Warner BrosIs Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a bad movie that deserves to be made fun of? Probably. However, now that its 10th anniversary is upon us, I think we can maybe cut Ben Affleck's Bats a little slack because it is not the movie's fault that Superman and Batman's moms have the same name. One of the most interesting moments about this 2016 movie relies on a bizarre coincidence, but why do Martha Kent and Martha Wayne have the same first name? And is the scene where Batman realizes this the greatest thing in this messy film, or the silliest?A mere decade ago, the follow-up to Man of Steel promised the "dawn of justice." Given that the DCEU ended back in 2023 and a new DC Cinematic Universe shepherded by James Gunn has replaced it, the day that Batman v Superman ushered in was a pretty short one. The film has its fans (especially the Zack Snyder hardcore fans), but generally it's regarded as a somewhat awkward, forced attempt to kick-start a Justice League that could compete with Marvel's Avengers. There's plenty to criticize about BvS, but perhaps the most infamous moment comes when Batman and Superman's big fight ends because… Batman realizes their moms are both named Martha.After a lengthy CGI battle between an armored, Dark Knight Returns-styled Bats and Superman —a fight orchestrated by Lex Luthor—it all comes to a sudden, abrupt end when Batman hears his late mother's name. It's an absurd moment that comes out of left field, but a full decade removed from the eye-rolling mommy moment in an otherwise grimdark superhero battle, I think we should all admit that it is actually pretty weird that Superman and Batman's mothers were both named Martha. But was this always the case?No, in terms of comics history, it wasn't always like this. When Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were first introduced in 1938 and 1939, respectively, neither of their mothers was named. The first issue of Action Comics states only that baby Superman was picked up by "passing motorsists" while Detective Comics #33, which detailed Batman's origin story, showed only Thomas Wayne and "his wife" getting gunned down in that alleyway. By 1948, when Batman #47 came out, the late Mrs. Wayne gained a first name: Martha.Superman's folks, his human parents anyway, had all sorts of names in the Man of Steel's early days. In Superman #1, his adoptive mother is named Mary Kent. (Mr. Kent's first name is not stated.) In 1942, the pair were named Eben and Sarah Kent in the novel The Adventures of Superman, and these names were used in the Superman film serials and the 1952 TV show. In 1948, a swanky official retelling of his origin story in Superman #53 named the kindly couple John and Mary Kent. However, starting in Superboy #12 in 1951, Clark's mom was named Martha, and other '50s comics were calling Pa Jonathan rather than John. Eventually, multiversal continuity sorted this out: John and Mary Kent were the parents of the Golden Age Superman from what was retroactively deemed "Earth-Two," while Jonathan and Martha Kent were the Silver Age Pa and Ma on "Earth-One." This is the current main setting of DC's primary continuity.Why did comics writers give the moms of the two biggest superheroes the same name? Batman and Superman didn't really start crossing over until after both Martha's names had stuck, so perhaps the redundancy wasn't seen as much of an issue. And Martha was a popular name back then; while in 2024 it was the 667th most-popular girls' name in the United States (up in the rankings after placing in the 700s for a decade), in the 1930s and '40s Martha placed between 24th and 34th every single year.Henry Cavill as Clark Kent and DIane Lane as Martha Kent. | Warner BrosSo it's hardly an impossible coincidence that two white women of this era were both named Martha, even if it was weird that both of their sons were superheroes. However! The Bruce Wayne played by Ben Affleck and Clark Kent played by Henry Cavill in BvS weren't that old, as the 2016 film was set in the then-present day. A tombstone reveals that the DCEU's Martha Wayne (played by The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan in a flashback) was born in 1946. Diane Lane's Martha Kent doesn't have an exact birth year; supposedly, the Man of Steel novelization places her birthday in the early '50s. Martha was the 32nd most popular girls' name in 1946 and ranged between 32nd and 41st place from 1950 to 1953. So, yes, there would have been a lot of Martha running around.And yet Batman certainly wasn't thinking about the Social Security Administration's fun treasure trove of name data when he was confronted with his own mother's name while beating a Kryptonite-weakened Superman to a pulp following a brutal battle. Hearing his mother's name from the mouth of his enemy—an enemy he likely never even considered having a mother, since he's an alien—was certainly jarring. Batman's mother is named Martha… Superman's mother is named Martha… perhaps they're not so different after all. It's the thing that breaks Lex Luthor's spell and sets the two heroes on the paths to being allies rather than being bitter enemies.Batman's reaction to the Martha moment in BvS is totally defensible. Less defensible is screenwriters Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer's decision to build the climactic moment of the entire film around a name. Yes, it's a humanizing moment. Yes, it is weird that their mother's names are the same (many comic fans probably never put two and two together). But this reveal—really more of a fun bit of comic book trivia— is coming in the middle of the most intense moment of the entire film. It's also awkwardly contrived; Superman specifically saying "save Martha" rather than just "my mom" is a forced bit of dialogue that only exists to set up Batman's revelation. (Affleck—who is actually pretty great at playing Bruce Wayne even if his Batman is only so-so—is forced to scream "WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?" in a dead-serious tone that only underlines how canned this interaction is.)Lauren Cohan as Martha Wayne. | Warner Bros.None of that is the fault of Batman, the character, within the fiction of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The World's Greatest Detective is understandably shocked that, of all the names in all the world, his mother shares a given name with Superman's mommy. Even when considering the historical popularity of Martha as a name, it's still a heck of a coincidence, one born by comic book writers more than a century ago when they settled on the same name for two different characters. So, if you rewatch BvS in honor of the film's 10th anniversary, please try to put yourself in Bruce Wayne's heavily armored shoes. Two Marthas… What are the odds!?Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice streams on HBO Max.