Trailer Talk: JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017) SDCC 2016 Trailer – Bring On The Fun

‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ took lots of heat for its tone, content and over all dark subject matter. With the world’s largest Comic Convention happening in San Diego right now, DC and Warner Brothers studios decided to drop the latest ‘Justice League’ trailer, during this annual event. And it looks like the movie attempts to correct all of the mistakes from its predecessor. And boy does it!

Check out the SDCC 2016 Trailer for ‘Justice League’ below.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room right off the bat. This is a funny trailer. Funnier than expected given most of the criticism of the DC Extended Universe of movies thus far. Zack Snyder has taken a lot of crap for his gritty and overly dark interpretation of the DC Comics Universe. No matter what people may have thought about ‘Batman V. Superman’, the movie is undoubtedly without joy. The characters were grim and the situations were deadly. There was no comic relief other than the snarky comments presented by Alfred (Jeremy Irons).

Seems like Warner Brothers and Snyder have heard all these criticisms and the ‘Justice League’ trailer makes the entire Universe seem more fun. But let’s be honest, the opening of the trailer is nothing we haven’t seen before. A man going around recruiting people with powers to form a team to defeat a deadly threat. *Yawn*. We’ve seen this happen in so many movies, and the trailer basically acts as a team-up montage that we all know will be in the movie, similar to that of ‘X-Men: First Class’.

But despite all this cliched and formulaic behaviour, it’s a good trailer. It effectively sets up the story of the movie, without weighing it down with the seriousness of its conflict. Sure, another ‘official’ trailer will follow that details the threat, and how these heroes must come together to stop it. But for the first trailer, and a tease, this does its job. It introduces elements of the movie that is what will make it a fun superhero adventure. As I mentioned in my Review of ‘Batman V. Superman’, the most exciting elements of that movie were the scenes setting up the remaining characters of Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg. It brought joy to every fanboy and this trailer really capitalizes on the good hearted and pure excitement for seeing your childhood adventurers on screen; instead of trying to highlight the heavy and deep conflict, which would definitely have brought out the overly analytical cynic in all of us. 

” While I can complain about the dramatic impotence of the plot of this story, seeing snippets of other DC Universe characters very much fills me with joy… “

— Review of ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice’

Jason Momoa is Aquaman, and man does he look it. From the trailer, it looks like Aquaman in the DCEU is being depicted as a philantroping, environmentalist who helps the people by providing for them however he can. And he’s also got a mean attitude. While Batman (Ben Affleck) was set up as the super serious character in ‘Batman V. Superman’, it looks like the anti-hero character of ‘Justice League’ will be portrayed by Aquaman. This depiction of the character was already once shown in the comics, but the DCEU seems to be taking a step further. Love it or hate it though, Momoa looks epically badass in the role and his intensity is equally matched by the light hearted persona of apparently, the Flash.

Lots of people had a lot of issues with Ezra Miller playing the DCEU version of the Flash. But those concerns should definitely be alleviated after this trailer. My first experience with Miller was with his performance in ‘Trainwreck’, and it’s amazing to see him bring that same level of comic timing to ‘Justice League’. Miller looks like the perfect nerdy kid that Barry Allen is supposed to be, with what looked like a wicked tech set up, as well as the self deprecating sense of humour. Standing toe to toe with the more aged Affleck, Miller definitely comes off as an eager kid just trying to fit in with the cool kids. When contrasted against  the brooding and vicious persona of Aquaman, the Flash’s light hearted is exactly what will add to the team dynamics of this movie. Recent set visits confirm that Flash would be the comic relief, and this trailer definitely proves it.

The use of the Flash’s powers in the trailer is also pretty interesting. There seem to be bolts of blue lightning and things exploding around him as he either activates, or gains access to the Speed Force. It looks like kind of like a pretty destructive use of someone being fast, especially if they have to be fast in discreet situations. Unless Snyder explains Flash’s super speed through some other, reality bending means other than the Speed Force, which may tie in to the method of his appearance in ‘Batman V. Superman’. 

Not much is seen in the trailer of Cyborg (Ray Fisher), but from what can be seen it looks like he’s going to be an integral part of the story, given his origin that was seen in ‘Batman V. Superman’. While the other characters got brief mentions and snippets of footage in that movie, Cyborg’s creation got significantly longer screen time. This obviously has to do with the Mother Boxes and their connection to the main villain of ‘Justice League’, most probably the character of Darkseid.

The interaction between Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) cannot be ignored though, as the trailer makes it pretty clear that they’ve established a pretty good relationship and are comfortable with one another. Last seen together planning to recruit these very same characters, Bruce and Diana seem to be joking around pretty well together, and it seems to fuel the theory that they will be paired opposite each other in subsequent movies. 

The one thing missing though in this trailer, and an over all mystery about the ‘Justice League’ movie that seems to be not so commercialized, is the idea of the 7. Let me elaborate: When the original image of Jason Momoa as Aquaman was released, a large text caption read ‘Unite The Seven’. Set pictures have revealed that there are 7 main characters, indicated by the number ordering for Cyborg’s trailer. This means there is still a remaining member of the Justice League that hasn’t been introduced or even announced, anywhere in the DCEU. Theories are that a Green Lantern may be the seventh member, however as of right now, it seems to be the best kept secret of the DCEU. 

While this ‘Justice Trailer’ is very impressive and enjoyable, my only concerns would be about overdoing the tonal shift. While lighthearted elements is necessary for a movie to break up the tension, I just hope that DC and Snyder don’t take it too far and undermine the actual seriousness of the stakes and conflict. As much as I want fun, Snyder and team shouldn’t shy away from the darkness that separates them from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC has always been known to feature storylines that portray the real world impact of having people with extraordinary powers, existing in the here and now. So I hope that that realism of situations, emotions and relationships aren’t watered down for a more enjoyable light hearted affair. 

‘Justice League’ stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher & Jason Momoa. Directed by Zack Snyder, the movie releases November 17th, 2017. 

What did you think of the new ‘Justice League’ Trailer?

Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @theshahshahid.