Movies

Comic Con 'Batman V Superman' Trailer: Lex Luthor Pits Man Against God

Batman v Superman trailer
By Peter Sciretta/

At San Diego Comic Con International 2015, Zack Snyder revealed a second full-length trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. As you probably know, Zack Snyder has a long history with Comic Con, and has always brought the goods to the convention.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been on the stage in San Diego for three years now: In 2013, Snyder invited Harry Lennix on stage to read a passage from the story which inspired Snyder's next Superman film. The passage was from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and elicited one of loudest crowd reactions in Hall H history. Last year Snyder returned with a reveal of Wonder Woman and a brief clip of Batman in his armored suit looking up in the rain at Superman floating above him which captured the buzz of last year's convention.

Both of those were included on my list of the greatest moments in Comic Con history. So did Snyder top the two previous appearances on the Hall H stage? Watch the new Comic Con Batman v Superman trailer after the jump, and check out a new poster as well.

Batman v Superman Trailer From Comic Con 2015

Here's the poster:

Ethan's reaction to the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer:

I've been cautiously optimistic about seeing the conflict between Batman and Superman play out, and this extended trailer has my full attention. We definitely get a good sense of where Bruce Wayne is at in his life, looking pretty dark and gloomy. Though I could do without a rehash of Bruce Wayne's family dying, even with Watchmen star Jeffrey Dean Morgan playing Thomas Wayne.

As we heard recently, it's the damage done by the fight between Superman and General Zod seen in Man of Steel that has Bruce Wayne pissed at Batman. As you can see in the trailer, there's footage of Bruce Wayne running through Metropolis as buildings crumble around him, including his own Wayne Enterprises skyscraper. It harkens back to 9/11, and it's pretty powerful. It absolutely seems to work as the catalyst for this superpowered conflict.

And since the movie is called Batman v. Superman, we get a pretty delicious taste of the conflict between these two heroes. That shot of Superman blasting his laser vision before Batman grapples away is just what the doctor ordered, and Superman ripping the roof off the Batmobile to confront Bats is one hell of a way to tease the fight even more. You just don't mess with Batman's car.

Jesse Eisenberg also has the perfect smarmy attitude for Lex Luthor without coming off too cheesy, and I can't wait to see what's going to be done with that Kryptonite this time. It's also probably no coincidence that we see the dead body of General Zod, likely being used for some kind of dastardly plan.

Finally, any fear of Gal Gadot being wasted in this film and not seeing any action has been squashed. Fans cheered like crazy when Wonder Woman clashed her bracelets together to make that massive energy explosion, and seeing the heroine in action certainly brought a smile to my face.

As someone who didn't really find a lot to love about Man of Steel, this looks like it could be a home run for Zack Snyder, and I'm very interested to see how he continues to build the DC Comics universe from now on.

***

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and Holly Hunter (also heard in this trailer) in a role newly created for the film, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel.

The film is written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.

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.

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