Batman vs. Superman trailer released at Comic-Con

It is one of the most-anticipated films in years and the new trailer provides loads of details — and a first look at Wonder Woman. | WATCH

With ten DC superhero movies scheduled for release in the next five years and rival Marvel Studios already way ahead in big screen success, Warner Bros. had a lot to prove at its Comic-Con panel this year. And boy did it aim to deliver.

Fans in the 6,500-person capacity Hall H nearly lost their minds on several occasions as the studio brought out nearly the entire casts of next year’s Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad and screened several minutes of never-before-seen footage from both films.

“It’s time for a movie about bad guys and who’s got the best bad guys out there? DC Comics,” boasted Suicide Squad director David Ayer, whose film is about a team of villains assembled by the government to do dirty work.

“I’m not trying to start some East coast — West coast feud with Marvel,” Ayer continued, “but someone’s got to say the truth.”

Nobody else engaged in direct smack talk with their Disney-owned rival, but with Marvel absent from Comic-Con this year, Warner blew up its presentation bigger than any other studio in a bid to gin up fanboy mania.

Although his movie is still shooting in Toronto and doesn’t come out until next August, Ayer brought several minutes of footage from “Suicide Squad” to give fans a taste of the movie’s dark and edgy tone, with looks at how its nearly dozen super villains will be portrayed, including Will Smith as master sniper Deadshot and Jared Leto as the Joker.

All of the cast, save for Leto, appeared on stage, but most just waved and smiled before leaving. Only Smith spoke, briefly, stating, “This group right here, we are banging out something fantastic and stunning. This guy right here, David Ayer, is the absolute truth.”

The main attraction, however, was Batman v Superman, which is done shooting and comes out next March. Director Zack Snyder brought a three-plus-minute trailer from his movie that provides tons of new details, including the destruction of Wayne Tower in a scene with 9/11 overtones, a creepy Lex Luthor played by Jesse Eisenberg with no hint of Gene Hackman-style camp, an ageing Bruce Wayne returning to the Batcave to challenge the Man of Steel, and a first look at Gal Gadot in action as Wonder Woman.

Gal Gadot. Picture: Getty

When the cast spoke afterwards, Ben Affleck was asked to compare his Batman to past ones on screen and said, “He’s at the end of his rope, he’s older, he’s a burnout.”

Affleck also said that soon before he started shooting, he ran into Christian Bale while shopping for a Batman Halloween costume for his son. He asked Bale for advice on playing the Caped Crusader and was reportedly advised, “Make sure you can piss in that suit.”

Snyder then confirmed there was indeed a zipper in the batsuit on this movie, and that he added one for Superman as well, after star Henry Cavill apparently had no outlet while shooting 2013’s “Man of Steel.”

The director also answered a common fan question by saying that while some of the visuals and themes of his movie pay homage to Frank Miller’s classic graphic novel “The Dark Knight Returns,” the story is entirely original.

Indeed, some elements of DC Comics canon have been changed, including making Batman’s Gotham City and Superman’s Metropolis sister cities located across a bay from each other. Commented Affleck, “Zach and [writer] Chris Terrio put together some really interesting ideas of Metropolis being the successful city and Gotham the place where more downtrodden people live.”

Fans were also very excited to see Gadot speak publicly for the first time about playing Wonder Woman. “I feel like I have been given such a huge opportunity to show the strong beautiful side of women,” the Israeli actress said. “Wonder Woman has all the strength of a superhero, but at the same time she’s very sophisticated, loving and has a lot of emotional intelligence.”

Snyder gave no hint of his plans for an upcoming “Justice League” movie he will also direct, but Warner made clear it was using Comic-Con to not just get fans excited for next year’s DC movies but all the ones to come. One new revelation was that 2020s reboot of the 2011 flop Green Lantern will showcase the comic books’ entire intergalactic security force and be titled Green Lantern Corps.

In addition to its DC movies, Warner also showed footage and showcased the casts of August’s adaptation of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and October’s Peter Pan origin story Pan.

Wall Street Journal