We’re breaking down Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice immediately after watching it on the big screen. Did the long awaited clash of capes live up to the hype? You’ll find out all this and more faster than you can say “Holy special edition!”
Warning: This episode contains massive spoilers.
Within the past few weeks there has been quite the buzz among comic book nerds and movie buffs alike. Thanksgiving week saw the debut trailer for Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War while last week DC retaliated with the second trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
While comparing the two would be another anticlimactic round of apples and oranges, going over them in the same piece is sacrilegious enough for everyone.
Captain America: Civil War (Trailer 1)
This has potential to be one of the best comic book films of all time.
Civil War’s first trailer is packed with plenty of action, suspense and plot details without giving too much away. While most fans know the Civil War storyline, it’s nice to see that Hollywood has not begun squeezing the life out of Captain America and the changes have been reworked to fit the main story rather nicely so far.
One major example of this is the prominent display of Black Panther and Falcon filling the shoes of Spider Man and/or The Punisher (Spidey is now rumored, but will more likely be a post-credits Easter egg than in the actual cast and Punisher will debut on Daredevil). While they are supporting characters, their inclusions feel like they are more of a major role than what’s on paper. Black Widow however, takes a back seat (but that’s okay, we know how bad-ass she is).
The tension of Captain America and Iron Man can be cut with a knife. Watching the two bicker before duking it out is one of the highlights of the trailer and the teamwork of Caps and The Winter Soldier could be one of the most iconic scenes in the Marvel movie universe.
Although many questions remain, one stands out above the rest.
Will the Marvel cinematic universe stay true to the comic by killing Captain America?
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Trailer 2)
There is too much going on.
Bruce Wayne meets Clark Kent at a party we can assume is being held by Jessie Eisenberg’s goofball Lex Luthor. Neither get along with not only each other but their costumed counterparts as well. Rather than agree to disagree, their alternate personalities decide to fight. During this battle, Luthor seemingly experiments with and/or alters General Zod’s corpse to create Doomsday – a surefire way to rid the world of both of them. Facing this new terror, Batman and Superman agree to disagree when Wonder Woman appears. The three are set to face off against Doomsday where we can only assume either a) Superman dies to set up a real Superman sequel b) the three heroes emerge victorious, Luthor goes to jail (and hopefully bald) to set up a real Superman sequel or C) Doomsday and/or Luthor get away to set up either a real Superman sequel and/or the long overdue Justice League movie.
If at any point that summary felt like a “walk into a bar” joke it’s because the trailer is simply that. While the initial trailer’s hype was built on mystery, shock and awe – this one took all of that away.
Rather than give us tiny bits of information that leave us with questions Warner Brothers has chosen to present the entire plot of the movie in a three minute presentation.
Not only does it feel like a dead giveaway but we are also introduced to a non-threatening Luthor using Zod’s death as a plot device, Wonder Woman basically saying “hi” and Doomsday (who looks like a Ninja Turtle concept Michael Bay rejected).
The only saving grace is Wonder Woman’s inclusion and the exchange between Kent and Wayne (which are brief, as they should be).
Talk about putting all of your eggs in one basket.
In 2004, Mark Millar took Superman and asked the unthinkable: what if our hero landed in Soviet Russia instead of the United States of America?
Red Son is that terrifying three part re-imagining.
While Superman is still saving people and attempting to be the most noble creature he can be; he takes orders from Joseph Stalin and mostly protects only Russian citizens.
The few times he does set foot on American soil (while saving American citizens) he is still not greeted kindly and is feared thanks to propaganda and Lex Luthor – who is in fact the smartest man in the world, married to Lois Lane and eventually becomes President of the United States.
Once Stalin dies Superman takes control of Mother Russia to create a Utopian society with the aid of Wonder Woman. This creates a dilemma with an anarchist Batman (complete with Soviet origin). Over time Superman becomes obsessed with creating a perfect world, further separating himself from the human race.
On top of that, Luthor constantly devises plans to destroy Superman solely because he challenges Luthor’s God complex by simply existing. Luthor creates Braniac, Bizarro and even the entire Green Lantern Corps attempting kill Superman in this unbelievable take on the D.C. Universe.
Red Son reads like a film, with each page representing a scene. The illustrations by Kilian Plunkett and Dave Johnson create the noir based shots and camera angles while Paul Mounts, Andrew Robinson and Walden Wong’s vibrant, yet gritty colors bring the story to life. Red Son will glue you to its pages and suck you in with its social commentary. Every page has you wondering what will happen next with equally shocking results each time.
Red Son will make you gasp, shiver and wonder why an animated feature hasn’t been made. If there’s anything to be said, the realism of the world Millar has created in this book is shocking, controversial and a highly enjoyable masterpiece.
The Bonesaw 