Let's break down the new trailer and things we would like to see.
Hey Guys,
Welcome back to the lab!
It has been a week since Zack Snyder released the official trailer Zack Snyder's Justice League and it has taken the world by storm. Whether you’re excited for this film or not, you cannot deny there is clear hype amongst the fandom with this trailer and its reveals.
Us here at the lab are excited and this trailer really helped with that hype. We thought we would go through the trailer and break down some moments we noticed whilst also speaking about some of our hopes for this four hour spectacular.
For note, we have not seen this film. What we are talking about can only be linked to speculation, if you wish to go in with no info, maybe click away now.
For reference BvS means Batman Vs Superman with MoS referencing Man of Steel.
Let’s get into it
The Trailer & Our Hopes
As Trailers go, this one is a strong one. It grips you from the beginning and unlike Batman Vs Superman, it doesn't tell you every little detail about the film. Yes we know alot going into this, but from the get go it has been marketed as a very different spectacle than the studios version back in 2017. This trailer, with its strong soundtrack underneath it, helps to demonstrate that, it certainly seems like a new story, and considering it is going to be four hours we certainly think a lot will be going on.
We start right from the beginning of the trailer, the soundtrack immediately hitting us with a strong choral opening. We see Superman in his defeat against Doomsday, only this time from a different angle, we get it so the camera is looking down at Superman with a very slow zoom in. What’s interesting about this shot is superman's scream is visualised. You can see it echoing out which then goes into the next shot of that scream travelling. For those that are thinking “Well this is obviously added”, I beg to differ. If you go back to Superman’s death in BvS, you can see this echo (Albeit brief) from a distant angle.
We have to commend Snyder for this, it shows that he is not adding scenes or making this film for the sake of making it, he really does have an endgame in mind and its great that we are seeing this be achieved. This alongside the ominous line from Lex Luthor “The Bell has been Rung, Out in the Dark, Amongst the Stars… The God is Dead.” is a very ominous and dark start to this trailer. It can also help to reference why Darkseid and Steppenwolf have decided to hunt the motherboxes down, knowing that Superman is now dead.
We are then given a glimpse at Wonder Woman's home of Themyscira, which we saw back in 2017’s version of Justice League. Only this time it looks like things will be playing out very differently as to what we have seen. What we can see from the trailer is the temple in which the Motherbox is held is being plunged into the sea. Again backing up the point Snyder has said in which some scenes may feel familiar in this version, but it is in fact a new movie.
“I had a dream… Almost like a premonition, that there’s an attack coming”. This is the voiceover we get accompanied by the next few shots in the trailer. First off we see Batman in what is his Nightmare Sequence suit from BvS with the nightmare sequence around him. This is not the only time this is seen in the trailer also (More on that later) leading us to believe that the amount of nightmare sequences we are going to get is more substantial than the five minutes we got in BvS. The question that remains is, is it a dream sequence? Or reality?. We are also shown footage of Diana finding out more information on Darkseid followed by footage of Darkseid himself. It’s good to know we will be getting more than just brief footage of Darkseid in this version. Fans everywhere are eager to see this antagonist make his on screen debut.
We are then shown snapshots of the battle between Steppenwolf and the Amazons in Themyscira, as seen in 2017 but this time with more action and fatalities, alongside seeing footage of each League Member in action such as The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg in the nightmare reality and we also see Wonder Woman in a bank saving civilians. This is similar once again to 2017’s version where she has to stop a bomb, yet the difference in this trailer is the bomb goes off. Fitting more with Snyders tone and his films. It has been said that Cyborg's role in this film will be the core story and I hope that is genuinely the case. It’s clear that his role was heavily reduced back in 2017, so this time around I want to learn more of his character and what drives him. The character of Cyborg is great and i hope we get a chance to see Ray Fisher shine in the role.
We also get glimpses of the Batcar in action alongside Wonder Woman. We also get a glimpse of Alfred with the line “...If you can't bring down the charging bull, then don’t wave the red cape at it” alongside the imagery of both Steppenwolfe and Superman. From here we get multiple action shots alongside seeing glimpses of armies, darkseid and Lois Lane.
For those wondering where Superman is in this trailer, no fear, as we get footage of him in his black suit in a homage straight from the comics. We also see him getting ready to fly, a close up of a closed fist with stones flying around his fist. This is in homage to Superman's first flight in Man of Steel. It's nice to see his journey come full circle in this trailer. I personally hope we get to see more of Henry Cavill’s superman in the future as i do feel he is strong as the character so to see more of him would be great, but if that's not the case, it will be nice to see his journey in this film and hope it comes to a form of conclusion.
Cut to more footage from various parts of the film, most notably the appearance of Batman’s War Machine which is pulled straight from The Dark Knight Returns (A well known comic run that people adore and Ben Affleck's Version of the character is very loosely based on). We also get a glimpse of The Flash running towards a reversing explosion, could this be him running back in time and trying to stop the nightmare reality from happening?. I think it's a safe bet to say this film will have threads to link Flash’s solo movie that was originally intended back in 2017. The trailer then starts to wrap up with shots from, what’s assumed is, the final battle and with a close up of Superman, black suit, with his laser eyes. Diana and Bruce talking over him in voiceover about the age of heroes.
What’s gotten fans head in a spin however is the very ending of this trailer. The title card for the film appears and we start to hear the voice of Jared Leto’s Joker, whilst it’s no surprise he will be in the film due to the reshoots (As we reported a few weeks back) it is surprising he is being shown in this trailer. “We live in a society, where honour is a distant memory. Isn’t that right… Batman”, The Joker says this whilst sitting in a swat vest in the nightmare reality. Batman and Cyborg seemingly behind him. It is known that they will be having scenes together in this film. I for one am excited to see this, I'm glad this version of The Joker is getting another chance and hope, with the changes Snyder has done, he fits with the tone of this incarnation of Batman. His line of society is also a fun meta inclusion due to the well known meme of The Joker (For those shouting at the screen wondering if i was going to include that fact, there you go.)
The Nightmare Sequence in Batman Vs Superman is a sequence I thoroughly enjoyed, it was unexpected and new for this universe and character. I for one am glad they are including this in the film, alongside The Joker, but i don't want it to just be five minutes of footage. With this being a four hour spectacle i want it to have a substantial amount of airtime in the film with it also feeling like it's needed. As some may know already, Justice League was originally going to be split into two parts and Part 2 would have primarily been set in this post-apocalyptic world, so maybe we are getting a fusion of the two parts in this four hour film? We know reshoots happened with most of the primary cast, so i wouldn't be surprised. It will be very interesting to see more of this version of a reality we have only glimpsed at so far, even if it is the last time we see it in action.
Visually this trailer is fantastic, shots such as the first one with Superman's death echo up until all of the nightmare reality and then the battle with black suit Superman is bound to get fans excited. Even just looking at The Flash running towards a reverse explosion should show us that visually this will be a film to remember. The question remains now. Is this the last we will see of Zack Snyder in the DC universe. Personally i hope not, whilst i haven't been the biggest fan of MoS and BvS, it has created characters and sequences i have really enjoyed. It’s clear Snyder had plans beyond this film and I hope that this film has the reaction needed for it to be given more sequels.
Overall, as trailers go, this one is extremely strong in our eyes, its use of the soundtrack alongside its strong use of the footage is a great way in getting fans excited for this film. No matter if you love it or not, it’s clear it will be a film to remember and it will certainly be spoken about for years to come. We here at the lab are excited for this film and we will review it when it is released alongside more posts about Zack Snyder’s DC universe in the next few weeks!
What are your thoughts on this trailer? Is there anything you noticed that we haven't pointed out? Let us know in the comments below.
We also have a podcast called “Rock, Spock and Two Smoking Microphones” with good friend of ours Connor Nagi. Each episode covers the latest news in film; TV; Gaming and Comics as well as reviews, topics and much more. Tune in this week for us talking all about Zack Snyder’s Justice League and the new Mortal Kombat trailer.
The podcast is available on Spotify; Apple Podcasts and Stitcher now!
We will be back soon with a new post.
Until then,
Stay Safe, look out for each other,
Harry x