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'Batman v Superman': Why the trailer's themes could make dubious fans pay attention

An official trailer for the film starring Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck was recently released. The movie will hit theaters in 2016.

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Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures/AP
The 'Superman' films star Henry Cavill.

The new trailer for the upcoming comic book movie 鈥淏atman v Superman鈥 recently came to theaters, giving fans an official, Warner Bros.-sanctioned look at the 2016 superhero film.

A trailer for the movie starring Henry Cavill as Superman and 鈥淕one Girl鈥 actor Ben Affleck as the caped crusader became available online prior to its official release by the movie studio behind the film. The clip was posted on YouTube by Warner Bros. on April 17 and was available for viewing in theaters on April 20.聽As we previously discussed, recent takes on the Superman character have not been well-received critically, though Warner Bros. is bringing back 鈥淢an of Steel鈥 actor Cavill to reprise his role as Superman, and bringing Batman back to the screen results in some pretty high expectations 鈥 Christopher Nolan鈥檚 movies about Batman are some of the most highly-acclaimed superhero movies ever and the last was released just three years ago.

But the "Batman v Superman" trailer includes voiceovers from various characters musing on the nature of superheroes in general. 鈥淎bsolute power corrupts absolutely,鈥 says one, and the trailer shows a statue with words spray-painted on it reading 鈥渇alse god.鈥

These themes will probably ring some bells for comic book fans. They're聽similar to those in Alan Moore's 鈥淲atchmen,鈥 the comic book series later published as a graphic novel that鈥檚 one of the most acclaimed works of the genre. 鈥淲atchmen鈥 made the list of and placed the work at number 13 on its list of 鈥渢he new classics鈥 (works released between 1983 and 2008).聽"Watchmen" takes place in a 1980s where superheroes working for themselves (that is, not with the government) are illegal. 聽聽聽

And who directed the 2009 movie adaptation of 鈥淲atchmen鈥? That would be Zack Snyder, who鈥檚 directing 鈥淏atman v Superman.鈥 The film version was not well-received critically and currently holds a score of 56 out of 100 on the review aggregator website . But this movie could give Snyder another chance to explore those themes on the big screen. And the fact that 鈥淏atman鈥 seems to be invoking some of the themes of 鈥淲atchmen鈥 is interesting, at the very least, and may give comic book fans who were previously dubious about the movie some reason to hope.

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