6 Reasons To Be Skeptical Of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

With so much talk of Star Wars recently, it’s easy to forget the upcoming batch of blockbusters that will make their debut in theaters next year. Among those is the highly anticipated Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which, unlike The Force Awakens, has probably already revealed too much. The trailers are swarmed with plot details and while it’s all still very exciting, it’s hard not to be a bit speculative. The mixed reactions to Man of Steel already put the movie in the arena of being “cautiously excited” for, and very little of that cautious excitement is probably for Superman. Batman, after all, does get top billing this time around. Then, of course, there’s Wonder Woman, who makes her big screen debut here. And while these things are all worthy of anticipation, they’re also reasons to be a tad pessimistic. Here's 6 reasons why. 6) Too Much Has Already Been Revealed As mentioned, the creators behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens did a pretty great job of keeping key plot and character details under wraps. There are some significant aspects of the story that could have easily been spoiled for audiences had the creators been less careful. Then there’s the fact that audiences and critics alike have been unnaturally respectful of those who haven’t seen the movie. That kind of devotion is what Star Wars means to people. That same kind of appreciation won’t be found in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, nor will we even be given the chance. So much about the movie has already been revealed that it’s a wonder anyone is even surprised by anything anymore. We know why Batman hates Superman, we know the superhero cameos that will be made, we know the villains (for the most part), we can probably easily guess their motivations, we know that Superman is leading some sort of army (we don’t exactly know why but who cares at this point), we know that Batman dons the armored suit in a battle with Superman…overall, we know the basic plot of the movie and could probably predict what will happen. In fact, in the last full-length trailer, Batman and Superman are fighting and have already made up by the end of the trailer in time to fight the villain Doomsday. At this point, we’re anticipating the movie because we think we have to, for the name alone. 5) The Filmmakers Haven’t Learned A Thing About Destruction One of the biggest complaints with 2013’s Man of Steel was the unrealistic depiction of and accountability for destruction. “If Superman valued human life so much, why didn’t he just take the fight with Zod to space or over the ocean?” exclaimed audiences. Now, with its sort-of sequel coming in March, it seems that fans are finally getting what they wanted…some accountability for Superman’s actions. It appears that the events of Man of Steel drive Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) war on Superman (Hentry Cavill), who views him as a threat to mankind. But while Superman is facing action from both Batman and the government, Zack Snyder looks to undo all of these plot devices. From the looks of the trailers released, it can be assumed that Batman and Superman might do a little more harm than good in their battle with one another. And this doesn’t even take into account the looming threat of Lex Luthor, who creates a raging monster (Doomsday) from the DNA of the deceased Zod. When the Trinity takes on this beast, I doubt Snyder will hold back the restraints for a “civilian-friendly” fight. 4) Batman Overload Look, it’s hard to have too much Batman in your life. That’s like being disappointed when McDonald’s accidentally gives you an extra sandwich in your to-go bag. But in the case of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s still very unclear whether this is a sequel to Man of Steel or a prequel to Justice League. Seeing as it how it unravels from the events of Man of Steel and the subtitle is Dawn of Justice, my best guess is that it’s a little of both. That said, it’s easy to imagine a film that is heavy on Batman and low on Superman. Warner Bros. execs even asked Snyder to beef up Batman’s screen time. This means two things: they really believe in Batman’s ability to grab an audience and they don’t believe in Snyder’s ability to make Superman that guy. The whole point of Man of Steel was to make Superman exciting again. With this new film, the studio is putting all of their hope in Batman because, well, he’s Batman. Christopher Nolan’s trilogy made Batman a household name again but this has nothing to do with that trilogy. Hopefully this means that Warner actually likes Snyder’s take on the character, otherwise they’re only promoting more of him for the name alone. Either way, it doesn’t mean good things for Superman as a character or franchise, especially when the true Man of Steel sequel roles out and doesn’t feature Batman to lean on. 3) Wonder Woman This is Wonder Woman’s first big screen appearance since…ever. The character has had success on the small screen with past hits as the 1970s TV series in which Lynda Carter took on the role and animated versions such as Justice League Unlimited. This means that there is a lot of pressure on Gal Gadot’s depiction of the character. Not much is known of the film’s portrayal of Wonder Woman outside of what we’ve seen in trailers. There’s always the hope that it will do the character justice, but there’s also always the fear that it could be a disaster. Being the most idolized female super hero in the world, Wonder Woman is a touch character to get right and please fans with. There’s always the possibility that she could be over-sexualized, not taken seriously enough, doesn’t rival her male counterparts or is just an overall disappointment for the female super hero community and to the fans who desperately want—no, need—for her to be depicted successfully. That’s not even mentioning the solo movie planned for 2017 starring Gadot and Chris Pine, which rests on the success of Batman V Superman’s take on the character. 2) The Bad Guys Will Probably Be Underwhelming When Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor, there were a lot of mixed reactions. It’s easier to keep an open mind when one remembers the initial backlash for such casting as Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. That turned out brilliant, so why couldn’t this? Well, from the looks of things, Eisenberg’s Luthor will be another weirdly comical take on the character. Is it so hard to depict Luthor as a maniacal billionaire who could be taken seriously rather than a laughable, cartoonish villain straight out of a 1940s comic book? Granted, this isn’t entirely Eisenberg’s fault; some of that blame can be put on the screenwriters. But Eisenberg’s awkwardly wacky take on the character doesn’t help matters. Then there’s Doomsday, who in the comics is the being that kills Superman and will probably be nothing more than a throw-away villain to bring the Trinity together. It’s been speculated that these aren’t the only bad guys in the film, so maybe there’s hope. Could it be Darcseid? Brainiac? Then again, with so many heroes already in the movie, do we want it stuffed with even more villains? 1) There’s Too Much Going On It was revealed recently that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will be 151 minutes long, compared to Man of Steel’s 143 minute runtime. This was to be expected; the film already packs so much into it it’s a wonder it’s not closer to 3 hours. That said, that’s only an 8-minute difference and Man of Steel had less packed into it than Dawn of Justice seems to. The fear is that the film tries packing so much into it that not even two-and-a-half hours will feel like enough to justify everything. On the flipside, no one will want to sit through a three hour long movie if the runtime was any longer. Lets' count the amount of key characters in Dawn of Justice that we know of: Superman, Batman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Wonder Woman, Alfred and cameos from Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg, and then there’s a possible third villain that could make an appearance. Did I miss anything? This is a lot, and it’s questionable whether Snyder can fit all of it into one movie and make it meaningful. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is Warner Bros.' lead-in to Justice League. If it fails, the whole thing will be for nothing. Your move, Snyder.