Spoiler Alert! Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director defends movie's shocking killer twist

The reviews are in, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has taken a critical beating, despite earning $421.1 million worldwide.

That's a lot of coin for a film with a meagre 29 percent positive critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, but maybe the surprising twist in the titular showdown had something to do with the negative reaction.

If you haven't seen Batman v Superman and have read this far, turn away, if you don't want to know what happens: At the end of the movie, Superman meets the same apparent fate as Jon Snow at the end of Game of Thrones last season. #RIP

The film's director Zach Snyder revealed the reasoning that went into killing off an iconic superhero during an interview with Collider.

"One of the big things I wanted to make sure of was that as we went into Justice League, Bruce Wayne was the one who was gathering the Justice League," he explained, referring to the sequel.

"I thought it was really important to have Bruce Wayne be the samurai who goes and finds the other samurai. that to me was important."

That means Ben Affleck, who plays Batman, and not Superman portrayer Henry Cavill will lead the charge in next year's Justice League.

No big surprise there, considering Oscar winner Ben's drawing power, but can the man of steel actually stay dead? Don't count on it.

"Suffice it to say there is a plan," Zach promises. "But that's gonna be – you need to wait and see."

Sadly, for comic fanatics, until November 17, 2017, when Justice League hits theatres.