By Lucas Shim
Entertainment Editor
“The first time I ever sat in Zack’s office, he told me people were mad at him for making things too dark. Zack always intended for the Justice League to rise out of the darkness, and maybe even bring Batman with them. Maybe an inch.” – Actor Ezra Miller
ENTERTAINMENT
DC’s Happier Mood
October 13, 2017
ENTERTAINMENT: New York Comic Con unveils the new “Justice League” trailer
Justice will be served.
While people were exhausted from the Homecoming Dance, others waited desperately for the new trailer of the highly anticipated superhero film, “Justice League.”
Warner Bros. Pictures debuted the epic preview online on Sunday, Oct. 8 in the morning after it was shown at New York Comic Con, a convention center about comic-books, tv shows, movies, and games.
Inspired by Superman’s sacrifice in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” the film follows Bruce Wayne who gathers individuals with remarkable abilities to save the world from an incoming threat.
“Justice League” is directed by Zack Snyder and stars Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry, and Ray Fisher as Victor Stone.
The NYCC trailer showed the members of the Justice League, such as Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, but it also displayed a more hopeful and colorful tone; this contradicts its darker predecessor films, such as “Man Of Steel” and “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
While David Bowie’s “We Can Be Heroes” is playing in the background, all of the members, specifically Aquaman and Cyborg, can be seen smiling during the midst of battle. Audiences considered this as a surprise because they were depicted as moody and gloomy characters in previous trailers.
The NYCC preview also shows the Flash–or Barry Allen–pointing at the Bat Signal and making remarks about it in front of Batman, who was in his personal ego form, Bruce Wayne. Immediately, Allen realizes that they are in a public area and gives a clumsy apology. Based on all of the released trailers, his character can be expected to portray the most humorous superhero of the storyline.
These changes in tone are, in fact, exactly what fans wanted since the very beginning of DC films.
Another surprising feature in the trailer was the stunning visuals and special effects.
With the first trailer that was released in March, the area where the Justice League members were battling the parademons, the antagonist’s minion soldiers, consisted of a bland and dark blue filter.
The most recent trailers that were released in San Diego and New York Comic Con revealed how much has changed since then. The battle setting now includes a bright red filter, along with plenty of debris and explosions.
The character, Cyborg, was criticized back in March for having a “messy” and “weird” CGI structure. Audiences even compared him to other CGI characters from the “Transformers” films. Based on the NYCC preview, fans now describe Cyborg as clean and improved.
Unlike recent trailers, Warner Bros. finally revealed Superman, or Clark Kent — except it was merely his wife, Lois Lane, undergoing a dream sequence. This actually relieves fans because the trailer does not spoil how Superman will be returning, considering how he sacrificed himself in the film, “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Fans also noticed that the main antagonist, Steppenwolf, was barely shown in most of the previews. This is a result of the backlash from the “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” trailer that revealed the surprise villain, Doomsday, way too early.
Based on the NYCC “Justice League” preview, people can expect the film to succeed with its stunning and improved visuals, intense action, and its hopeful tone.
However, there are people that remain skeptical about the extreme changes of the “Justice League” production and who was responsible for it: Zack Snyder or Joss Whedon.
Snyder’s daughter committed suicide back in March, forcing the director to leave the film’s production and hand his work to Joss Whedon, who directed popular Marvel films, such as “Avengers” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
Because of this tragic event, there are many who speculate that Whedon, who is currently directing the film, is responsible for the excellent major changes–even though it has been stated that he was only working on reshoots.
“The first time I ever sat in Zack’s office, he told me people were mad at him for making things too dark. Zack always intended for the Justice League to rise out of the darkness, and maybe even bring Batman with them. Maybe an inch,” actor Ezra Miller stated during an interview with Empire about the influence of “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” on “Justice League.”
The majority of people who believe Whedon is responsible for the new changes are most likely Marvel fans, while those who believe it was Snyder lean towards the DC’s side.
This highlights both Marvel and DC’s long contended rivalry, which may become an issue in the future.
Instead of disputing who was responsible for such changes, audiences should compliment both directors for their hard work and wait for the movie’s release.
Before the NYCC trailer released, Warner Bros. Pictures practically released a teaser for the trailer on Saturday, along with other promotional videos. Mercedes even advertised one of their concept cars in one of the footages.
This means that audiences can expect Batman to be driving a Mercedes in the film.
The highly-anticipated film, “Justice League,” will be released in theaters on Nov. 17, which is also the 16th anniversary of the childhood cartoon, “Justice League: The Animated Series.”