Warner Bros was out in full force at Comic-Con this year, buoyed by the absence of arch-rivals Marvel, and it pulled out all the stops to wow the fans. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director pulled up in the new Batmobile, and he later gave the attendees the first full-length trailer of the movie coming out in 2016.
The trailer didn’t disappoint, clocking in at over three and a half minutes, and giving the fans not just their first look at Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, but also Wonder-Woman.
Here’s everything we gleaned from the trailer:
We now know the reason behind Bruce Wayne’s enmity with Superman. Apparently, Metropolis and Gotham City are “sister cities” which means that the devastation caused by the Kryptonian world engine, as well as the brawl between General Zod and Superman, affected Gotham City directly as well. Gotham’s close proximity also explains ruined buildings in a scene of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman fighting –with Metropolis far off in the background.
The new trailer features the Battle of Metropolis from Bruce Wayne’s perspective – in a business suit on the ground. In the footage, Wayne is on the phone with someone in Wayne Financial when heat vision from General Zod and Superman’s Man of Steel fight rip through the building.
Later in the trailer, Wayne is shown holding a newspaper with the headline “Wayne Tower Destroyed” (and Joker taunts scrawled over the print) – indicating that when the Battle of Metropolis spilled over to sister city Gotham across the bay, Wayne was helpless to protect innocent lives – especially those of his coworkers, friends, and loved ones trapped in the crumbling building. Understandably, Wayne blames Superman for the deaths, leading to the revelation that drives the core Batman V Superman conflict.
The new trailer also reveals the Robin suit, with the Joker’s graffiti painted on it. In the comics, Batman keeps Jason’s Robin costume on display in the Batcave as a reminder of his personal failure to protect Jason or stop the Joker. It appears the film is taking a similar track. We don’t know if the Robin in question will be Jason Todd, but it looks obvious that the Joker took the life of a Robin, and Bruce keeps the suit in the Batcave.
The trailer has two shots of Wonder Woman fighting. The first has her brandishing her famous bracelets and releasing some kind of force. The second looks like she’s taking a punch, and to show off her badassery, she shakes it off like it’s nothing.
When Jesse Eisenberg was first cast as Batman V Superman‘s Lex Luthor, response online was mixed – with many celebrating the actor’s prior achievements but struggling to see him in the role of Lex Luthor. The new trailer offered the clearest sneak peek into Luthor’s mind so far. As fans had predicted before, the new trailer confirms that Lex Luthor is in possession of a kryptonite fragment. Earlier reports asserted Luthor could provide Bruce Wayne with the alien mineral for his fight against the god-like Superman – pitting the two heroes against one-another for his own gain – and it’s highly likely the kryptonite fragment will influence the main event fight.
Months back, Warner Bros. treated fans to a preview image of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor – complete with the character’s iconic bald head. Yet, recent publicity images and this latest trailed show the villain with a full head of hair.
Seems like we’ll just have to wait until March 2016 to know how it all pans out. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is scheduled to open in the United States in the trademark Zack Snyder March release date: March 25, 2016.
