Man of Steel might have been the start of the DC Cinematic Universe, but next March’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is without a doubt going to kick everything into high gear by putting the Caped Crusader (Ben Affleck) and the Man of Tomorrow (Henry Cavill) together on screen for the first time ever. With the first trailer for the movie already out and a little less than 10 months until release, why have we seen so little from the filming of the movie?
This movie is returning a number of characters from Man of Steel, like Lois Lane (Amy Adams), but also introducing even more including Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), and even Aquaman (Jason Momoa). However, outside of a few promo pictures and a teaser trailer, we’ve seen almost nothing from the filming of the movie. A few pictures were released by Zack Snyder like a black and white Batman and Batmobile, but hardly anything at all came from the set showing off Wonder Woman.
In direct comparison, the next movie up in the DC Cinematic Universe, Suicide Squad, provided us with more set pictures and content in the first day of filming than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has total. Suicide Squad has also continued to bring us more and more set pictures since the start of filming, including looks at nearly everybody in the cast.
The biggest surprise came earlier this week when we saw clear as day image and video of Ben Affleck’s Batman on the set chasing after the Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). We see the Batmobile in action as well as Batman himself, something we never saw once while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was filming.
While it could just be the difference of filming in Suicide Squad’s filming in Toronto compared to Batman v Superman’s filming in Detroit, one has to wonder if it could be for other reasons. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is bound to be a surefire hit with not only the box office juggernaut of Batman, after almost four years of waiting since The Dark Knight Rises at the time of release, but also a very well received Superman. While Man of Steel may have received mixed reactions, there are very few out there that did not think Cavill played a superb Superman.
Suicide Squad on the other hand is an untested property that could be a big risk in the box office. Many people even questioned Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy last year for being too obscure to the general public, even with their track record, but those worried were proven wrong. DC and Warner Bros. however do not have that level of consistently quite yet to where they can make just about any comic property and have people come watch it in droves. Suicide Squad has some superstars on board like Will Smith, Leto, and Robbie, but the Suicide Squad itself is pretty unknown to regular moviegoers. That is why it would make sense for these “leaks” from the set of Suicide Squad to keep coming early.
The key to any movies success is buzz and that is exactly what Suicide Squad has gotten. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, didn’t need any sort of early push like Suicide Squad did, which I think has worked wonderfully. We’ve gotten to see not only characters like Joker and Harley Quinn, but also better views of characters like Killer Croc that the promo picture did not give justice to at all.
After all these leaks, Suicide Squad’s director David Ayer went to Twitter to say “Well we survived the streets. Time to go dark now. Remember, only the tiniest glimpse has been exposed. Our surprises are intact.” Showing off some of the fan favorites like Harley Quinn and Joker a lot in these pictures was a good way to get people talking and finishing off the public filming with Batman was a genius move. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if he’s only in one or two scenes, but getting the word that he’s involved out there this early has people pumped this far in advance, which is exactly what they wanted.
Even with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being an incredibly secretive production during filming, I would not worry at all. They are saving the best for events like Comic Con and future trailers, with special effects likely being needed more for a movie like that. Suicide Squad features mostly non-powered villains, while Batman v Superman has to do things very differently with characters like Superman and the rumored Doomsday. Regardless of the reasoning, I have a feeling 2016 is going to be a treat with both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad set to hit theaters, with many more DC movies coming not long after.
