On Saturday at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. gave fans a peek at the future of the DC Extended Universe with the release of a brand new, action-packed four minute trailer for November’s superhero ensemble Justice League (and unlike Marvel, they dropped it online for all to see!). It’s been a bit of a rocky road for the DCEU so far, but the studio scored a big success with Wonder Woman, and will be hoping this run continues when the Justice League assemble in November. So, what did our writing team make of the trailer? Read on for our thoughts…
Villordsutch: I’m still not sold on Justice League, even with this latest trailer. After the bad taste leftover from BvS and Suicide Squad I really want Justice League to be the Listerine to clear those memories away, however I can’t see it happening so far. One thing however I did like, was Alfred highlighting that Batman does have quieter days chasing exploding wind-up penguins.
Tom Jolliffe: It looks like a complete mess. They’ve obviously looked to inject a little more colour and vibrancy to it (although it still looks dour). The “funny” bits seem a bit forced and don’t fit with the overall look and tone. The reshoots could go either way. Either they’ll De-Snyder things enough to form some cohesion, or it’ll end up even messier. For me it seems like you’ve got Wonder Woman, a likeable character, then you’ve got the poor man’s Spidey (The Flash) and then a collection of really dull characters. Affleck still looks distinctly uncomfortable in the role. Even more so than Marvel, DC are really struggling for a good villain.
Samuel Brace: Have to say, this looks dreadful. It looks like a video-game, and a bad one at that. To say this looked bad is a tremendous understatement. Though, I suppose if one liked BvS then this might be for you.
Eric Bay-Andersen: Still struggling to get a sense of the story amongst all the CGI explosions – what I’m hoping Whedon will bring to the table will be decent conversation scenes and, above all else, a sense of cohesion. Flash looks like he’ll be a decent comic relief though, and I still like Affleck as Batman. Not sure about the Batman Returns-referencing wind-up penguins line though – the DCEU is confusing enough without cross-franchise references like that. Still, I’m hopeful this will be okay – if it makes sense of the weird(er) parts of BvS that would be especially welcome.
Jordan Jones: I liked it more the second time, but the movie doesn’t feel very cohesive at the moment. I’m still not getting a great sense of what this movie will actually be like… Which honestly might be a good thing considering the spoiler ridden Batman v Superman trailers. There is some really great stuff in this, and I’m loving The Flash. Batman and Alfred are still nailing it for me also. My biggest complaint at the moment is the awful CGI. They really need to clean it up thoroughly before release. It’s way too obvious when actors are simply computer effects (I’m looking at you Aquaman!).
Anghus Houvouras: This looks mental in the best way possible. I thought it was a nice blend of action and character. I think after a few trailers you get a good sense of Batman (stoic ‘I’m too old for this shit’ leader), Wonder Woman (hopeful protector), Aquaman (bad ass savage/one liner machine), and Flash (Woody Allen as a superhero). Cyborg is the one character that seems to get zero coverage in these trailers. As with so many of the other DC movies, what keeps me interested in the potential for it to be different. I like the idea of a Justice League that has to come together to stop a huge threat like Steppenwolf without the benefit of heavy hitters like the ‘Lanterns’ and ‘Kryptonian’ mentioned in the trailer. Oh, and that’s Superman at the end. Anyone who thinks otherwise is grasping at straws.
Chris Cooper: I’m with Anghus on this. BvS had it’s problems but was so different to everything that I can’t help but appreciate it. SS was a mess and WW was good stuff all round. I’m not sure if this will be great or not, but it has my interest. We saw a fair bit without finding out much, which I appreciated. Apart from some character beats and WW, Batman and Flash being together first, I don’t know what’s happening! That’s refreshing.
Jake Peffer: I liked this trailer more than the first one for sure. I’m still not completely sold on it but this trailer at least gives me more hope. Still too much slow motion and most of the jokes feel way too forced but that may not fit the same context in the actual movie. We’ll see in a few months how it goes.
Mike McClelland: I liked BvS okay, but I’m disappointed that this trailer paints Justice League as very similar, right down to the mostly-CGI villain. The attempts at humor fell flat for me, particularly when contrasted with those in the Thor: Ragnarok and Defenders trailers. I’m definitely looking forward to this, but I’m more skeptical now than I was before.
Ricky Church: I thought this trailer was a vast improvement over the first one and I say that having liked the first one. The tone feels great, seems like there will be a nice balance of seriousness and levity to it (though I’m not oner who thought BvS was “too dark”). From the look of it, the cast have some nice chemistry with each other and I think Jason Momoa’s Aquaman will probably steal the show. What I liked most, though, was the emphasis on Superman. Even with his absence, his presence was still felt from the way the characters spoke about him to the heavy use of his theme throughout the trailer. I was a bit surprised they didn’t actually show him again, but now I actually hope they don’t show him at all until it hits theaters. Hoepfully they’ll have learnt from the Doomsday and Wonder Woman reveals in the BvS trailers and keep it a true surprise. I also suppose we already have our first taste of Whedon’s edits. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the red sky scenes seem to be from the same scenes of Aquaman riding the Batmobile and Wonder Woman knocking parademons off the vehicle from the first trailer?
Gary Collinson: Aside from the hideous shot of Aquaman riding a body through a building, and the fact that it looks like we’re getting a Massive CGI Bad Guy third act showdown for the fourth DC movie in a row, I really liked the trailer. I’m intrigued to see more of all the League (bar Cyborg, really as the trailers have done very little to make me interested in his character), as well as the likes of Alfred and Gordon. I just hope they don’t try to expand the world too much and sew a load of seeds for future movies, as they did with Batman v Superman. It seems there’s already going to be plenty going on as it is. And I hope they don’t give much more away in future trailers and TV spots. Overall, I’m sold.
So, a mixed reaction from our writing team. But what did you make of the trailer? Are you excited for what DC has in store for us? Let us know your thoughts below…
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Justice League will reunite Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta and Robin Wright as General Antiope alongside J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard (The Danish Girl) as Mera, Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man) as Vulko, Kiersey Clemons (Dope) as Iris West, Ciaran Hinds (Game of Thrones) as Steppenwolf, and Julian Lewis Jones (Stella) and Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
