It’s one of next year’s most rabidly anticipated comic book epics, the first in an ambitious slate of 10 new Warner Bros movies based on the DC Comics back catalogue, and a superhero smackdown to rival Marvel’s similarly pitched Captain America: Civil War. So can Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice launch a new cinematic universe into the ether after the mild disappointment of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel? Here are five takeaways from the new trailer.
People seem to be taking Clark Kent seriously
Snyder continues to build a new version of Superman vastly different from the dynamic setup by director Richard Donner in 1978. Where the Daily Planet reporter was once a bumbling, semi-invisible goon, his very ineptness designed to act as the perfect mask, this new Kent is respected enough that mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is on first name terms with him. Reeve’s Kent would never have drawn attention to himself by aiming awkward questions at Bruce Wayne, but this new more confident version has no qualms about hinting that he knows the businessman’s secret identity. It all helps to build tension, but some of the charm and internal logic of the early films has definitely been lost.
General Zod’s part in this may not yet be over
Previous trailers have shown us the dead Kryptonian villain’s body bag being unzipped, but we now learn that Eisenberg’s maniacal Lex Luthor is the man who has his dirty little hands on the corpse. Unless Snyder is teasing us with smoke and mirrors, it looks very much like Zod is the vessel through which the character Doomsday is brought to life, Frankenstein-style. This would be a significant departure from the comic-book canon, which pitches Superman’s nemesis as an eternally reincarnating monstrosity who hates all life. But both versions had their origins on Krypton, so the new take makes a certain sense. The new iteration’s apparent origins also represent a much more satisfying link to the events of Man of Steel, so we can perhaps forgive the tinkering.
Snyder is aiming for a certain Whedon-esque levity
Joss Whedon’s great innovation on The Avengers was the realisation that audiences will accept just about anything from a comic book movie, provided the wit flies faster than any of the preposterously powered titans on screen. Whether Snyder and his screenwriting team of Argo’s Chris Terrio and David S Goyer have the comedy chops to pull off a similar feat remains to be seen, but there are positive signs in the scene when Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman turns up for the first time to help face down a monstrous new villain. “Is she with you?” asks Superman; “I thought she was with you,” responds Batman. It’s simple, but effective stuff which smartly undercuts the pretentious pomp of the episode, and represents a lightness of touch which previous caped-crusader architects – from Christopher Nolan to Frank Miller – rarely thought to employ in their own, more brooding ventures.
Wonder Woman has arrived for a reason
The trailer also gives away the Amazonian princess’s catalyst for departing her homeland: the hideous Doomsday. Whether the new version of the villain is some sort of twisted FrankenZod, or was simply summoned to Earth using mysterious Kryptonian tech, it’s clear he’s the greater threat which brings our heroes together and eventually inspires them to form The Justice League. And by the looks of the CGI monstrosity, one can easily understand why any right-minded costumed crimefighter would put aside personal gripes to unite against the more imminent menace.
Snyder had better have some more twists up his sleeve, because he’s giving a lot away here
Batman fights Superman, the pair fail to kill each other and are forced to unite with Wonder Woman to take on the threat of Doomsday, who has been brought to Earth by the evil Lex Luthor. If this is not the entire plot of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it certainly looks a lot like it from where we’re standing. Of course, we still have the debut of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman to look forward to, while the nature of those strange Son of Superman vigilante-types, who seem to be determined to worship Kal-El as some sort of deity, remains an intriguing mystery. Here’s hoping Snyder has held back a few choice twists, because it’s a pretty big reveal to show us the war beyond the original battle that most people are coming to see the movie for in the first place.
