“Today is a day for truth”
The first full trailer for Batman v Superman arrived at Comic Con yesterday. Colour me suitably intrigued! The teaser trailer caused me to ask more questions about the point of Batman v Superman rather than anything else. The Comic Con trailer has whetted my appetite, however…Here’s the trailer:
It begins with Superman being called to court/the Senate to answer for his actions, presumably from the end of Man of Steel. I was one of the many people who critiqued Man of Steel for the mindless destruction of Metropolis by a hero who’s meant to save people. Now, it seems, I and many others may be eating our words. Whether it was planned from the beginning or not, Superman’s destruction of Metropolis has two large consequences. One, Superman has to answer to humanity for the destruction. And two, Bruce Wayne was present at the destruction…
We see Bruce Wayne running towards a falling skyscraper to save a child during Superman’s battle against General Zod. The smoke billowing out is a 9/11 reference that disgusted me in Man of Steel, but my resentment of the 9/11 images constantly used in film is a topic for another day. In the ruins of the skyscraper, we see Wayne holding a child and a Wayne Financial sign among the rubble. Now, it would have been nice if we would have seen the sign in Man of Steel (which leads me to believe it wasn’t planned all along), but the other consequence of the destruction of Metropolis is that Wayne was there and witnessed the chaos. Is that what leads Wayne to re-suit up as Batman? We also see Wayne holding a newspaper cutting with the headline ‘Wayne Tower Devastated,’ and someone has written on it “You let your family die.” Could it be Lex Luthor, using underhanded means to get Batman to fight Superman?
“This bat vigilante is like a one man reign of terror”
The above quote and the accompanying footage twists what I thought of Batman. I believed he would be presented as the good guy in the clash against an evil alien. We see a criminal tied up with the bat symbol branded on his chest. Compare it to the scenes of Superman saving a family in a flooded area, or holding up the top of a rocket that has exploded. Superman, at one point, is stood among a crowd of people who obviously admire him. It looks like a cult. Who will be the ‘villain’ in the clash between Bats and Supes? Will Batman be portrayed as a terrorist?!?!?
Why did Bats hang up his boots in the first place? Was it the death of Robin? We see Wayne looking at Robin’s suit, with the words “Hahaha the joke’s on you Batman.” Obviously they were written by the Joker. Did the murder of Robin cause Wayne to give up the Batman? The accompanying Wayne voiceover says “twenty years of Gotham, how many good guys are left?” Did Wayne see his purpose as Batman rendered pointless? The shot of Batman firing up the Bat symbol light is one of the best shots of the trailer, but isn’t that used to call for Batman’s help? Why does Batman feel the need to light it up? To show the world that he is back in action?
The only bum note of the trailer for me was the shot of seeing Wayne’s mum and dad get shot. I mean, come on, how many times do we have to see the key event of Batman’s life? Just like the death of Uncle Ben and Spider-Man, the majority of people have seen or know about Wayne’s parents being murdered. We saw it at the beginning of the TV Series Gotham!
“He is not our enemy”
Our first shot of Wonder Woman see her fighting someone. But who is it? Is it the real villain of the piece? The last shot of the trailer, as Superman rips off the top of the Batmobile and Batman stands up to face him, looks like a scene of reconciliation rather than a prelude to a fight. We know they join forces (with Wonder Woman and Aquaman) in the film, but who will they join forces against? Lex Luthor is conspiring to twist Holly Hunter’s Senator to do something about the threat of Superman. He’s in possession of Zod’s body, and we see him in front of Kryptonite. Is he the real villain of the piece? Or does he create something such as Doomsday or Bizarro that will become the real villain of the piece?
“Nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman”
After the teaser trailer, my interest was piqued only a little about Batman v Superman. The full trailer has coloured me very intrigued. Of course, I fear it will fall to the failings that I mentioned in my reaction to the teaser trailer. There seems to be far too much going on to be held in one film. The introduction of Batman (who needs no real introduction of course, but we need to know why he’s here), for one. The introductions of Wonder Woman and Aquaman will need to portray them for the majority of people who don’t have a clue who they are and what powers they have. They are DC characters that few people are familiar with. How will it cope with the many elements to the plotline?
Compare it to Captain America: Civil War, which may as well be renamed Captain America vs Iron Man. We’ve spent several films with both characters, and understand them and their motivations. We’ve spent one film with the rebooted Superman, and zero films with the rebooted Batman. The characters of Civil War, apart from a few new characters here and there, are familiar to the audience. The real question is: what will people care about more? Batman v Superman, or Captain America v Iron Man? I guess we’ll see next year! But I, like many others, will shell out to watch both! Batman v Superman finally has my attention…don’t let it be wasted!
What did you think about the trailer? Leave your thoughts below!
Hammy Reviews 