Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Trailer #2

December 12, 2015

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Trailer #2 – What’s the issue?

*Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the trailer*

One of the most anticipated movies of 2016 dropped its second trailer last week. Four months after the release of its original Comic-Con trailer, the veil of mystery covering Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in regards to its plot was lifted, causing much stir amongst both comic-book fans and regular moviegoers.

So, what’s the big deal? Well, to answer that question, the purpose of movie trailers must be discussed. Trailers are used to advertise a film and interest and audience. They are, or at least should be, just intriguing enough to leave a viewer thirsty for the eventual movie, without spoiling what lies ahead. However, a lot of trailers don’t seem to want to follow these simple rules. The greatest and most commonly known examples being the trailers for The Terminator movie franchise. With their most recent installment, Terminator Genisys, taking the route of its relative, Terminator Salvation, and giving us a bad movie which unveiled its only redeeming feature in the trailer

Fig. 1 Batman v. Superman Warner Bros.

Let’s get on to the actual content of the trailer. We see the first encounter of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, seemingly teasing each other about their superhero alter egos. Let’s face it, they both know of each other’s secret identities. Batman/Bruce Wayne is the world’s greatest detective and he has eyes and a functioning brain. And seeing Superman’s was plastered pretty much everywhere, it would be harder for one to not recognise Clark Kent as Superman. As for Clark Kent knowing who Batman is, well, he has X-ray vision, what else is there to say? We also got a closer look at Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, whose performance was uncomfortably reminiscent of Jim Carrey’s rendition of Edward Nigma in Batman Forever. However, there were a couple of other shots with him in the trailer where he seemed normal, so this may just be the way he acts in public to seem like a good guy.

Some other stuff happens, we get a better look at the actual fight between the two heroes, some narration, and Lois Lane talks to Lex, with it all leading to the climax of the trailer. Which is introduced by the, arguably, great line “if man won’t kill God, the Devil will do it”. It was after this and Superman’s “what have you done?” line where things went a bit awry. The screen fades to black and we hear a growl. That should be the end of the trailer right? Wrong. (There’s a fan-edited version of the trailer which many people, including myself, think is better I’ll paste the link below this piece). The trailer reveals Doomsday as the third-act villain and the inevitable superhero team up between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, a character of whom we haven’t seen much.

Fig. 2 Batman v Superman Official Trailer 2 Warner Bros.

Although the movie is subtitled Dawn of Justice, and a team up is explicitly implied from that subtitle as it alludes to the beginning of the Justice League, this team up should not have been shown in the trailer. Primarily because Doomsday, the big villain of the movie, next to Lex Luthor, was revealed. The inclusion of both these scenes get rid of the element of surprise a movie needs. If the trailer was going to reveal anything plot-wise, it should have just stuck to revealing the team up. This would give moviegoers and devout comic-book fans that extra kick and surge of excitement that is so loved during a movie.

Despite this, most people will usually see a movie regardless of its quality; however, it is important to note that this shouldn’t be classed as an excuse for making tell-all trailers. Even though they may not necessarily hinder a movie’s box-office performance, they can usually have a negative effect on the audience, and for a movie as highly anticipated as this one, a tell-all trailer should have never crossed the mind of the advertising company responsible for the trailer and the movie studio (Warner Bros) in charge. DC and Warner Bros surely have tricks up the movie’s sleeves, however, they might not be enough to live up to the thrill and hype of a movie which has been anxiously awaited since rumours of its production were first spread. We’ll just have to wait until March of 2016 to find out.

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