14 DAY TRIAL // This week’s edition of Entertainment Weekly brings comic book fans a real treat, especially if they’re more on Warner Bros. than on Marvel’s side: a new set of photos from the upcoming “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” directed by Zack Snyder.
The film marks the first big screen introduction of Wonder Woman, who is played by Gal Gadot, and of Ben Affleck as Batman, only 4 years after Christian Bale bowed out with “The Dark Knight Rises.” Anticipation is high for it to be a success, especially since it’s also meant to launch the “Justice League” franchise for Warners, meant to rival Marvel’s “Avengers” universe.
New photos, new details
If you’re a movie buff, you know that reception for it hasn’t been great so far, starting with Snyder’s first Superman film, “Man of Steel.” The casting of Affleck, Gadot and Jesse Eisenberg (as Lex Luthor) only added fuel to a fire that was already burning quite brightly, with fans lashing out at the studio for its attempt to create this DC Comics-based universe even before they actually got to see anything from it.
Everyone involved on “Dawn of Justice” hopes they will have a change of heart when it’s out in 2016.
The new issue of EW brings new photos from the film and the set, and some assorted quotes from the members of the cast and Snyder.
We get a good look at Diane Price / Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne / Batman getting flirty at some fancy party, with Affleck describing the scene as a “Bond-y sexy” one about “two people who are pretending to be two different people who each know the secrets of the other person.”
We get to see Lex Luthor with hair and the latest in geek fashion, looking the exact opposite of what Lex Luthor should look, and get reassurances that this is just one stage of this character’s amazing transition.
We get to see Batman and Superman face each other in the confrontation also hinted at in the trailer, and we see Superman in a scene before the people of Metropolis turn on him for destroying half the city in “Man of Steel.”
Henry Cavill, who plays him, says that, while “Man of Steel” was Superman’s story from his perspective, “Dawn of Justice” will definitely be told from Batman’s perspective. Hence, Superman becomes the bad guy for a change.
We also get a look at Affleck as Bruce, getting directions from Snyder on set. The director say that, by the time the movie comes out, he will have been working on it for 5 entire years.
About those dark, blueish visuals
“Man of Steel” was a success at the box office but it was far from the hit Warners expected it to be. The studio wants a franchise able to stand against Marvel’s own, and from that perspective, “Man of Steel” was actually a disappointment.
One of the reasons fans disliked it is that it continued this trend started by Christopher Nolan with his first “Dark Knight” film, “Batman Begins,” of making the superhero very troubled and serious and dark. Aesthetically speaking, these films are dominated by dark, blueish visuals that worked wonderfully for Nolan but no one really expected to see those in “Man of Steel.”
“Batman V. Superman” will continue this tradition, as you can see in the trailer below.
Warners never said directly that it wanted to create content that could be easily told apart from Marvel’s, but EW says it for them. “The grit and gray of Man of Steel was both a continuation of the attempted realism of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy and a counterpoint to Marvel’s bright, zippy playtime. And that was before Zack Snyder ever got to Gotham,” the trade publication writes.
Affleck adds, “It means that when it was supposed to look rainy and miserable, it had to be rainy and miserable.”
Realism is one thing, fans will reply, but making your film so dark it’s hard to understand what happens in it is another.
“Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice” will open in March 2016. As summer draws to an end, we should expect more promo material and perhaps even a new trailer.
