Whatever your opinion on Zack Snyder’s rendition of the titanic showdown it’s likely that you’ve seen the Comic-Con trailer for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice at least once – if not multiple times – so what better thing to do than to delve into the history and lore behind the iconic pair?
Thankfully, Rob Jefferson, a popular YouTuber who runs the Comics Explained channel, has published a breakdown of Bats and Supes, from their humble origins to how they’ve found themselves on the same side of the fight throughout history. What’s interesting is that Jefferson even offers some insight into how the two differ from one another beyond the obvious alien-over-human characteristics. For one, Bob Kane and Bill Finger initially invented Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego to be the binary opposite of The Last Son of Krypton, what with him essentially moulding himself into the hero that Gotham needs using money, grit and sheer willpower.
This amicable relationship all changed when Frank Miller released the seminal graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, which for the first time imagined the superpowered pair locking horns with one another. From that point on, this rivalry between Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne grew and evolved through a number of different comic threads, but it is set to make its big-screen debut next year for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
For those of you looking to scrub up on your DC knowledge ahead of Snyder’s film, you’ll search high and wide for as thorough an overview and analysis as Rob Jefferson’s.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is on course for a release on March 25, 2016. And if there was ever any doubt that Warner Bros. and DC’s epic film was being made by a fan of the source material, check out this astute nod to Frank Miller’s 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns from the film’s most recent trailer.
