Following the release of the first official trailer of “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” in May, rumors and speculations started swirling around as to what really caused the conflict between Superman and Batman.
While every fan of DC Comics knows for a fact that the two superheroes will eventually mend fences in the movie and form the Justice League, most of them are not aware how Superman and Batman started their relationship on the wrong foot.
The full-length trailer of “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” shown at the ComicCon 2015 finally gives fans a good idea how the titular conflict between the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader came to be in the movie, details Yahoo! Movies.
In addition, it also shows for the first time a glimpse of Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot, and Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg.
Setting the stage for the conflict
Based on the trailer, it seems that Bruce Wayne, played by Ben Affleck, is already retired from his caped crusading days, and has focused himself into the billionaire businessman that he is.
His reason for retirement was also hinted by Robin’s costume that he keeps on the Bat Cave which had the graffiti writings of the Joker indicating that the Boy Wonder might have been killed by the Clown of Prince of Crime.
Superman is also on a tough spot after he was condemned by the US government for the destruction he caused, which was a result of his previous battle with General Zod from Krypton. One of the major structures that were destroyed as a result of the conflict was the Wayne Tower, which really got the ire of Bruce Wayne.
Despite Superman’s attempts to make up for it with superhero works like rescuing flood victims from rooftops, among other stuff, it seems that the government has made up its mind that he is an enemy. It was further confounded when Batman comes out of retirement and decides to fight the Man of Steel.
The Lex Luthor factor
It seems however that Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, has something to do with the conflict as well as he was shown in the trailer doing some serious scheming and conniving with a US Senator, played by Holly Hunter, to declare Superman as an enemy of the United States.
Luthor was also seen obtaining a chunk of Kryptonite for some reasons and he was deliberately pitting Superman and Batman against each other for his own evil purpose.
Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons, who plays Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred, gave the perfect hint how the conflict came to be when he was quoted as saying in the trailer that the fever, the rage and the feeling of powerlessness are what turns good men cruel.
Screen Rant also took note of the scenes where Superman was shown kneeling in front of Lex Luthor as well as soldiers with Superman’s “S” patch on their uniforms, which pose some of the main questions for the movie.
The allegiance of the soldiers, which are called the Superman Guard, remains unclear. While it seems that they are in support of Superman in the film’s first official trailer, the latest teaser showed at the ComicCon 2015, had them firing guns at hostages, which prompted the intervention of Batman.
It could be that the Superman Guard is not actually supportive of Superman but just made the Kryptonian crest as the sigil of their crusade.
There is also a scene in the new trailer where Batman is shown fighting the soldier while Superman walking untouched through an underground bunker that seems to suggest that he is in cahoots with the soldiers.
But it could also be that the Superman Guard is under the command of Lex Luthor and that the Man of Steel was being summoned by Luthor that is why the soldiers were merely escorting him.