The new trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that just dropped on Wednesday night provided us with a lot of new information, some of it confirming rumor and speculation and some of it raising new questions for a movie that won’t be coming out for another four months. We knew that Batman and Superman would fight…and then make up and become buddies. We also knew that a villain much larger than Lex Luthor would bring them together along with Wonder Woman and we could only speculate as to who it was, but we had a good idea after seeing Zod’s body in the hands of Luthor. There is still a LOT we don’t know about the movie, but here are 12 big reveals from the latest Batman v Superman Trailer.
1. Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne meet for the first time at Luthor’s party
All the talk has been about Batman and Superman being on screen together in BvS as making history, but we have also just seen their alter egos on screen together in a movie for the first time. This moment from the trailer can be taken in any number of ways. Does Clark really not know who Bruce Wayne is or is he faking it? Has Bruce been out of the public eye for years and Luthor’s party is where he first comes out into the real world again? It has also been suggested that somehow both of them know the other’s secret identity by the way they make pointed jabs at the other city’s hero/vigilante. Bruce also drives himself to the party, suggesting he has scaled back some of the perks of having money, namely a chauffeur.
2. Batman has already battled with the Joker in the past
“Maybe it’s the Gotham City in me, but I’ve had a bad history of freaks dressed like clowns.” Bruce Wayne responding to Clark Kent’s pushback about not liking Superman reveals that he has already engaged with Batman’s biggest enemy- The Joker. Cutting to a shot of the Robin suit vandalized by The Joker further cements what is implied by his comments. We’ve seen from the Comic Con Suicide Squad trailer that Batman goes after The Joker and Harley Quinn. What remains to be seen is whether or not the events of Suicide Squad take place before or after Batman V Superman, but this bit of dialogue certainly seems to suggest it happens before.
3. Lex Luthor is manic and also knows everybody
“Boys! Mmm! (claps hands) Bruce Wayne, meet Clark Kent. Ha! I love it!”. This trailer provides us with the best look yet at how Jesse Eisenberg is portraying Lex Luthor. His character is hyper and manic and something of a socialite. We’ve seen from previous trailers that Diana Prince also attends this party and runs into Bruce Wayne there. What remains to be seen is how Luthor speaks and engages with people when he is in private and not being a party host or manipulator.
4. Batman is going to war with Superman
“You’re going to go to war?” “That son-of-a-bitch brought the war to us!” “You know you can’t win this, it’s suicide.” Bruce Wayne is stubborn and ignores the advice of his trusted confidante, Alfred. Something besides the destruction of his building must have convinced him to so vehemently go after Superman, perhaps a master manipulator?
5. Lex Luthor instigates the showdown between Batman and Superman
“The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. The Son of Krypton versus the Bat of Gotham.” Lex has plans and they don’t include Superman…or Batman. If he can get them to destroy each other, then he wins. We saw Superman kneeling before him in a previous trailer, so we know he has something over him. Maybe he wants him to go after Batman. What Luthor has over Batman, we don’t know, but you can bet that whatever it is is playing off of Batman’s rage (and Bruce Wayne’s anger at the destruction caused by the Battle of Metropolis). But does Lex know Wayne is Batman and Kent is Superman?
6. Lex Luthor is holding Lois Lane against her will
“You’re psychotic.” “It’s a three syllable word for any thought too big for little minds.” Lex Luthor flicks Lois in the head after uttering this retort, making me think she is being held against her will. She otherwise would not let somebody like him touch her in such a mocking manner. They also appear to be on a rooftop somewhere…perhaps his penthouse? We saw in the previous trailer that Superman was kneeling before Luthor on a similar rooftop looking quite angry about it and surmised that he had some leverage over him. Both scenes appear to be the same rooftop and Lex has the same bandaged hand in both scenes. I thought it might be Ma Kent, but now it appears that Lois is the bait that he uses to manipulate Superman to his will. What exactly that is, I’m not sure yet. As a side note- that bandaged hand has been the source of a few rumors, including one where he touched Kryptonite and burned himself. This ultimately causes him to lose his hair and go bald. We DID see his character image in EW with a bald head, but none of the scenes in trailers so far have featured anything other than the long locks.
