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Aquaman, Batman, Batsignal, Cyborg, dc comics, Flash, Joss Whedon, Justice League, Lois Lane, movie, movies, smile, Superman, trailer, Wonder Woman
The new Justice League trailer premiered yesterday at the New York Comic Con. If you haven’t seen it, here it is:
The trailer starts off with some quick shots of the heroes and cuts to the logo.
We then see Lois Lane apparently having a dream about Superman returning to her.
For some reason, these movies seem to love their dream sequences. It seems as if the decades-long tradition of Imaginary Stories and Elseworlds from the comics has seeped into their movie universe. While I like those stories in the comics, if you have to rely on that to have something cool in your movie, maybe rethink the movie you are making. There is also talk of dreams in the trailer, so it’s possible that someone’s dreams are premonitions of events to come. If that’s the case, why did we have to wait so long for that to be used as a storytelling device? If it is at all.
Next there is a voice over of reporters implying that hope is lost with the death of Superman.
Again, how is the man who tore up a city and snapped General Zod’s neck a symbol of hope in this world? In the comics, sure. Here it makes no sense. I am really tired of them trying to shoe horn this into their story. They clearly wanted it both ways. A dark gritty superhero, but someone who could be an inspiration when he was gone.
Even his defeat of Doomsday, when he sacrificed himself doesn’t help with this. Doomsday was a Kryptonian threat that wouldn’t have endangered Metropolis if Superman hadn’t been around. Most people would hold him responsible for what happened.
It does look like there will be some great action scenes in this. What I am guessing are invading forces from Apokolips facing off against the Amazons.
With the success of Wonder Woman, it makes sense to play up her role in this. Plus, it gives the good guys an army that could play into a large-scale battle.
Another interesting thing that’s new in this trailer is this shot of Parademons apparently emerging from a cooling tower at a nuclear power plant.
My inference from this would be that they are trying to instigate a meltdown in the hopes of creating a firepit on Earth, like those on Apokolips. This has been a recurring goal with them in the comics.
“Bro Aquaman” is here as well. While there seems to have been mixed reactions to this online, I am totally fine with it. Growing up through the “grim and gritty” era of comic books, I have had my fill of reluctant heroes. To see one that enjoys what he is doing is a relief. Especially given the previous trailers’ darker tone. Not everyone needs to be moody.
Speaking of tone, this seems to be the first trailer where we are getting Joss Whedon’s input in the movie. It does seem a little lighter than the other trailers. Also, the heroes seem to be having a better time and are now allowed to smile.
Batman seems to be the only hero who doesn’t get to smile. Perhaps they are instituting the old edict from the Batman comics where he never smiles. The flipside to that was, whenever this dark avenger of the night did crack a smile, you knew it was on. It was always super effective (or bat-effective).
The disappointing part of this is that these shots appear like they may have been reshoots that were dropped into the movie. Hopefully, they are more fluid in the movie than they appear to be here. Notably, this trailer end with Flash making a joke about the Batsignal that genuinely made me laugh. Something that I was not expecting.
Surprisingly, aside from Lois’ dream there is no other shots of Superman in this. By now, it’s sort of a given that he will be returning in this. Rumors of what part he is playing in the story seem to indicate he will be resurrected and fight the League, but nothing has been confirmed. A tease of the “S” logo or something similar at the end would have been expected. Maybe they will keep a lid on this until the premier, but more than likely this seems like something that will get spoiled at the last minute by a Lego set or the like.
Whatever behind the scenes issues may be happening, fingers crossed that we still get a good movie. At the end of the day, I have been a Justice League fan for most of my life and I want something good. I will definitely be “All In” for a great Justice League movie.
P.S. let’s hope Cyborg gets at least one good “Booyah” in this. Maybe like how Hugh Jackman kept trying to sneak in “Bub” into the first X-Men movie.