There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: a overwhelmingly dark and self-serious tone to the lingering sensation that DC might be trying to do a little bit much with the film a little too fast.
However, there are also a lot of reasons to be excited: from the ambitious premise that’s set to rapidly expand the shared celluloid tapestry of DC’s film slate to Ben Affleck‘s more comic-inspired take on the character of Bruce Wayne.
The Fight Scenes
Even Zack Snyder‘s biggest critics are reluctant to go after Man of Steel for its action sequences. Say what you will about it, Man of Steel brought the power and scale of Superman to the cinema in a way that audiences hadn’t seen before. It’s sometimes overkill – but in a good way. It’s easy to get excited about more of this, especially with two more of DC’s biggest heroes in the mix.
Wonder Woman
While Batman and Superman are the leads, there’s a lot of hype over Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). Many have noted that she’s front and centre in one of the promotional posters, implying that she won’t be on the sidelines…like Black Widow. We’ve only seen a couple female superheroes, so Wonder Woman is a welcoming and refreshing entry, not to mention that Batman vs Superman will lead to her own movie (coming out in 2017).
New Interpretations
Ben Affleck and Jesse Eisenberg may not be your first choices for Batman and Lex Luthor, but they offer a new interpretation of the characters and this is a good thing. It’s a great way to attract a new audience and I wouldn’t want a character to be the same in every film. Their iconic traits should be tact, yes, but there should be different ways to express them.
Leaping forwards
Given the psuedo-retconning thrust upon Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice really is the first entry of DC’s cinematic universe. It’ll bring competition to a genre that, until recently, Marvel has had free reign over. Hell, it could even re-frame the way we see Henry Cavill‘s performance in Man of Steel from a flawed one to a re-imagining of the character, worthy of its own merits.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice releases in cinemas on March 24th 2016.
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