‘Batman V Superman’ Trailer: How It Killed The Need To See The Movie

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is coming to theaters everywhere on March 25, 2016, but after the release of last week’s third trailer, many wonder if there is actually a point in going.

There is a growing backlash against full-length trailers, which have an annoying need to show every highlight of the film itself to the point that you pretty much know everything that will happen before stepping foot into a theater.

In that regard, Batman v Superman seems guilty in the first degree, an opinion shared somewhat by the folks at ScreenRant in a recent piece entitled, “Did the Batman v Superman Trailer Reveal Too Many Spoilers?” (Hint: yes.)

Here’s where the trailer went horribly wrong.

In 3 minutes, it tells the entire movie.

There is nothing inherently wrong with getting a glimpse at all of a film’s characters within the trailer itself, but where Batman v Superman tripped up is that it dared to not just show Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent facing off, it actually gave viewers a glimpse of the men in uniform slugging it out. Furthermore, in broad strokes, it resolved their entire conflict right there before the viewers’ eyes.

You know from watching the three-minute trailer that Wayne and Kent will first be at-odds, then they will slug it out in uniform, then they will be faced with a mutual threat that requires them to combine forces.

As if that wasn’t enough, audiences can tell from the trailer where that threat will come from (Doomsday), and they will get a sense that the smarmy Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) will be behind it all using some kind of Kryptonian connection to General Zod (Michael Shannon from Man of Steel).

The only mystery that remained after watching much of this trailer was how Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) would factor in, but that was quickly ruined just before Doomsday turned Bruce Wayne to fireplace ashes.

While Batman v Superman promises “more surprises” and the eventual reveal of Aquaman (Jason Momoa), it’s clear that none of these add-ons will have the same punch as what audiences have already seen — the three major heroes and the two major villains duking it out both physically and verbally.

In other words, all the good surprises are already right there on YouTube to watch over and over again. Something else…

https://youtu.be/yViIi3gie2c

Many who were curious about Batman v Superman but put-off by Man of Steel now have all their fears about the film confirmed.

Full disclosure: the guy writing this was not a big fan of Man of Steel. The first half of the movie seemed like an interesting take on the Superman mythos before devolving into one of director Zack Snyder’s typically incoherent and badly executed special effects extravaganzas.

The last 45-minute fight scene from Man of Steel seemed like it had zero real stakes to it because it looked like a poorly made video game.

That said, as a lifelong fan of the characters, it was tempting to see if maybe Snyder could defy the odds and put something truly special together for this bigger and bolder sequel.

Had the film’s trailer been less obvious about where the movie was going, it would have been remotely possible that people, who hated MoS would take a chance on this one anyway. Now, there is little point.

You can tell by observing the development of this third full-length trailer how the story will play out and much of that will be in front of a green screen for at least the final half of the movie.

Furthermore, that green screen mayhem will likely contain some overarching plot where the fate of not just a city but the ENTIRE WORLD hangs in the balance.

In other words, it’s exactly what fans have already seen in The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, insert any superhero film here.

But what do you think, readers? Did the Batman v Superman trailer reveal too much?

[All images screen grabbed from third Batman v Superman trailer, linked above]