Man of Tomorrow

The thing about Superman--and, as a future whole, the DC Cinematic Universe--that Warner Bros. needs to correct going forward is that Superman evolved into this symbol of hope and confidence, a character than us real life Earth-Prime folks can hang a hat on and aspire to emulate. It probably wasn't that way from the outset when Siegel and Shuster first conceived the character but through various writers and editors it became a status quo for the character to be looked at as a leader, a role that has occasionally been explored as one that he's not altogether comfortable in.

That being said, the SDCC reveal of the nearly five minute Dawn of Justice trailer improves on what the initial teaser had shown. We see a bit more of Bruce Wayne's involvement and understand his motivations a little more, and also see some repercussions from Superman's battle with Zod at the end of Man of Steel. Which leads me into the point that always bothered me about Man of Steel and troubles me about WB's handling of the property: the widespread destruction across Smallville and Metropolis was something that had been seen various times in the comics but aside from stopping the bad guy, Superman's number one goal was always to stem the loss of life where he can. Had he not stopped to make sure various citizens were okay, for example, in the opening arc that saw him killed by Doomsday in 1992, maybe he could have concentrated on tiring the beast out rather than expending energy saving other lives from the monster. Which is not in Superman's character at all.

The Dawn of Justice trailer shows Bruce there at the battle, and there are many echoes of 9/11 in the trailer that will likely make most viewers a tad squeamish. But it hammers home the point of a super power as great as Kal-El's going unchecked can't happen in this modern world. Which, from a storytelling standpoint, could open the door towards a different characterization (maybe as a dig at how dark Man of Steel got, Joss Whedon threw in a similar scene in Age of Ultron, with the twist being the Avengers were trying to stem the loss of life as much as they could). The series Kingdom Come addressed this very well, I feel, with the older Clark deeply troubled as much as narrator Norman McKay by the darkening of the world's heroes and the apparent disregard for human lives they have. It explores how Clark put the "super" before the "man" after awhile and started taking each loss heavily, until he realized how out of touch he was with modern society's needs and wants and disappeared, a commentary on the uber violence that proliferated the 1990s comic scene.  Its a lesson that could easily be served yet again now with the films, where they could have Superman explore this violence that he himself seems to be a catalyst for. Too soon to tell what direction the movie could take but if the trailer is any indication it could serve to address these same concerns too.

Man of Steel wasn't a bad movie. It just didn't feel like Superman. The honest truth is that the plot could have served well had it been a different original character in that role, allowing Snyder to explore heroic themes again like he did in Watchmen (another polarizing movie). Superman should always be about being that beacon of hope and peace. The dark look is one that doesn't befit the character.