How the 'Batman v Superman' Trailers Spoiled All the Movie's Biggest Surprises
This moment would’ve been a lot cooler if we hadn’t already seen it 50 times before (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may have arrived in theaters under a cloud of more-negative-than-expected reviews (it currently boasts a stunning 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). But when the weekend box-office dust settled, it had conquered the landscape with a historic $424-million global haul. Of that impressive amount, $166.1 million came from the U.S., making it the most profitable film to ever open in March, as well as giving it the biggest debut for a DC Comics-based film.
Related: All Your ‘Batman v Superman’ Burning Questions Answered (Spoilers!)
Such news must have left DC and Warner Bros. in good spirits this morning. Nonetheless, one wonders if the film could have done even bigger business if not for the yearlong campaign to ruin many of its biggest surprises. Unlike the current all-time domestic box-office champ, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which made sure to keep eager moviegoers largely in the dark, BvS gave away many of its signature shots and plot details in multiple trailers and TV spots. It was a classic example of enticing audiences by spoiling them silly.
It wasn’t always obvious that the studio was going to take such an approach. The film’s first trailer, released way back on April 17, 2015, suggested that BvS’s marketing might keep its titanic action cloaked in secrecy. Employing audio snippets of TV talking heads debating the god-like Superman’s role in human society, as well as ominous imagery of a defaced Man of Steel statue and a few quick shots of Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight staring angrily at his cowl and cape, it culminated with a glimpse of the two heroes squaring off against each other. It did what a teaser is supposed to do: tease.
Watch the first trailer for ‘Batman v Superman:’
Yet after that initial look, BvS worked hard to disclose almost all of its biggest bombshells. In its second trailer (released July 11, 2015, during Comic-Con), it unveiled an absolute avalanche of plot details: that Bruce Wayne was in Metropolis during Man of Steel’s finale and witnessed firsthand the carnage; that Batman is a borderline psychotic who brands criminals with his bat insignia; that Zod himself (at least in corpse form) would factor into the proceedings; that the Bat Cave houses a Robin suit defaced by the Joker’s graffiti; and that by the film’s conclusion, Gal Gadot’s much-anticipated Wonder Woman would join the action.
That’s a lot of key info to divulge eight months before the movie’s release, and the next trailer (released in December), went even further. It presented Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne’s introduction via Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor at a fancy soiree; it revealed almost every big beat from Batman and Superman’s eventual fight; and showcased lines of dialogue from Lex that unveiled his hand in orchestrating their showdown. It also revealed that Lex would eventually create the rampaging monster Doomsday — a creature whose very participation, at least for fans of DC Comics, would serve as a giant flaming spoiler about the movie would end. If that wasn’t enough, the trailer also gave away what should have been the film’s most momentous visual: the Justice League trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman standing ready for battle.
Watch the Doomsday ‘BvS’ trailer:
And Warner Bros. wasn’t even done! With the final trailer (on Feb. 14), BvS showed even more, including Batman’s brutal late-game takedown of numerous enemies and the indelible image of the Caped Crusader somehow blocking Superman’s punch, much to the hero’s astonishment. At this point, the process was complete — almost everything Zack Snyder had in store for audiences was now out in the public domain, weeks before the film’s first theatrical exhibition.
The film’s enormous opening-weekend box-office, to some degree, bears out the intelligence of this spoil-it-all strategy. However, in another sense, it’s altogether possible that the studio undercut their own film. It’s not hard to imagine, for example, that the movie’s underwhelming CinemaScore rating (it garnered a B) might have been higher if some of the film’s best parts — in particular, Wonder Woman’s climactic action scenes — hadn’t already been endlessly replayed over the past few months. In the end, it’s hard to be wowed by something you’ve already seen 50 times before.
Watch Zack Snyder defend Batman’s violent ways:
