Earlier today, we brought you new TV spots from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which teased the epic battle between Ben Affleck's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman. We also showed you a new Empire Magazine cover, which featured an artistic rendition of these icons locked in battle. Empire also had the chance to speak with director Zack Snyder, who shed some new light on several aspects of this long-awaited adventure, including why he revealed the villainous Doomsday in the last trailer, how old Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman really is, and the huge tease of yet another big villain.

Many were surprised when Doomsday was featured in the third trailer for Batman v Superman, even though he was rumored to be a part of the story for quite some time. There have been unconfirmed reports that Lex Luthor takes the corpse of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and turns him into Doomsday, but details about how Doomsday is created have not been confirmed. Zack Snyder revealed why he wanted these heroes to square off against Doomsday in this epic adventure.

"To go up against heroes like Batman and Superman, we wanted to introduce one of the DC Universe's most iconic and powerful villains. He is essentially an unstoppable force. He poses a real threat to the world within the film."

Unfortunately, the director wouldn't clarify if Lex Luthor has any part in Doomsday's creation, but he did add that Lex is interested in "metahuman existence" and there is a connection to his investigation and the arrival of Diana Prince, a.k.a. Wonder Woman. The director also shed new light about the potential appearance of another villain, Darkseid. Earlier today, we showed you new photos from Empire that showed Batman looking at a massive Omega signal, which is basically Darkseid's calling card, of sorts, and in the second trailer, fans noticed Darkseid's Parademons flying around. The director confirmed to the magazine that this is actually a dream sequence, and not a flash-forward to Justice League Part 1, as many have speculated.

The dream sequence is set on the fictional land of Kandahar, featuring Batman "shouldering a machine gun, walks unbowed through the blizzard to greet an armoured juggernaut pulling up in a desert compound that's walled with rusty containers." It isn't known exactly why Bruce Wayne is having violent dreams about Darkseid, but hopefully we'll find out more soon. One of the other rumors that surfaced last year involved Wonder Woman, with speculation mounting that this character is actually hundreds of years old when the film begins. The director confirmed that she is actually over 5,000 years old when the movie begins, teasing that her inclusion in the story was quite organic.

"It was incredibly organic how Wonder Woman came into the story. The whole concept came of, 'Let's not save anything. Let's try it all.' Then Wonder Woman's entrance made us realize we were much closer to the Justice League than we thought. We realized we were one movie away."

The magazine also spoke with Gal Gadot herself, who revealed that she actually stopped being a superhero several years ago, before unknown events caused her to don the iconic costume once again. It isn't known how long she stopped being a superhero for, but it's possible that the stand alone Wonder Woman movie may explain this, since it is set decades before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Here's what she had to say about her iconic character, and how her heroic alter-ego is different from Diana Prince.

"Because she's seen it all, she has seen what humans can do, so it was very hard for her to come back and fight. They have the same attitude. Although when she is Diana she tries to blend in, she is not too outgoing. I don't want people to think she is perfect. She can be naughty."

Gal Gadot is currently filming her stand alone Wonder Woman movie in London, with a supporting cast that includes Chris Pine as her love interest Steve Trevor and Connie Nielsen as her mother Hippolyta, plus Ewen Bremner, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis and Saïd Taghmaoui in unspecified roles. We know that the story is partially set during World War I, which executive producer Deborah Snyder confirmed, while revealing this stand alone movie offers an origin story. Here's what she had to say below.

"Her sexuality is part of her power, but she is also a feminist icon. Gender has been a hot topic, so it is very timely to bring her back. The way we have approached it, especially in the stand alone movie, that is definitely there. Looking back and doing an origin story - and it is a period piece - see the role of women through history. There is a great source of humour in that now. It is so unbelievable you can't even fathom it. You are still making a statement, but having some fun with it."

The executive producer also confirmed that Batman's voice is "digitally altered" when he's wearing the cowl. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice launches Warner Bros. new DC Comics slate of movies, including Suicide Squad (August 5, 2016), Wonder Woman (June 23, 2017), Justice League Part 1 (November 17, 2017), The Flash (March 23, 2018), Aquaman (July 27, 2018), Shazam! (April 5, 2019), Justice League Part 2 (June 14, 2019), Cyborg (April 3, 2020) and Green Lantern Corps. (June 19, 2020). What do you think about these new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice details? Chime in with your thoughts, and stay tuned for more, as we get closer to the March 25 release.