Another day, another trailer for a future blockbuster. Although this post was originally planned for early next week, but since some click-hungry arsehole leaked a dodgy version of the trailer, Warner Bros. were forced to go live with the HD version. Today, I’m digging into DC’s prequel to Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. You can see the full trailer here.
Judging by this trailer, this whole damn movie is going to take place at night. Following on from Zack Snyder’s disappointingly sincere Man of Steel, Batman v Superman is sticking with the dark tone, which if anything was one of the problems I had with Man of Steel. Batman films can be dark – he’s the Dark Knight, after all – but Superman should live in a vivid, almost-neon bright cartoon world, because he’s Superman, and everything about him is ridiculous. Thus, in films at least, I can’t see how Superman and Batman can ever really work in the same project, given how different their respective worlds need to be.
See? Superman (Henry Cavill) surrounded by weird goth-type people (this could be a Halloween party for all I know) just looks weird. Over these opening clips, which cut from shots like this one back to a camera slowly zooming into the statue above, there’s a whole bunch of different people providing snippets of discussion via voiceover regarding the nature of Superman and his impact on the world. OK, I can kind of get behind that, in that in Man of Steel he arrives as an otherworldly being capable of great things in comparison to humans. “Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy?” asks one face-less voice. Another states “We’re talking about a being whose very existence challenges our own sense of priority in the universe.” However, when the world “being” is said, there’s a clear over-dubbing of someone in a raspy, distinctly Batman-like voice saying “alien” in a none-too-complimentary tone. Is this whole trailer some kind of slander campaign, created by Batman (Ben Affleck) and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) to turn the public opinion against Kal-El?
Oh, in case you’d forgotten what Superman can do, he’s very good at lifting heavy things whilst his impractical and relatively useless cape billows dramatically in the wind. He can also do literally everything else. The general rule is, Superman can do anything he tries to do, as long as it doesn’t involve glowing green rocks.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely” says a voice that, on first listen, I’d have sworn was Jodie Foster’s, but now having looked through the credits I’m pretty sure it belongs to Holly Hunter, currently credited as US Senator. By the way, this trailer is doing nothing to diminish Superman’s Christ metaphor, with these guys literally kneeling before him. Then again, it could also be a Zod metaphor.
“The devils don’t come from the Hell beneath us. No, they come from the sky.” This is said by Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, and adds further evidence to my slander campaign, because it’s said just before the image of Superman in the sky. Maybe this isn’t about a legal battle, as the naming originally implied. Maybe Superman and Batman are both running against one another for mayor or Gothamopolis.
Oh no, it was definitely a religious metaphor they were sticking with earlier, or at least now rallying against. I like the imagery here, and the reveal on the graffiti, along with the chanting of “Go home!” by an angry mob in the background. Clearly, the propaganda has worked and the general tide has turned against Superman. Pesky immigrants, coming over here and saving our damsels in distress.
Affleck, in full on broody mode. We also get to hear Jeremy Irons as Alfred the butler, saying “That’s how it starts; the fever, the rage. The feeling of powerlessness that turns good men cruel.” So it seems he at least is on the side of righteousness, probably advising his Bat-boss to not go up against Superman. Doubtlessly Bruce Wayne will come around by the end of this film, in order to set up the Justice League.
The Bat-suit. Apparently with age, Batman lost the need to be able to turn his head again.
OK, so I have no idea what’s going on here, where this is or who that is (probably Batman), but I had to include this shot because amongst the graffiti on the far left pillar there’s a question mark in the distinctive style of The Riddler. Is this just an easter egg? or will Edward Nigma be appearing in this film? My guess is that it will just be a nod to some previous villains Batman has defeated, or perhaps at most an opening scene in which Batman defeats the Riddler somehow, but I’d love nothing more than for Superman to retaliate against Batman by assembling a group of Batman’s greatest villains. Call it a prequel to Suicide Squad.
The Batjet, or whatever it’ll be called here (in The Dark Knight Rises, it was just called The Bat, and I didn’t like it).
It has guns, and needs to use them.
Potentially the most exciting aspect of any film featuring Batman, at least since Batman Begins; The Batmobile. This seems to be a slightly less rugged, functional version than Begins‘ Tumbler, which is a shame because I loved that car, and I’m not even a car guy.
Affleck in the Batsuit. Muscular. Intimidating. Very, very dark grey.
Put some stars and stripes behind him, and this would be the Spider-Man shot. As it is, it’s Batman stood on a tower, possibly looking out for Superman. Batman’s cape also billows, but not as majestically as Superman’s.
The Superman-buster suit. Clearly Batman understands that his traditional flimsy elastomer cowl and form fitting suit would be no match for Superman’s invulnerability, but will strapping some metal on and borrowing Tony Stark’s glowing eyes make any kind of difference? And did Bruce Wayne really still make sure he had the little “ears” at the top of the mask? Jeez.
“Tell me, do you bleed? You will.” Batman is threatening an all-powerful super-being from another planet. Unless that suit is lined with Kryptonite, this is probably a bad idea. As much as I prefer Batman as a character to Superman, as far as I can tell there’s only one way that fight can end. Now, his voice. There is always a point of contention when discussing the Batman voice. For the record, I never had a problem with Christian Bale’s “Swear to me!” growl, but Affleck sounds more like the puppet from Saw. It might work, but right now I don’t like it all that much.
And of course, in this confrontation not only is it night (probably midnight, that’s when this sort of thing tends to go down) but it’s also chucking it down with rain. There’s nothing like a good cliché.
Shit is about to go down.
I can’t say this trailer has piqued my interest all that much, but then again we haven’t really seen a great deal. Most of the characters, such as the rest of the Justice League (so far the likes of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) are scheduled to be appearing) haven’t been shown, and we’ve only heard Eisenberg’s Luthor, we haven’t seen his shiny, shiny head yet. I don’t mind the overly dark aesthetic, as it does set this aside from Marvel’s cinematic universe, and how bright and breezy can a film centred around court proceedings be anyway?
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is currently scheduled for release in March 2016. As in, almost a year away. Think you can wait that long?