A few days ago, we got our first look at Henry Cavill dressed as Clark Kent in Warner Bros.’ upcoming superhero tentpole Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, a massive gamble that we can only hope won’t be absolutely awful (though all the news we’ve been getting about the Zack Snyder-directed movie isn’t promising). Today, thanks to USA Today, we have our first shot of Cavill in full Kryptonian regalia as Superman himself (though, for some reason, the hero gets second billing in the title, despite this being a sequel to Man of Steel). And it’s… moody?
There’s not that much to say about the image itself, but Snyder talked quite a bit with USA Today about the blockbuster. According to the helmer, because the movie will build a superhero universe with the inclusion of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), among many (many) others, it will be “thicker, denser and more epic” than Man of Steel. One of my main problems with that film was that it was too dense and too packed with spectacle to actually make any of its characters into living, breathing individuals. Even Superman felt like a cardboard cut-out. Hopefully, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will rectify that issue, though I worry that the huge cast of characters will prevent Snyder from doing much to flesh out characters.
According to the article:
Man of Steel was all about Superman finding his place in the world as both a hero and as a man, ultimately saving the city of Metropolis from certain doom. Dawn of Justice continues to immerse him on Earth by working at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent along with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Perry White (Laurence Fishburne). But it also takes him to new environments such as Gotham City and introduces larger threats, including Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg).
Snyder also said that “it seemed organic” to put Ben Affleck’s Batman in Dawn of Justice because of the path Warner Bros. wanted him to take in establishing a superhero universe. According to the article:
Instead of using several movies to define Affleck’s Batman, Snyder felt the character’s 75-year mythology is so deep in culture now that they can just jump to an older, road-weary take on the Dark Knight. Plus, he says, “it’s cooler to see a crusty old Batman beating the snot out of guys.”
Great. Just great. Looks like, with Affleck’s Batman, we’ll be getting another non-character who beats up a lot of people without ever actually emerging as a real, relatable individual. At least Dawn of Justice will be a visual spectacle, right? Snyder didn’t acknowledge that the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader would be throwing down, and when asked about the title, he said that he dropped the ‘s’ from ‘vs’ “to keep it from being a straight ‘versus’ movie, even in the most subtle way.” Whether that actually means anything in the overall layout of the movie, I couldn’t tell you.
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice will open May 6th, 2016. Are you as hesitant about this movie as I am, or do you think it will be as awesome as a film pitting Batman against Superman sounds on paper?
