This past weekend, July 21-24, San Diego Comic-Con was making headlines all across geek culture websites. From new comic book series to movie announcements, fans who were present, or reading about the news online, were excited at each new announcement. Personally, though there were plenty of new movie trailers and footage that got me excited, nothing surprised me more than DC Entertainments new movie trailers for "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League." However, before I explain my reaction to these trailers, I should elaborate on my feelings towards DC movies in general, and why these trailers in particular changed that opinion.
When DC announced that they were creating their own “movie universe,” similar to how each of the Marvel Studios movies are connected to one another, I was excited. Being a comic fan all my life, it’s always good to see both of the “big two” companies putting out quality products. However, their first entry “Man of Steel,” didn’t exactly live up to my expectations. The movie lacked the charm and fun that made Superman, particularly the 1978 movie starring Christopher Reeves, so great to begin with. Many fans are divided on that movie in particular, many of the customers at my local comic book store tend to either love it or hate it. Despite my initial feeling towards “Man of Steel,” when “Batman v Superman” was announced about a year ago, I was excited. A Batman and Superman film would be exactly what DC needed to kick-start their film universe, and give fans a reason to love their movies as much as Marvel's movies. The movie, to say the least, was a disappointment. The film, though it wasn’t as bad as everyone had made it out to be, still had plenty of problems with it - from having too many plotlines and characters (many of them serving no real purpose in the film), to endless foreshadowing of future movies with no real transition or buildup. It was trying to play catch up in the worst way possible. For me personally however, like “Man of Steel,” “Batman v Superman” lacked the fun and joy that many other superhero movies had. Comparing “Batman v Superman” to Marvel Studios “Civil War,” you can immediately tell that the latter has way more “fun” and a more upbeat tone, which is exactly like the comic book heroes they are based off of.
Flash forward to Comic-Con, where the trailers for “Justice League” and “Wonder Woman” were first released. My initial reaction to the former, having watched it online several times was simply: “DC finally gets it!” Though the trailer does have a more dark tone in terms of visuals, the actual atmosphere and chemistry between characters was nothing but upbeat and hysterical. From Ezra Miller's awkward and enthusiastic Flash moment with Bruce Wayne (played by Ben Affleck) to Bruce flat out telling Aquaman (Played by the fierce Jason Mamoa) that he heard that Aquaman “can talk to fish,” is exactly the kind of reassurance that a comic book fan who had been burned twice needed to see.
The trailer had some action, but showed off the characters more than the action, compared to the original “Batman v Superman” teaser, which had the title characters facing off in a 30-second clip. This one gave me a more of a “feel good” vibe, rather than a “grim and gritty” vibe. The “Wonder Woman” trailer, though it had a more serious tone to it, had plenty in the way of characters and humorous moments as well. Given that the movie is set during WW I, it makes sense that the movie wouldn’t have as much of a “light” tone compared to “Justice League,” but still looked like a fun movie.
The key word in all of this, is “fun.” When I see a movie, I want to leave the theater feeling good, quoting all of the lines with friends and discussing sequel material set up in the film. Leaving “Batman v Superman,” there wasn’t as much “discussing cool scenes and quoting characters” as there was “well, there sure was a lot of set-up.” Despite DC giving me every reason not to trust their decision making, these trailers have given me a lot of hope that their future movies will give me that same sense of joy and fun that the other superhero movies do.
