Second Take: ‘Batman v Superman’, ‘Suicide Squad’ trailers show DC’s faulty mentality

It’s no mystery why the trailer for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” received a standing ovation at this year’s Comic-Con. It capitalizes on everything that makes director Zack Snyder one of the kings of fandom fodder: the gritty tone, the unfathomable destruction and the score that is more accurately described as loud than anthemic.

In essence, it’s a DC Comics movie. DC and Warner Bros. underwent a heavy dose of scrutiny in the past few days after releasing a statement criticizing the online leaking of trailer footage that was meant to be a special treat for Comic-Con attendees. Now that the trailers have been (reluctantly) released online for the world’s open judgment, they serve as perfect examples of what is wrong with DC Comics’ mentality at this point in the superhero film war and also why, for the viewers, it may not even matter.

Let’s start with the “Batman v Superman” sneak peak. Stuffing Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and who else knows into one film to kick off a potential franchise is a puzzling, albeit bold, marketing scheme. Whether the trailer seemed brilliant or mindless, there was bound to be a strong bout of internet criticism for the film that already had so many fans asking, “Why?”

That being said, “Batman v Superman” has a chaotically fun nature to it, judging from what we’ve seen thus far. Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne is interesting at the very least. Affleck may be infamous for his previous superhero endeavors (read: “Daredevil”), but his appearance as an aged, graying Batman is undeniably refreshing.

Gal Gadot’s Spartan-esque performance as Wonder Woman has been a long time coming on the big screen. Subtle references to Gotham and the Joker are smart throwaways at worst, heart-stopping cameos at best.

To say that the film looks pretty is an understatement – the film’s production and set design look as lavish as Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor locks.

But, as it goes in comic book lore, with every great victory must come a looming threat, a greater evil on the horizon – in this case, the tragedy that is the “Suicide Squad” premiere trailer.

In order to best understand where DC Comics is going completely wrong, look no further than this mosh pit of generic actors playing generic roles. Chief among them is Will Smith, playing a villain, Deadshot, who appears to be Will Smith in a jumpsuit. Wisely, the trailer puts a lot of focus on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, the only character with an expression of originality on the titular Squad, a government-assembled task force of supervillains meant to carry out extremely dangerous missions.

It’s almost as if Warner Bros. intentionally wanted to make the “Suicide Squad” trailer seem like a parody. The fandom moment comes at the end, when Jared Leto’s silver-toothed Joker smiles at the camera whilst torturing, presumably, Harley Quinn herself – a queasily colorful man in a trailer devoid of most colors.

The trailer capitalizes on its silliness with other little Easter eggs, from the overdone trope of the slowed-down pop song (Bee Gees’ “I Started a Joke” – get it?) to the horrific name-dropping of the film’s title by Smith as he slowly figures things out: “We’re some kind of… Suicide Squad.”

As with every trailer, this isn’t a direct indication of what the quality of the final product will be. David Ayer is an extremely competent action director, and with a cast like this, intense popcorn entertainment should be a no-brainer. But if DC Comics really wants to best Marvel in the Hollywood arena, it should be going for a vision that cohesively makes sense, rather its current approach of throwing big names into a movie and seeing what sticks.

Such an idea has already gotten Marvel into some trouble with its fans in reaction to the recent “Avengers: Age of Ultron” – more and more superheroes in an already busy field is a strategy that, at this point in the game, may turn out to be, well, suicidal.

– Sebastian Torrelio