The new Batman v Superman trailer has been out for a bit so now that the dust has settled critique wise I'd like to have a crack at it.
I usually approach these things in a step by step fashion and run through items of interest in a chronological order. I think this time, I'll intercede with some thoughts and jump ahead from time to time with theories and thoughts as they come to mind.
Take the character of Senator Finch played by Holly Hunter. We open the trailer with a voice over from her and, later, we see her again as she meets with Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg.)
(Did you notice she can barely get the word, "truth" out of her mouth?)
(Did you notice she can barely get the word, "truth" out of her mouth?)
She looks to be holding a Senate hearing into the aftermath of the Zod and Superman fight and she warns her audience "That kind of power is very dangerous."
But how legitimate are her concerns? Does she really take the welfare of American citizens to heart or she just a prop for a larger force?
But how legitimate are her concerns? Does she really take the welfare of American citizens to heart or she just a prop for a larger force?
To answer that question, all we have to do is skip ahead in the trailer to find her at that meeting with Lex Luthor. Luthor tells her devils come from the sky. She's also at Luthor's place (mansion?) and if we can trust the trailer, Luthor has showed her evidence of Superman's "guilt." I think from here we can conclude from this that Senator Finch is in Luthor's pocket and his influence extends into the Senate through his proxy Senator Finch.
She's been bought.
The trailer moves on to Superman's appearance before the Senate. Superman, he of the furrowed brow.
I like Henry Cavill. He portrays Superman as such a sympathetic figure. As Superman, he always seems legitimately concerned.
She's been bought.
The trailer moves on to Superman's appearance before the Senate. Superman, he of the furrowed brow.
I like Henry Cavill. He portrays Superman as such a sympathetic figure. As Superman, he always seems legitimately concerned.
Later, even as Martha Kent explains to him that he doesn't owe the people of Earth anything he looks genuinely puzzled that she should say such a thing.
As for Martha, Diane Lane continues the cynical approach Zack Snyder has imbued her character with. The same was done with Kevin Costner's Pa Kent in the first Snyder Superman movie. This is a departure from the usual "folksy" take we have of the Kents where everything is rosy.
We move to that riveting scene where Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne is running towards the carnage of Metropolis seen in the Man of Steel movie. Now that's a hero. How many people do you know that run towards a collapsing building?
I should mention Bruce Wayne being in Metropolis during the Zod fight is a big deal. As we find out, it provides the impetus for Batman's disdain for all things Superman.
To continue, Bruce Wayne bears first hand the fighting between Zod and Superman. He seems to be desperately calling anyone in that building to get out as soon as possible.
Heat vision cuts like a scythe through glass and steel and in an instant a figure comes darting out of the skyscraper as the building falls in his wake.
In the rubble of once was the Wayne Financial building, Bruce Wayne looks skyward. He hold in tight embrace the figure of a young girl. The lone survivor? A future figure in Batman's life?
Wayne is transfixed in his gaze. Is he staring at Superman as he hovers in the midst of battle? Of this I have no doubt. Wayne's own heat vision is internalized and it is powered by the contempt for the caped figure that has destroyed part of his corporate family.
I say corporate family because in the next sequence Wayne has received a newspaper clipping of the day his building was destroyed. Across it someone has scrawled, "You let your family die." This is a doubled edged dagger to the heart for Bruce. It invokes Wayne's family dying before his eyes as a child and of course the most recent disaster in Metropolis.
Who would send such a letter?
I'm betting it was sent by Lex Luthor. I think it is a double pronged effort to taunt his corporate rival and perhaps elicit an angry response from the Batman. Luthor would have to know that Wayne is Batman of course and he may well. In the comics, Luthor is known as the second smartest man on the planet.
Wayne being the first.
The Wayne vignette actually starts with a lone figure striding towards a mansion whose grounds have gone to seed and the manse stands hollow and broken. A metaphor for Batman?
The voice we hear is that of Jeremy Irons who plays Alfred the Wayne Butler. It could be Wayne strolling to the mansion but I am convinced it is Irons.
The scene cuts immediately to the Batcave. Another figure cuts from from right to left in the distance behind some glass. I believe this to be Bruce Wayne. Is Batman semi-retired? The Batmobile seen on one of the levels is covered in a tarp suggesting a lack of use.
Alfred continues his voice over. He speaks of a fever and a rage that turns "good men cruel." (In the background a video monitor seems to show Superman in action.)
Not coincidentally, Batman's costume is revealed and Bruce Wayne takes a hard look at it. Has it been a while? Did the Batman turn cruel? What prompted this cruel turn?
Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) continues the voice over. He's berating Clark Kent over his fascination with the Batman. Is Clark using his position as a Daily Planet reporter to get intel into the Batman. Pehaps stepping over the bounds of a normal reporter?
Our trailer turns to some quality time between Superman and Amy Adams' Lois Lane. She reminds Clark that the symbol on his chest stands for hope. As she intones this reminder we get a scene of Superman appearing before some flood stricken people. One lady in particular lifts an outstretched arm as Superman hovers above.
This strikes me as particularly odd. I mean it is a great cinematic hero scene with Superman being back lit by the sun in god-like fashion. But would Superman really just hover there just to look awesomely cool? Wouldn't he just swoop in and rescue those people?
Is he that hesitant/damaged by his Metropolis experience that he can't decide what to do?
This is where we pickup the Martha Kent monologue. She basically tells him to be the angel people look to or just junk it all because he doesn't owe them a thing. It's an odd discourse and I don't blame Supes for looking confused. As I said before, these Kents are a lot more cynical. It's my thinking that Martha is reacting to the backlash by the public in general which is no odoubt being orchestrated by Luthor behind the scenes.
Luthor takes over with his "Devils" speech to Senator Finch and the dead visage of General Zod is revealed. There is a lot of people on the internet that believe Luthor is set on cloning Zod to form an army of beings to rid the world of Superman. Perhaps even "Doomsday" from the comics.
I, instead, have a crackpot theory.
What if these cloning experiments go wrong and instead of a Doomsday being we get this.
Bizarro Superman.
This is how Bizarro Superman looks in the comics now. It would take a lot of guts to introduce this strange creature to the movies but it shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.
Now here's a telling sequence.
Bruce Waynes speaks and he tells of his twenty years in Gotham. "How many good guys are left, how many stayed that way?" As we start this sequence Wayne looks at the empty suit of what is commonly believed to be that of Robin. A deceased Robin. Quite possibly the Jason Todd Robin that died in the comics. (To be played by Zack Snyder's son Eli?)
Jason Todd took a turn for the worse, is this who Wayne is talking about? Does he include Selina Kyle as someone that didn't stay good? How about The Huntress?
The empty suit has "The Joke's on you Batman" scrawled across it. Was it the Joker's assassination of Jason Todd that turned Batman cruel? Or did it drive him into retirement?
If I may I want to speak on the rod the Robin suit is holding.
In the first trailer we see Batman holding a similar rod as he stands in the shadows. Later, he stands atop a building with what looks to be the same instrument. Has Robin's rod been modified as a weapon to take out Superman? Is it tipped with Kryptonite? Is Batman really holding a rifle in the second frame that shoots a magic bullet of kryptonite?
Or is it the "Spear of Destiny?" Now that would be pretty profound.
Wayne further intones,, "He has the power to wipe out the entire human race and we have to destroy him."
It's now, "Go time" for the trailer as it really takes off.
First, we get some quick cuts of Thomas Wayne being cut down to remind us of Batman's bitterness. Then, what looks to be the Batwing setting a city on fire. Is the Batwing's devastation testimony of how cruel Batman has become in that he willing to destroy entire neighborhoods in order to achieve his goals?
Now we are really rocking as Wonder Woman is introduced. (We saw her briefly as Diana Prince when Wayne spoke of good guys.)
I love the look on Gal Gadot's face as she is thrown back during battle. It's as if she is saying, "You dare?" (GIF courtesy of Kokatu.com)
I have a feeling the battle we are witnessing is a three way fight between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. It occurs at a time when they really don't get each other. In fact Batman and Wonder Woman may be allied against Superman.
We get some terrific shots here as Batman nearly gets zapped by heat vision and Wonder Woman is quickly losing her patience.
Luthor appears and wouldn't you know he seems to have some Krypotonite. Not too close Lex that stuff may make your hair fall out. (Man, that is a bad wig.)
Luthor tells Senator Finch, "The red capes are coming, the red capes are coming" and this is what leads people to believe Luthor has been trying to clone General Zod.
Please let it be Bizarro Supermen.
Our trailer culminates as Superman rips off the doors to the Batmobile. Batman stands in defiance to a far more powerful being. God, the Dark Knight has some brass ones.
It looks as though Superman has followed Batman to Gotham Gity as the gas pumps say Gotham City Gas. Good work Clark.
So, what does everyone think? Wondering why I left out the "Super Nazis" and the "Desert Batman?" Sound off below with your thoughts!
Update Alert!
I left out this image in my first take of the Batman v Superman trailer as I wasn't certain of it's significance. It shows a be-booted individual walking amongst shell casings, a deflated basketball and what seems to be an injured security guard.
Now we have this image from Empire Magazine showing Lex inside a gym with basketballs in the background. It's not a leap to deduce the shooting from the above image took place in LexCorp's gym. (BTW, who puts a giant neon sign inside a gym? Someone with a giant ego?)
We could have made that deduction as evidenced from a motorcycle racing to the scene of some Lexcorp devastation but I think this seals it. Who is the motorcycle rider? My guess it is Lex himself alerted to the explosive incident. Was it Superman that caused the devastation? He did like to destroy things in the Man of Steel movie. I'm thinking it was rather the Batman investigating Lexcorp and leaving a wake of destruction in his path. The injured security guard may spell Batman's aversion to killing and the hundreds of shell casings show what a hard target he is.
It's possible a fight between Batman and Superman took place in the gym. Those two do know how to break things. We may find out more in the near future.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!
As for Martha, Diane Lane continues the cynical approach Zack Snyder has imbued her character with. The same was done with Kevin Costner's Pa Kent in the first Snyder Superman movie. This is a departure from the usual "folksy" take we have of the Kents where everything is rosy.
We move to that riveting scene where Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne is running towards the carnage of Metropolis seen in the Man of Steel movie. Now that's a hero. How many people do you know that run towards a collapsing building?
I should mention Bruce Wayne being in Metropolis during the Zod fight is a big deal. As we find out, it provides the impetus for Batman's disdain for all things Superman.
To continue, Bruce Wayne bears first hand the fighting between Zod and Superman. He seems to be desperately calling anyone in that building to get out as soon as possible.
Heat vision cuts like a scythe through glass and steel and in an instant a figure comes darting out of the skyscraper as the building falls in his wake.
In the rubble of once was the Wayne Financial building, Bruce Wayne looks skyward. He hold in tight embrace the figure of a young girl. The lone survivor? A future figure in Batman's life?
Wayne is transfixed in his gaze. Is he staring at Superman as he hovers in the midst of battle? Of this I have no doubt. Wayne's own heat vision is internalized and it is powered by the contempt for the caped figure that has destroyed part of his corporate family.
I say corporate family because in the next sequence Wayne has received a newspaper clipping of the day his building was destroyed. Across it someone has scrawled, "You let your family die." This is a doubled edged dagger to the heart for Bruce. It invokes Wayne's family dying before his eyes as a child and of course the most recent disaster in Metropolis.
Who would send such a letter?
I'm betting it was sent by Lex Luthor. I think it is a double pronged effort to taunt his corporate rival and perhaps elicit an angry response from the Batman. Luthor would have to know that Wayne is Batman of course and he may well. In the comics, Luthor is known as the second smartest man on the planet.
Wayne being the first.
The Wayne vignette actually starts with a lone figure striding towards a mansion whose grounds have gone to seed and the manse stands hollow and broken. A metaphor for Batman?
The voice we hear is that of Jeremy Irons who plays Alfred the Wayne Butler. It could be Wayne strolling to the mansion but I am convinced it is Irons.
The scene cuts immediately to the Batcave. Another figure cuts from from right to left in the distance behind some glass. I believe this to be Bruce Wayne. Is Batman semi-retired? The Batmobile seen on one of the levels is covered in a tarp suggesting a lack of use.
Alfred continues his voice over. He speaks of a fever and a rage that turns "good men cruel." (In the background a video monitor seems to show Superman in action.)
Not coincidentally, Batman's costume is revealed and Bruce Wayne takes a hard look at it. Has it been a while? Did the Batman turn cruel? What prompted this cruel turn?
Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) continues the voice over. He's berating Clark Kent over his fascination with the Batman. Is Clark using his position as a Daily Planet reporter to get intel into the Batman. Pehaps stepping over the bounds of a normal reporter?
Our trailer turns to some quality time between Superman and Amy Adams' Lois Lane. She reminds Clark that the symbol on his chest stands for hope. As she intones this reminder we get a scene of Superman appearing before some flood stricken people. One lady in particular lifts an outstretched arm as Superman hovers above.
This strikes me as particularly odd. I mean it is a great cinematic hero scene with Superman being back lit by the sun in god-like fashion. But would Superman really just hover there just to look awesomely cool? Wouldn't he just swoop in and rescue those people?
Is he that hesitant/damaged by his Metropolis experience that he can't decide what to do?
This is where we pickup the Martha Kent monologue. She basically tells him to be the angel people look to or just junk it all because he doesn't owe them a thing. It's an odd discourse and I don't blame Supes for looking confused. As I said before, these Kents are a lot more cynical. It's my thinking that Martha is reacting to the backlash by the public in general which is no odoubt being orchestrated by Luthor behind the scenes.
Luthor takes over with his "Devils" speech to Senator Finch and the dead visage of General Zod is revealed. There is a lot of people on the internet that believe Luthor is set on cloning Zod to form an army of beings to rid the world of Superman. Perhaps even "Doomsday" from the comics.
I, instead, have a crackpot theory.
What if these cloning experiments go wrong and instead of a Doomsday being we get this.
Bizarro Superman.
This is how Bizarro Superman looks in the comics now. It would take a lot of guts to introduce this strange creature to the movies but it shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.
Now here's a telling sequence.
Bruce Waynes speaks and he tells of his twenty years in Gotham. "How many good guys are left, how many stayed that way?" As we start this sequence Wayne looks at the empty suit of what is commonly believed to be that of Robin. A deceased Robin. Quite possibly the Jason Todd Robin that died in the comics. (To be played by Zack Snyder's son Eli?)
Jason Todd took a turn for the worse, is this who Wayne is talking about? Does he include Selina Kyle as someone that didn't stay good? How about The Huntress?
The empty suit has "The Joke's on you Batman" scrawled across it. Was it the Joker's assassination of Jason Todd that turned Batman cruel? Or did it drive him into retirement?
If I may I want to speak on the rod the Robin suit is holding.
In the first trailer we see Batman holding a similar rod as he stands in the shadows. Later, he stands atop a building with what looks to be the same instrument. Has Robin's rod been modified as a weapon to take out Superman? Is it tipped with Kryptonite? Is Batman really holding a rifle in the second frame that shoots a magic bullet of kryptonite?
Or is it the "Spear of Destiny?" Now that would be pretty profound.
Wayne further intones,, "He has the power to wipe out the entire human race and we have to destroy him."
It's now, "Go time" for the trailer as it really takes off.
First, we get some quick cuts of Thomas Wayne being cut down to remind us of Batman's bitterness. Then, what looks to be the Batwing setting a city on fire. Is the Batwing's devastation testimony of how cruel Batman has become in that he willing to destroy entire neighborhoods in order to achieve his goals?
Now we are really rocking as Wonder Woman is introduced. (We saw her briefly as Diana Prince when Wayne spoke of good guys.)
I love the look on Gal Gadot's face as she is thrown back during battle. It's as if she is saying, "You dare?" (GIF courtesy of Kokatu.com)
I have a feeling the battle we are witnessing is a three way fight between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. It occurs at a time when they really don't get each other. In fact Batman and Wonder Woman may be allied against Superman.
We get some terrific shots here as Batman nearly gets zapped by heat vision and Wonder Woman is quickly losing her patience.
Luthor appears and wouldn't you know he seems to have some Krypotonite. Not too close Lex that stuff may make your hair fall out. (Man, that is a bad wig.)
Luthor tells Senator Finch, "The red capes are coming, the red capes are coming" and this is what leads people to believe Luthor has been trying to clone General Zod.
Please let it be Bizarro Supermen.
Our trailer culminates as Superman rips off the doors to the Batmobile. Batman stands in defiance to a far more powerful being. God, the Dark Knight has some brass ones.
It looks as though Superman has followed Batman to Gotham Gity as the gas pumps say Gotham City Gas. Good work Clark.
So, what does everyone think? Wondering why I left out the "Super Nazis" and the "Desert Batman?" Sound off below with your thoughts!
Update Alert!
I left out this image in my first take of the Batman v Superman trailer as I wasn't certain of it's significance. It shows a be-booted individual walking amongst shell casings, a deflated basketball and what seems to be an injured security guard.
Now we have this image from Empire Magazine showing Lex inside a gym with basketballs in the background. It's not a leap to deduce the shooting from the above image took place in LexCorp's gym. (BTW, who puts a giant neon sign inside a gym? Someone with a giant ego?)
We could have made that deduction as evidenced from a motorcycle racing to the scene of some Lexcorp devastation but I think this seals it. Who is the motorcycle rider? My guess it is Lex himself alerted to the explosive incident. Was it Superman that caused the devastation? He did like to destroy things in the Man of Steel movie. I'm thinking it was rather the Batman investigating Lexcorp and leaving a wake of destruction in his path. The injured security guard may spell Batman's aversion to killing and the hundreds of shell casings show what a hard target he is.
It's possible a fight between Batman and Superman took place in the gym. Those two do know how to break things. We may find out more in the near future.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!
