Cole’s Corner: What “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” means for comic book fans and moviegoers alike
Batman (left), played by Ben Affleck, and Superman (right), played by Henry Cavill are set to duke it out in Warner Brother’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
On Monday, advance tickets for the long anticipated movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (BvS) went on sale.
For many, this doesn’t mean much. But if you’re one of the many who have followed this movie and its production for the past 2.5 years, you know how much it has riding on its shoulders.
Albeit I’m a huge sports fan, I love comics, too. Whether it’s Batman or Superman, I’ve always loved DC Comics’ vast array of legendary story arcs and characters.
When Warner Brothers Studios announced at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con that Batman and Superman would be on the big screen together, setting up a DC Cinematic Universe, I was extremely excited, initially anyway.
Yes, it was and still is something to be extremely excited about, but the movie came with speculation. Mainly reports of studio concerns, or that the “DC Extended Universe” (DCEU) is so big it has to fail, or that it won’t hold a candle to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Good things were reported as well. A Batman trilogy is heavily rumored after reports of Ben Affleck being “the best Batman ever.” Many have been able to see new characters teased for the first time on the big screen with marketing from BvS and the highly anticipated Suicide Squad. Characters like Harley Quinn, Doomsday, Captain Boomerang, and Wonder Woman have all made appearances in trailers and new takes on Lex Luthor and the Joker have also been teased.
Even though I’m a firm believer in the potential success of BvS, I’ve certainly had more than one feeling about the movie. So, when tickets went on sale, I’m certain I was one of the many who held their breath, waiting for speculation to once again play devil’s advocate.
Regardless, people forget how pivotal this movie could be. While cementing the foundation for the DCEU, it could be the first notable comic book movie to be more than a comic book movie.
The cast and crew has 39 Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, as well as 16 wins between the two and an MTV Movie Award for Superman as the best hero of 2013. With that being said, a talented cast can only lead to one part of a movie’s success. In 2013, the movie brought in Academy Award-winning screenwriter Chris Terrio, who helped Ben Affleck pen 2013 best picture Argo, to do a rewrite.
According to multiple reports, Terrio’s rewrite tells a complex and in-depth story, delving into serious, relevant themes.
“I’ll tell you that the man who wrote the movie, Chris Terrio, is absolutely phenomenal,” Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor in the upcoming film, said in a September interview with wegotthiscovered.com “He’s interested in very sophisticated topics and discussions. So in Batman V Superman, even though it’s a superhero movie, people who don’t necessarily see films in that genre will probably enjoy it. It discusses some very sophisticated and important themes.”
BvS is certain to deliver on what it has promised fans, from Batman and Superman’s action-packed “greatest gladiator match in the history of the world” to the introduction of Wonder Woman on the big screen, but some may be pleasantly surprised to see that the film could include a complex, superior storyline to that of other comic book movies. And to that note, the movie could hold even more heroes than expected.
Entertainment Weekly has reported members of the Justice League such as Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash are to appear in “cameo-like” roles throughout the movie.
These rumours still leave fans to speculate, but one could suspect that a very literal “Dawn of Justice” takes place at the end of the movie with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman coming together with Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash to take on a greater enemy.
Even so, the general public could be “let down” once again, specifically by director Zack Snyder.
This wouldn’t be the first time the general public, let alone comic book readers, criticized a Snyder film. 300 (2006), Watchmen (2009), and Man of Steel (2013) all received polarizing reception and showed just how controversial a lot of Snyder comic book films have been.
The reason I bring up such a long-standing argument is simply because I don’t get it. In my opinion, all three of the films previously mentioned are superb. It’s like watching a comic book, both in the way Snyder films and in the way he takes from the source material. As an avid comic book reader, a Snyder comic book film is exactly what I want to see when I go to theaters.
Speaking of going to theaters, I did end up buying my ticket Monday morning, and I was one of the many who bought their ticket on the first day of sales.
MovieTicket.com ended up reporting that BvS’s sales tracked at about 59% of the site’s traffic throughout its first 24 hours, which puts them in front of both Avengers: Age of Ultron (21%) and Jurassic World (51%) in terms of first day ticket sale records. Don’t expect BvS to let up there though. According to Forbes, the advance ticket sales have BvS tracking at an estimated $380 million worldwide opening weekend.
That big opening weekend is just around the corner, as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will begin laying the ground for the DCEU in 19 days, when it opens on March 25, 2016.
Check out the links below for more stories on BvS:
http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/batman-superman-dawn-justice-tackle-important-themes-topics/
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/03/this-weeks-cover-batman-v-superman-dawn-justice-ew
http://collider.com/zack-snyder-batman-vs-superman-comics/
