A World Without Hope
Of course, this scene was actually a dream, as revealed when the trailer cuts to a maudlin-looking Lois in bed, stroking the absent Clark’s pillow beside her. What sounds like a TV news anchor then confirms that the rest of the planet is missing the Big Blue Boy Scout, too.
“The world remains in mourning after the death of Superman,” the news reporter laments. “Violence, acts of war and terrorism are all on the rise.” A stack of newspapers is then thrown on the rain-sodden ground, the headline reading: “A world without hope.”
Following on from similar moments in previous trailers, this is more evidence that Justice League will be emphasizing the point that Superman was a figure of hope to the world, in contrast to the lengthy discussions about whether the world needs a protector like him in the last two movies.
The wider impact of his loss is inherited from previous teasers, then, but the personal side of things, demonstrated through Lois’ grief, adds a whole other dimension to it. Arguably, Superman’s sacrifice in BvS did not hit home as much as it should have. But if JL manages to effectively portray how big a hole he left, not just to the world but to his loved ones, then Superman’s resurrection should be much more emotional than his death.
