in her nomenclature.[28] It is also stated that Camazotz is a planet that has "given in" to the Black Thing, implying that it was not always the dystopian place that it is at present..
Ixchel – A planet of muted colors, inhabited by tall, sightless creatures with tentacles. It orbits the same sun as Camazotz. The name Ixchel refers to a Mayan jaguar goddess of medicine.[28]
Uriel – A planet with extremely tall mountains, an allusion to the Archangel Uriel. It is inhabited by creatures that resemble winged centaurs. It is "the third planet of the Star Malak (meaning 'angel' in Hebrew) in the spiral nebula Messier 101", which would place it at roughly 25 million light-years from Earth. The site of Mrs Whatsit's temporary transformation into one of these winged creatures, it is the place where "the guardian angels" (i.e. the Mrs Ws, who are explicitly referred to as such by Calvin later in the book) "show the questers a vision of the universe that is obscured on earth."[12]

text: They also stop briefly on an unnamed two-dimensional planet and on an unnamed planet in Orion's belt, the latter of which is the home of the Happy Medium.

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: Audio books[edit]

text: In 1994, Listening Library released an unabridged, 4-cassette audio edition read by the author.[29]

text: On January 10, 2012, Audible released a 50th anniversary edition recorded by Hope Davis.[30]

text: Film adaptations[edit]

text:
In 2003, a television adaptation of the novel was made by a collaboration of Canadian production companies, to be distributed in America by Disney. The movie was directed by John Kent Harrison, with a teleplay by Susan Shilliday. It cast Katie Stuart as Meg Murry, Alfre Woodard as Mrs.Whatsit, Alison Elliott as Mrs.Who, and Kate Nelligan as Mrs.Which. In an interview with Newsweek, when L'Engle was asked if the film "met her expectations", she said, "Yes, I expected it to be bad, and it is."[31]
A theatrical feature film adaptation of the novel by Walt Disney Pictures, was released in 2018. The film is directed by Ava DuVernay and stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Storm Reid, Michael Peña, and Zach Galifianakis.[32][33]

text: Play[edit]

text: An adaptation by James Sie premiered at the Lifeline Theatre in Chicago in 1990, and returned to the stage in 1998 and 2017.[34]

text: John Glore adapted the novel as a play that premiered in 2010. It was written for six actors playing 12 parts. One actor plays Mrs Whatsit, the Man with Red Eyes, and Camazotz Man. Dr. Kate Murry, Mrs Who, Camazotz Woman, and Aunt Beast also share one performer. The stage adaptation premiered in Costa Mesa, California, with productions in Bethesda, Maryland; Cincinnati; Philadelphia; Orlando; Portland, Oregon; and other cities.[35][36]

text: An adaptation by Tracy Young premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in April 2014, as well as at colleges and theaters around the U.S.[37]

text: Opera[edit]

text: In 1992, OperaDelaware (known for frequently adapting children's books) staged an opera based on A Wrinkle in Time written by Libby Larsen with a libretto by Walter Green. The review in Philly.com stated "The composer does not place arias and set pieces, but conversational ensembles with spoken dialogue that made the young daughter's climactic but concise song about familial love all the more imposing."[38][39]

text: Graphic novel[edit]

text: In 2010, Hope Larson announced that she was writing and illustrating the official graphic novel version of the book. This version was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in October 2012.[40][41]

text: References in popular culture[edit]

text: The television show Lost featured appearances of the book: it is one of the novels Sawyer reads on the Island, and it is seen on his dresser.[42]

text: Further reading[edit]

text: Other books in the series[edit]

text: L'Engle wrote four other books featuring this generation of the Murry family, collectively known as the Time Quintet.

text:
A Wind in the Door (1973) ISBN 0-374-38443-6
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978) ISBN 0-374-37362-0
Many Waters (1986) ISBN 0-374-34796-4
An Acceptable Time (1989) ISBN 0-374-30027-5

text: Jean C. Fulton remarks that the books are not "intended to be read consecutively, these books, though integrated, are independent." Although Many Waters was published approximately eight years after A Swiftly Tilting Planet, it takes place several years earlier, when Sandy and Dennys are in high school and Meg is in college.

text: Four further novels have been published that feature Meg and Calvin's children, especially Polly O'Keefe. The most recent of these, An Acceptable Time, features Meg's parents, and is marketed with the four Murry books as part of the Time Quintet; Sandy Murry appears prominently in A House Like a Lotus, which features Polly O'Keefe. Nearly every novel by Madeleine L'Engle connects to the Murry-O'Keefe series either directly or indirectly with appearances by recurring characters. See also: List of L'Engle's works and Major characters in the works of Madeleine L'Engle for further detail.

text: Concerning A Wrinkle in Time[edit]

text:
Scholastic BookFiles: A Reading Guide to A Wrinkle in Time ISBN 0-439-46364-5
Chase, Carole F. Suncatcher: A Study of Madeleine L'Engle and Her Writing, p. 170. Innisfree Press, 1998, ISBN 1-880913-31-3