That’s it. I give up. I have no idea what to expect from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Well, that’s not technically true. I have a very, very good idea of what the basic storyline will be, and this new trailer even leans into all the months of internet rumors by flat out revealing the identity of the film’s true villain. It’s the tone, though, that I am now unsure about. Is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actually going to be funny? This new trailer has more laughs than the entirety of Man of Steel. Before now, the only laughs to be had from the Batman v Superman were unintentional. Now, are we being told that this is a movie which will secretly be well aware of its own absurdity? Are they going Iron Man 3 on us?
Let’s recap:
Now, this new trailer has the same old doom and gloom, Batman and Superman flashing their best “I hate you so f’n much it hurts!” faces and full-on cartoon action sequences. At times, you’d be forgiven if you thought you were watching a live-action version of a Justice League/Justice League Unlimited episode.
But there’s also Jesse Eisenberg seriously camping everything up. He’s not playing Lex Luthor as Mark Zuckerberg nor is he channeling Kevin Spacey or Gene Hackman. Instead, he’s surprisingly playing Lex as remarkably fay, speaking with an overly enthusiastic, high-pitched voice, and instantly cracking a rather meta joke about how Bruce Wayne should not pick a fight with Clark Kent because Clark has got quite the good grip. This interruption comes after Clark and Bruce have progressed through an increasingly tense conversation about the Bat vigilante in Gotham and the alien who could burn it all down in Metropolis. Clark thinks Batman’s a public menace trampling on civil liberties. Bruce thinks Superman is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Oh, these two are so going to fight…
Then, boom, Lex comes along to crack a joke, and the overly insistent trailer music takes a brief break to lighten the mood. Of course, it comes right back, and we watch clips of Superman and Batman’s clearly epic battle, which at one point will involve Batman piloting the Batwing and unleashing its entire arsenal on Superman, who appears little more annoyed than a normal person would be while swatting a fly.
However, even before Lex arrives the trailer is winking at us, playing on our assumed awareness of what this movie is. Of course Bruce Wayne should flash a knowing smirk at the camera after being asked by Clark Kent, “What’s your position on the Bat vigilante in Gotham?” We all know he’s actually Batman! Duh. Have fun with that. I guess.
But, wait, there’s more.
We see Batman reacting to something insane and life-threating by beginning to say, “Oh shit.”
Wonder Woman arrives to save Batman’s ass, and then Superman and Batman crack , “Is she with you?”/”[Bewildered] I thought she was with you.”
The overly insistent music finally stops when the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice title card shows up, but then seconds later as the screen announces the film’s release date the music returns for a final punctuation, the momentary delay creating one last self-aware joke about how much this trailer knows that this movie might seem a bit silly. This “joke through overly serious music” is the type of thing the Honest Trailers people do all the time.
One thing I noticed after the 50-second scene was released this week is that a lot of people still don’t seem to know what this movie’s actual plot is going to be. It’s fairly straight-forward. One of those Metropolis buildings destroyed during the Superman/Zod fight in Man of Steel was owned by WayneCorp, and Bruce Wayne was actually on the ground rushing into the debris to try and save people, ergo, Superman is an alien terrorist and Bruce is a 9/11 first responder looking to put an an end to the terrorist before he ever visits such mass destruction on our soil again. Or that’s how Bruce will apparently see it. Lex Luthor feels similarly threatened by Superman and figures he can manipulate Batman into getting rid of said threat. When that fails and the two fight to an inevitable stalemate (or at least Superman wins but refuses to kill Batman), Lex splices DNA from Zod’s Kryptonian corpse to create a new monster (probably Doomsday) to take both of them out. Wonder Woman shows up to assist in the grand battle and…that’s about it.
- Where are those cameos from the other Justice League people? – Not here yet.
- Does any of this link up with The Dark Knight trilogy? – Nope
- How long has Batman been in operation at this point? – Long enough that he’s already battled the Joker, who apparently killed Robin (or one of them).
- So, wait, will Wonder Woman just show up out of nowhere at the end? – She’ll be in the movie plenty, just not necessarily as Wonder Woman the whole time. Bruce and Clark will probably meet her as Diana Prince well before they meet Wonder Woman.
- Will Lois Lane have more than two lines? – What kind of question is that – of course she will! Exactly how many lines, though, well that remains to be seen. The current evidence sure indicates Amy Adams will kind of just be around and eventually taken hostage.
- Will this movie actually be campy, intentionally cartoonish and a tad self-aware? Or did someone at WB/DC sorta decide to beat Honest Trailers to the punch and make their own slightly tongue-in-cheek trailer even though the movie itself with be remarkably grim?
We’ll have to wait and find that last one out when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes out March 22, 2016.
