‘Batman V. Superman’ Senator Grills Mark Zuckerberg During Congressional Hearing
If one senator seemed familiar during Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony on Tuesday afternoon, it’s because he previously questioned Superman himself on Capitol Hill.
Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat who represents the state of Vermont alongside independent Bernie Sanders, serves on the Senate Judiciary and was one of the committee members who questioned Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg on the social media website’s influence on the 2016 presidential elections.
He was also one of the senators who questioned Superman (Henry Cavill) alongside senator June Finch (Holly Hunter) in the DC Comics superhero film Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In the film, the United States Senate is considering the merits of Superman and the potential threats he holds should he ever turn against humanity. During one of the hearings where the Senate was going to question Superman for their inquiry, a bomb is set off by the maniacal Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), killing Senator Leahy and everyone else in attendance, with the exception of the Man of Steel.
On Tuesday, Leahy was back in session questioning Zuckerberg about Facebook’s role in influencing the 2016 elections, as one Reddit user pointed out. While interviewing Zuckerberg, Leahy didn’t hold back as he questioned him about the company’s handling of users’ private data, its proliferation of fake news, and their cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller on his ongoing Russia investigation.
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn’t Leahy’s only appearance in one of the caped crusader’s cinematic archives. An avid DC Comics and Batman fan, Leahy also appeared as a Wayne Enterprises board member in both of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, he appeared as himself in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, and he was even a voice cameo in the second season of Batman: The Animated Series.
Leahy described himself to AFP as “a little bit of a geek” when it comes to Batman.
“Batman doesn’t have any superpowers,” he said. “He has to use his brain and his courage. That’s what always appealed to me.”
The most recent film to be released from the DC Extended Universe is Justice League, which opened in November of last year to lukewarm reviews and moderate box-office success. The next film in the franchise, Aquaman, is scheduled for release later this year.
