A defining part of Batman's character for nearly thirty years is that the caped crusader does not kill, a characteristic that has served as one of his key characteristics since the earliest Batman comics. Despite this, Zack Snyder believes it is something that is detrimental to the caped crusader and even making the hero “irrelevant” in the larger superhero community.

Snyder shared his thoughts on the no-kill rule during his most recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast where the pair talked about the director's film career. When discussing his time on Batman v Superman, Snyder spoke about how he was not a fan of Batman's no-killing rule, himself, and how he felt it was detrimental to telling interesting stories with the character.

“You're protecting your god in a weird way, right? You're making your god irrelevant if he can't be in that situation,” Snyder said. “He has to now deal with that. If he does do that what does that mean? What does it tell you, does he stand up to it? Does he survive that as a god? As your god, can Batman survive that?”

The rule, itself, was originally introduced in Batman's fourth issue released in January 1941, where he explains to Robin his no guns and no killing rules.

Several stories have even put the rule at the center of its conflict to analyze the reasoning behind Batman's decision to follow these rules. One example is seen in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, where he explains to the titular villain how he follows the rule partially out of fear for what he would become if he started killing.

It was not a rule he has always followed, though, as there is plenty of Batman media out there where he kills in various ways. His film outings, in particular, have seen the caped crusader kill his share of bad guys in various ways, whether it is Michael Keaton's Batman strapping a bomb to a henchman's chest or Ben Affleck taking out thugs with his heavily-armed Batwing.

More often than not, it appears Batman's dedication to the rule comes down to the creative minds behind said Batman story.