Man of Steel answers insight commentary episode 27 Batman be Superman Donna justice, contrail and I will ask the obvious question start asking questions and answers welcome to Man of Steel answers insight commentary on your DC see you apologist Dr. awkward I cover a mosaic of topics for fans who love discussing the Man of Steel and the DC cinematic universe together will endeavor to answer the questions criticisms and controversies raised by Man of Steel and those eagerly anticipating the DCC you this episode we break down and analyze the Batman be Superman, contrail this podcast dives deep into the DCC you to answer the critics and the confused the show is not meant to convert anybody but the celebrate the films that will lead us into the DC cinematic universe reasonable minds will differ but this is a show for fans who love the DCC you and who love to chew their food incredible I'm awestruck and amazed my expectations exceeded I am ridiculously happy a bunch of boring business reasons why my reactions are delayed though I did get to see the daily planet but let's ignore those and just get right into it the start with an overview and then will go back over it with a complete breakdown line by line shot by shot but first my reactions when something like this going with the first line Sen. Finch says today is a day for truth the world needs to know what happened and to know what he stands for well if you're steeped in Superman canon hearing the word truth and being asked what the Superman stand for should trigger truth justice and the American way and under that lens you can see how Snyder introduces these themes and core American values elegantly into the first 50 seconds so truth is invoked by that opening line and by the demonstrators exercising their First Amendment freedom of assembly association and free speech all meant to promulgate and promote the truth by the Free Press covering the event justice gets invoked by the hearing an opportunity to be heard and to be evaluated publicly and fairly the rule of law and government and not mob rule a sense of justice so where's the American way will aside from those tenants already implied upon which this nation was built it's arguable that nothing has shaped American foreign and domestic policy are way more than 9/11 in the public consciousness when asked what is the American way it isn't unreasonable to look at the past 15 years and say 9/11 it has shaped our approach to war transportation immigration and surveillance and those impacts all resonate with the Superman mythos and immigrant who fights lies spies with x-ray eyes and all hearing years so the American way gets triggered by unmistakable imagery the collapsing building and the cloud of debris rushing through the canyon of city streets 50 seconds into the trailer and my heart is fluttering I'm completely dorky out the last time I talked about the teaser I said I wasn't has moved as with the Star Wars second trailer but this time was definitely moved I feel like at least in this moment that I get Zack Snyder's genius I get this movie I don't need to see anything more but oh do we get so much more the overall rhythm then goes from Superman to Batman to Superman meant to Lex Luther Gore and back to the larger DCC you or DCA you with Robin wonder woman the Wayne's Lex Corp. kryptonite hints of their combat and then Lex heralding the revolution and then finally are two titans facing one another in the same shot the music uses quire and strings to convey just how epics is can a be so much of the plot is still obscured but we get to see the central players and hints of their motivation we get to see some of the action and the visual effects and were left with a lot of questions and intriguing visuals to let us know that there are still some surprises in store I think I'm babbling about Anita more disciplined approach to this analysis so let's start to go line by line shot by shot as best we The trailer is so smart because it layers and juxtaposes the lines and images so that you could discuss them separately and together so this won't be a perfectly linear analysis but I'll do my best to try to keep it logical so we open with Academy award winner Holly Hunter as Sen. Finch that detail comes from a recent THR photo shoot the name Sen. Finch could be a fairly obscure name dropped for a character that was in the Batman animated series briefly in the episode entitled be a clown the more likely it's a mere coincidence Sen. Finch is opening the hearing and dramatically intending to get at the truth that gives us context for Superman descending upon the Senate side of the Capitol building in Washington DC demonstrators are outside on a beautiful autumn day with their placards which conveniently all face the camera that's not impossible as many placards are double-sided and the demonstrators know that it's more important that their signs face the camera than the capital building as Superman descends onto the base of the steps we see the cameras behind the crowd covering the event the demonstrators are carrying green and orange tell us the truth about aliens signs a great his head on a stick with the Superman symbol on its forehead assigned it says when invasion becomes reality revolt becomes duty to copies of a Superman symbol captioned by saving lives red and blue signs that say you can't be Christian and alien assigned it says Superman equals illegal alien aliens are un-American this is our world not yours aliens doom Nations a swastika inside a red pentagram God hates aliens and obvious Westborough reference marry me Superman to share the planet a model drone painted red and blue stop Superman now we are safer with Superman Superman saves and on the far left are images of children perhaps victims of the black zero event in the reverse shot we can see Lois in the background among the demonstrators behind the police barricade and police presence so a couple of things to note about the demonstrators the represent a mix of positions and attitudes gratitude and infatuation biases and bigotry wounds and hurts real and imagined as divisive as people were about the film in the real world imagine how much more people might be divided on the real thing within the world of the DCC you another thing to note is that this is a moderate amount of demonstrators this is a fringe issue and a fringe hearing of extreme public curiosity but limited public interest in other words the average person's life doesn't revolve around this hearing this isn't like a Vietnam era demonstration the only people here are those with comparatively extreme interests in the matter most to be content to read or watch the news on this later Superman's brow is furrowed with the pensive look on his face and not many things can make a man who can fly look up but here the US government looms large for him all eyes are on Superman as he starts to walk into the hearing this is a Senate subcommittee hearing and not a court but a little more on that later we see the press kneeling in front of the committee taking extremely close-up high resolution photos of Superman so his image is known around the world we see that Sen. Finch chairs the committee and we also see scoot McNary on the right also on our right is real world Sen. Patrick Leahy from Vermont who has a penchant for popping up in Batman movies making his cameo appearance here I can't tell you how much my heart swelled to see Superman walked to the podium here's the thing many want to focus on the idea that Superman is being taken to task or held accountable but consider for a moment what this means in the Senate subpoenas Superman how are they going to enforce that Superman showing up is his acknowledgment of their authority his respect for them as an American and his desire to be a good citizen and an asset to his nation he shows up with solemnity and reverence for America's representatives even if it's easy to be glib obstinate or go for that might drop as you might've seen another Senate hearings in other movies as an alter ego or personae he doesn't have to show up but he put these gears into motion when he asked general Swan Lake to talk to Washington and he's calm now that he's been invited the groundwork for this moment was laid in Man of Steel deliberately and intentionally this isn't a response to audience reaction but where the story was inevitably going and is much as some want to see this hearing as about blame consider the underlying assumption of trust being shown Superman there are no soldiers no National Guard that we can see a being that can be a living weapon who could bring down the entire building with a look is invited in with seemingly ordinary precautions may be at a certain level humanity and the government trust Superman and the egg knowledge and believe in his good intentions the protesters or the government would have to be insane to invite Superman or to stand around insulting him if he was like's odd so implicitly even those who protest Superman extend a monochrome of trust to have Superman's pensive because that delicate balance of trust and tolerance between himself and the government could all be up and did in this hearing the dialogue isn't guaranteed to go his way and Superman doesn't want to be an enemy of the state even if he could defect to another nation almost at will but Superman hopes and humanities better nature and the scene makes me happy because Superman is going to speak and perhaps my expectations are a little high but I think the go to be great lines another reason that this trailer is so brilliant is how it The Trinity silent preserving their lines for later everything is said by other characters or alter ego's we have yet to hear from Superman Batman or wonder woman got a skip ahead a little so that we can get all the lines at once the world needs to know what happened to know what he stands for that kind of power is very dangerous let the record show that this committee hold him responsible now again Snyder is being so clever by juxtaposing this with metropolis such that the natural assumption is that this hearing is about metropolis maybe it is however consider the possibility that it's not the timeline is a little fuzzy but were far enough out that metropolis has built a statue in honor of Superman does that make sense of the world doesn't know what happened if they don't know what Superman stands for with the world tolerate Superman constantly being out there all the time without those basic answers and if this hearing was about metropolis and they did find him responsible with it then makes sense for metropolis to build a monument in his honor after such a finding so I'm guessing that this hearing isn't about metropolis at least not directly it may be a proxy for metropolis but I believe it's going to be about some other lesser likely foreign or international event being an international event on foreign soil is why the world needs to know what happened and the involvement or confusion of American foreign-policy interests is why the need to know what he stands for likely Sen. Finch is going to say that he has the ability to shape the represent American policy to the world whether he intends to or not and that that kind of power is very dangerous so the subcommittee may be holding him responsible for causing an international incident and asking Superman to accept a government leash or to stop helping an intervening and I imagine that Superman is going to decline I'm speculating but that's how I imagine things would go in the real world of course truth is sometimes stranger than fiction only 20 seconds into the trailer some good a spare you the whole civics lesson and nitty-gritty of how Senate subcommittee's work the gist of it is that the entire legislature can't possibly review and expertly appraise every piece of pending and possible legislation with total and complete competency instead they rely on committees select members of Congress to become experts on the subject matter and part of that includes holding investigatory hearings those committees then provide their findings and recommendations to the Senate as a whole so when the subcommittee makes a finding that doesn't necessarily mean anything except that it might influence a lot to be made which addresses the find it maybe it's not a court ruling it's not a binding sentence is just several members of Congress arriving at an informed opinion hopefully subcommittee findings can transform the world for the better you can have the heartfelt testimony from individuals like Mr. Fred Rogers pleading Congress to fund PBS for the sake of children's television or Ben Affleck or Bill Gates testifying on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Congo however such hearings can also be completely out of step with America you might recall the McCarthy hearings meant to root out and crush communism ending with the whole of America turning against McCarthy with that infamous turning point have you no sense of decency sir or perhaps closer to home the subcommittee hearings on juvenile delinquency which provided were film with a platform on which to present a parade of horribles where the subcommittee ultimately didn't recommend legislation because the hearings drove the industry to self-regulation with the comics code Authority so while they can be meaningful and significant they can also be circuses which pose the threat of legislation rather than any actual sanctions all of which is to say it wouldn't make much sense for this to be about metropolis but it also wouldn't be unrealistic because subcommittee's don't always make sense but inviting and unchecked danger for example into America's seat of power doesn't really make much sense if the hearing is really about Superman being an arbitrary and capricious source of collateral damage but if it is about an event occurring on foreign soil then it would have no bearing on Superman's presence in the capital building okay well back to me imagery we have Bruce running through flaming cars in a blue outfit more on those colors a little later and we see's odds heat vision slice through the building effortlessly it was so gratifying to see the key vision from another perspective exactly as I imagined it and described way back in episode for this podcast I knew without a doubt that vision would sync up with Man of Steel and was pleased to see that it did that careful attention to detail we see Bruce on the phone while this happens which is a brilliant expository step because it gives someone for him to talk to and to feed them information about the situation at large when he's just another bystander on the street otherwise perhaps it someone in the building explaining Bruce's scream upon seeing the heat vision while others stand around dumbfounded Bruce's reaction could be because an immediate personal connection and he could also be a bit of characterization to show how quick he is on the uptick in that he understands the gravity of what he's seeing before anyone else around does like to think the Bruce's on the line with somebody who's helping to evacuate the building and that that evacuation happened on Bruce's orders much like the back of the daily planet occurred on Perry's use being in metropolis at this moment makes perfect sense a little more on that in a bit we get a mirrored shot of Superman exiting the building and I know it makes for better continuity with Bruce's perspective but for someone like me who has so much of this film etched onto their brain flipped shot is going to stick out a bit too quick points first consider the fact that no one outside knows who's heat vision brought down that building now we know it was odd and visually it isn't too hard to distinguish's odds broad orange yellow beams from Superman's concentrated narrow red beams but who knows at the world at large has that kind of data to distinguish one from the other perhaps there are some who genuinely believe that Superman brought down that building attempting to fight's odd with heat vision it's going to depend on how much the public knows or learns about the black zero event and it's part of the reason that I don't believe that the subcommittee hearing is directly finding Superman responsible for all the damage done to metropolis because if there was a large and legitimate segment of the population that thought Superman brought that building down you don't wait years later to ask Superman to walk into a The building to explain so I think that most people know and believe that it was odd but whether Batman separates Superman from Zide is a separate question now the second point and I think this gets lost on a lot of people because the scene is so quick but Superman isn't in control of his flight when he exits the building he starts after Zide who retreated but midflight he gets clipped by falling debris's and he's tumbling out of control when he exits the building and that's why he crashes into the parking deck below it is it because Superman is enjoys blowing into buildings is because he didn't have control and we discussed that as recently as last episode but it's critical to remember at least in Man of Steel at this level of experience Superman's flight can be stopped clip and knocked out of the air relatively easily just because Superman can fly doesn't mean that he can use that flight to force his will effortlessly on debris or sod and this is completely consistent with the film and explains why Superman doesn't just exit the scout ship once it starts to crash and catch it and it explains why Superman doesn't just take's Ottaway is explained a dozen other little choices so long as you don't make the assumption that Superman flying means that he can just move anything anywhere effortlessly and that well okay back to the trailer next Bruce runs into the oncoming cloud of debris even as everyone else runs away yes that's my Batman that's the heart of a hero to overcome fear and not be defeated by the question what can one man do but instead answering it with everything that he into even if that's only comforting a little girl that courage and instinct to help is the common ground it's going to bring Superman and Batman together in the end the boy who saves the kids on the bus who dives into the oil rig fire who surrenders himself to humanity and sacrifices his innocence to save everyone is different and Superman and Batman are the heart of who they are is the same in this respect and why they have the potential for a deep and abiding respect for one another I know many see anger in Bruce's eyes when he's looking up to the sky and I understand that the juxtaposition of Sen. finches finding makes it the easy assumption that Bruce blames Superman however I see it a little differently I see Bruce afraid but refusing to look away accepting his role as witness and absorbing every iota of data he can for the coming reckoning I don't see him blaming Superman per se instead I see him recognizing the scope of what kryptonian's can do and he's already planning to take them out to take on that responsibility because he has no idea that Superman is going to stop this and that germ of an idea would take root in his mind and continue to grow over time as we pull out we see the Wayne financial sign and everything becomes elegant logical and reasonable of course Bruce was in town if you've watched Man of Steel carefully the ripples of first contact are always referred to and referenced in the subtlest of ways but not in your face because as we discussed in the past this was Clark's story from his perspective of the world story or the story of their reaction nonetheless after's odds ultimatum we know that there is a panic because the FBI sees up an award-winning journalist interrogation of her civil liberties and her editor is asking her to reveal her sources for the sake of the planet Lois is outed on TV by blogger Woodburn and if you watch the report carefully you'll see on the news ticker that quote world markets have been frozen to prevent a financial collapse" which is a completely rational response to the panic that might occur after an alien descends from the heavens and friends all of humanity right so with the markets frozen it makes perfect sense that Bruce would go to Wayne financial to address the market freeze and depending on the duration of the freeze it's a little unclear how long Superman and Lois were on the black zero but more on that in our regular commentary episodes and that may help to account for the relatively low casualties in the day of the collapse Bruce's presence that day especially makes sense now that we've learned from the panel that metropolis in Gotham our sister cities that notion of sister cities has always resonated with me ever since Frank Miller said that metropolis was New York City in the day in the Gotham was New York City and night metropolis was New York in Superman the movie so my instinctive response was always the place got them in Jersey City or the like I've never been so precious about this idea is to insist upon it and I can easily roll with whatever the world builders want to say about metropolis, some in the relative positions in the world but there's a lot about them being sister cities that just rings true for me sister cities for the big Brothers of superhero comics I said before that Wally West is probably my favorite superhero next to and sometimes surpassing Superman but one of the great introductions and reconciliations produced by Geoff Johns is run was to make Keystone and central city sister cities each with their own living breathing attitudes and characters I absolutely love it and having the to play off each other is only going to help the world building of this cinematic universe or is that extended universe I think in a hold off on switching over until I see something more than the EW article referring to it as the extended universe my brain keeps wanting to correct DC EU into do sort of DU CE what was I think him rambling cities right cities I just wanted to quickly address the criticism about immersive reality with fictional cities the criticism basically goes like this how can DC pretend to pursue reality when all its action takes place in fake cities is in everything taking place in New York more realistic and the right answer is it depends but it isn't nearly as clear cut as the critic claims reality and realism is a tool on an end unto itself otherwise we wouldn't have aliens superpowers were billionaire vigilantes to begin with realism is a tool to promote immersion and relate ability to help you identify with your world and foster the illusion that this could happen in the life that you live and using New York City doesn't necessarily foster that goal the overexposed New York City that you see on TV where car chases can happen in the streets and apparently there's an elevated train doesn't exist I use New York in Jersey City as references instead of San Francisco because for years I walked past the flatiron building and I didn't see the daily bugle or Spiderman swing through and when I looked out my office window at the skyline I didn't see the Baxter building or avengers Tower so setting Marvel in New York didn't enhance the immersion for me instead it shattered the illusion however metropolis is asking me to imagine a large city that I haven't been to well I've traveled to a lot of large cities but have I been to them all of course not and what is one more large city that I haven't been to living only in my head so fictional cities slot into that realistic identifiable experience of a famous place you know of but had never been to in which exists only in your imagination rather than your personal experience okay I'm definitely digressing let's get back to the trailer but I should quickly mentioned that the building brought down by sod was the one in which the keep calm and called Batman Easter egg was placed it's funny how this film take something like that in makes it logical to the Canon of these films so the trailer shifts and viewpoint from Superman to Batman and so it's natural to believe that the decrepit building that we see is Wayne Manor and the man in the unkempt grass is perhaps Alfred given the collapsed roof some have speculated that this is the exterior to the scene in the teaser where Batman is in a vandalized building with columns and rain pouring it I don't know if this building has the height to accommodate that interior but I'm not sure allowing vandals into the building above would be conducive to keeping a secret Batcave below but I'm open to the possibility and speaking of the Batcave I love this establishing shot of the Batcave because we very quickly into it the layout of the cave and the function of the individual sections although I'm still at a loss for the purpose of the distinctly red room the glass and the squared off layout gives this Batcave its own distinctive character you know that it's a Batcave but it's not one that you'll ever confuse with any other and the glass helps address that age-old question of that guano being everywhere I do question how the entire thing came to be without a contractor being down in the cave but I'm content not to be spoonfed answers like those in the film let the story focus on the characters and the drama and let the production design and world building tell the story of those things wordlessly and that leaves them for fans like us who like to chew our food next we see Bruce in the boardroom a giant painting of his departed father Thomas Wayne pretrade by Jeffrey Dean Morgan behind him receiving mail a copy of the daily planet article Wayne tower devastated with the caption dozens killed some have commented on this number being far too small but if trading was suspended for a set duration then that might be reason for people to not come into work and once the black zero descends upon metropolis there might have been an evacuation so the death toll may consist of people outside the building or the few inside that stayed behind of course what immediately catches the eye is the red block letters saying you let your family die in the mind leaps to the Joker taunting Batman but does the Joker know Batman secret identity then that's a pretty big step that might bind the hands of future filmmakers wanting to use the Joker another plausible possibility is that this is targeted purely at Wayne by the distraught family of a fallen employee Bruce could identify with that kind of anger only too well and might readily take on that guilt part of avenging his parents was always an aspect of misplaced survivor guilt they were there on that day because he wanted to see that particular show and so his employees were killed because he employed them in that building it's not a correct response but it's an emotionally truthful one that many of us can identify with there are a number of other exotic interesting candidates for whom may have sent that accusation from Lex Luther trying to rile Wayne to Jason Todd wanting to twist the knife to even more out there theories however I think this is can a be much more straightforward simply due to how packed this film already is if it is the Joker that would necessarily be in elegant given that he already has a presence in the cave in a hint without explicit mention or explanation can go a long way towards a feeling of richness and world building without feeling like heavy-handed exposition but will see moving on we get Bruce's second angry stare followed by a reprisal of Alfred's lines then we get a shot of Bruce training by pulling a tractor tire by a rope that's an exercise useful for building your lats in your grip strength and it shows in mentality is towards bringing himself back to that physical peak I will be so happy if we get a little training montage in Batman be Superman because that's what that means about training to bring himself to his best and most effective version of himself we see his back and unlike some traditions it does not appear to be covered in scars at first I miss that since the scars would suggest a lifetime of battle and maybe they'll be added in postproduction but as I thought about it back without scars makes much more sense for the kind of Batman want to see as much as we want to see him mentally at his edge I don't think we want to see a Batman physically broken so that he can perform like he does in our imagination and when you look at old fighters yeah many of them carry scars and broken noses and cauliflower ears but many of the geniuses the best of the best don't have those because they're geniuses at combat ever somebody to have lasted as long as Batman has he teaches brute force that he has to be a genius and so his combat prowess may account for his lack of battle damage all that said Bruce does seem to have around scar behind his right shoulder blade perhaps from a bullet this becomes more intriguing with the Robin costume later but before that we have a reprisal of Bruce looking at the suit and an interesting audio staying in the soundtrack which might be a clue as to their approach to scoring Batman may be finally we get our first look at Jeremy Irons in the character of Alfred pennyworth concluding his lines from the teaser trailer and he looks great we can leave open the possibility that Alfred isn't talking to Bruce or about Bruce but he's definitely speaking to someone in the Batcave and Superman is on the monitor in the bottom left of your screen so I'm inclined to believe that Alfred is talking to Bruce about Bruce but I'm keeping an open mind and incidentally if you are wondering in this shot I rinse is about 65 and Affleck would be about 42 Alfred appears to be wearing a heavy apron like one for welding or perhaps the cast can't really tell it's unclear the next we get a shot of the GC PD finding a batwing and a branded and change criminal while Clark Kent says this that vigilante is like a one-man reign of terror let's tackle the imagery than the line it seems that unless he's being framed Batman likes to leave theatrical calling cards like his bat ring or branding his quarry and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet it's kind of weird the timing is something that we have to work out to so many people are coming at this assuming that Batman has been retired but I don't recall that ever being officially stated anywhere I mean has Batman come out of retirement only to start branding low-level criminals or isn't it more likely that Batman never went away and this is simply a part of his routine if he did go away with this be an effective way to frame him if he's never done it before and a little random note about leaving his perpetrator shirtless I suppose that assists with the branding and allows the police to approach with less beer of hidden weapons but if you leave people chained up outdoors on auto nights there's a certain level of risk for exposure but I guess the Batman plans for that to whelp note that the criminal is conscious and largely intact which is a slight sigh of relief for me because while I get what Snyder was going for with the compound fractures during the combat in watchmen it's not necessarily something that I want from Batman as a matter of course use judicially may be okay but I don't want his go to move to be made people although making them scream seems par for the course as we see bats fly from a chimney faith think now on to Clark's line we get a glimpse into his perspective on Batman I'm sure with in the story he doesn't mean to use reign of terror so specifically but perhaps you're aware of its significance in the French Revolution and hear the filmmakers are showing subtle philosophical underpinnings to their characters Robespierre famously said quote terror is nothing but justice prompt severe inflexible it is thus an emanation of virtue" food for thought if this is how Batman thinks or is perceived are trailer shifts back to Superman his deeds and his supporting cast Perry Lois Martha and Lex Perry says you don't get to decide what the right thing is nobody cares about Clark Kent taking on the Batman I love this line because it works on multiple levels in an outside the film and I wonder if that's going to be their approach to the secret identity or everything Perry says can be interpreted under a lens where it seems like he knows Clark is Superman and under lens where he doesn't leaving it to the viewers to ultimately decide we talked at on about the secret identity in episode nine of this podcast you can go back and listen to that is going to sidestep it for now because that might be where the filmmakers are going to do in Batman be Superman ultimately you have to pick your battles and is much as we want from realistic explanation for how the secret identity works in a strictly realistic world that might be an unwinnable battle for now or in this story the short bit of dialogue shows that Clark doesn't operate 100% lockstep with Perry's wishes so he has his own sense of justice and autonomy even if Perry's trying to tell him otherwise while many people have pointed out that Perry seems to be burying a story that would sell I can't help but wonder if Perry's motives don't run parallel to the first film remember that Lois brought Perry S sensationalistic story about aliens among us and that Perry couched it as a credibility issue initially when Lois later pulls the story Perry confides in her that he actually believes are but is concerned about the public impact the story might have so here's the thing Perry used to be an investigative journalist himself he's risen to the editor of the daily planet and he led a colorful life in metropolis the sister city to Gotham is it perhaps possible that Perry has his own run-ins with the bat been protected by an who knows people protected by the bat in the same reasons that Perry didn't want Lois to start a panic protecting people in the same reason Perry pretend that he doesn't know Superman is protecting people is the same reason that Perry wants Clark to stop pursuing the Batman so that the Batman can keep protecting people imagine if Perry is one of the good guys left imagine if this is Superman's version of Alfred telling Bruce Superman is not there enemy only Perry is telling Clark Batman is not their enemy complete under speculation but wouldn't that be interesting to think it's also interesting that Perry is the first person to say Batman out loud after Man of Steel the seal has been broken and there's no need to be quarry with the names we cut to Superman Lois at night with the Washington Monument in the background in this suggests that after the Senate hearing Superman and Lois need to talk as we discussed in episode 20 of this podcast some people seem to forget that Lois and Martha were in this they forget the humanity and the relationships they bring to Superman's character so by the same token let's not forget the Capt. Farris and general Swan Lake are also set to return Lois says this means something it's all some people have it's all that gives them hope so Lois is trying to encourage Superman and that suggests to me that the Senate hearing concluded with the discouraging outcome perhaps the expectation that Superman submit to their demands or hang up his Cape this is a vital question somewhat left over from Man of Steel because while we know it's in his nature to help we also know it isn't in his nature to help publicly as Superman that was brought on by necessity by's odd what exactly prevent Superman from disappearing back into anonymity or perhaps going to a another less troublesome nation helping only as a Guardian Angel rather than a public figure we like to take things in the Superman mythos for granted assuming that of course once you've debuted in the costume you'd continue to help people as a superhero but is that really so obvious especially if the Senate asks you to submit yourself to regulation or retirement sometimes longtime fans are so committed to the Canon they failed to grasp common sense ideas that even children can except without issue heroes going away due to mundane regulations is the very plausible premise behind Pixar's the incredible's and to completely reasonable question for the DCC you to attack the why of Superman is also the why of the justice league and it means that he's going to have a meaningful character arc to resolve this question even amidst all the action conflict and characters going on when Superman resolves to be a public hero in reconciliation with the government it in turn legitimizes that for other heroes and it makes it possible for the league to be formed and sanctioned Lois his words that it's all some people have an all that gives them hope has to be talking about truly dire straits which can only be a job for Superman however for that hope to a developed Superman must have earned that reputation for being the one to save you in those moments so enough time has passed and Superman has lived up to that reputation to become a source for hope people literally painting his symbol to be rescued which takes us to our next shot we see Superman to sending on flood victims and I'm happy to say I accurately assessed what that rescue we was wearing on her shoulders back in episode 20 and remains to be seen mechanically how Superman would save all those people we might not see it and the rescue might only be implied as part of the montage we then see the Kent Homestead now fully repaired from the damage caused by Zide under an incredibly starry sky and Superman seeking counsel from Martha last episode we talked about how the gift of flight meant that Clark could now do this and Martha provides additional insight and perspective into Clark's quandary but hit the rescues first and then Martha's lines first we see Superman rescuing somebody from a fire three quick notes on that first note that Superman is rescuing someone from a fire not stopping the fire itself in an instant with ease or without consequences so there's still seems to be some very real limitations on the scope of his powers he is it just whisking everyone to safety at superspeed freezing the building with his breath or putting out the fire with a thunderclap since those powers tend to be more cartoonish and more difficult to rationalize this stage even with the insanely powerful Christopher Reeve Superman remember that putting out a chemical fire was a highly involved process and not simply something that Superman could just do at will and that was with a character who could freeze and transport a lake if our intuitions and expectations about his powers align with our analysis will be less prone to those why didn't he do this kind of criticisms based on baggage and assumptions rather than observations well second Superman is in a slow descent something we saw him do the capital building and both times he descends with Lois in Man of Steel so Superman isn't limited to his explosive takeoffs and landings and third there is a hula how to fire in this movie we know that Batman is involved in a firefight at Gotham gas which results in many pyrotechnic explosions and when it be interesting if Superman was saving a potential collateral damage victim of Batman's the next shot is a wider angle on the deity mythos scene followed by a look at the rocket before Superman rescues the payload which could be cosmonauts I notice that this seems to be the first dissolve between two shots and everywhere else seems to be a cut or estate in and out of black until we get to the scenes of their underwater with the horseback riders and the Wayne's Superman lifting only the top portion of the rocket is closer inconsistency to what we've talked about in the past on the show about him lifting things in Superman appearing in time to rescue the payload leaves open the question of how he responds in time and in costume if this is just part of the montage we don't necessarily need to know all the logistics but we could imagine Clark was there covering the launch know it would seem a little weird to send a Stringer to rush out to cover a routine launch or if Lex told Superman of pending attacks to have him run ragged and test his limits we shall see eventually now I don't know if it's intentional but consider how Superman is tackling the elements of the flawed equals water fire is fire if there was an earthquake or a sinkhole in Mexico that would be earth and the rocket meant to pierce the sky or send to the heavens could be air again that's all just speculation especially since we don't know what's happening in Mexico and the rocket goes up in flames but wouldn't that be a statement to see Superman taming or mitigating elemental disasters a We have Martha saying people hate what they don't understand this isn't too radical concept and it echoes what Jonathan said in Man of Steel people are afraid of what they don't understand this shows that Jonathan and Martha were a team and their on the same page the question is whether people are hating on Superman because they don't understand him or his motives and the demonstrators proved that it's a spectrum of answers but I'm inclined to think that Superman and Martha are more concerned about the latter after all Congress want to know what does he stand for the people already know that he saves lives and he is doing good but despite that positive reputation and outcome people despise them because they can't understand him it's meta-tactual commentary on the character in the real world because Superman is routinely criticized as too good or on relatable and it isn't that they don't acknowledge Superman is good they just don't understand identify with somebody who is that good even if we know these people exist and if you are fortunate to have those people in your life or you are that person yourself Batman feeds into a slightly baser instinct of vengeance which is more universally accessible since everyone has been wronged and wanted justice at one time or another but not everybody want to do good that means they'll be wronged for Batman is about doing the most that you can do something that everyone wishes for but in many narratives Superman has a paternalistic slant and that means navigating the complexities of when not to do something something that's harder to identify with until you're a parent or you have real power coupled with real responsibility over others then Martha says be there hero Clark be there Angel be there monument be anything they need you to be or be none of it you don't over this world thing you never did so obviously another line which could be perceived as self-interested sulfation contrary to tradition but Martha isn't so ambivalent about Clark's choices she's using a similar technique that Jonathan did trusting Clark to make the right choices but presenting the positive option as the subtlest suggestion of what he ought to do in Man of Steel Jonathan said a choice of whether to stand proud in front of the human race or not that could of been phrased a choice of whether to hide in shame or not but the phrasing implies the preferred course Martha has no doubt that Clark will do the right thing this is her Clark the one that she's raised not the persona Superman that she has to share with the public but she wants him to do it unburdened by doubt publication and again the filmmakers are highlighting for us that being Superman is not the obvious or expected outcome being Superman is not a gimme or an assumption that we can just take for granted it's very much a conscious choice even our most heroic servicemen or public servants retire they may hear the call of duty but they move on after a tour a serious fire or dramatic shootout if someone performs valiantly in more we thank them for their service and then we let them pick their course in life there performance doesn't mean they're now obligated to participate in each and every war thereafter Clark stepped up he stopped's odd and he save the world he helps when he can but does that mean that he has to continue when does one battle mean that he's committed to the never ending battle and part of this film is going to understand that commitment when he makes that choice it's not something born out of debt or pathology be it Spiderman or iron man's guilt be at Batman's need for vengeance or Capt. America's nationalistic patriotic duty but it's genuine charity in the heart of volunteerism now even if Clark doesn't owe earth a debt what about Cal Al to krypton in a cut them for time but good for thought right at next we get a shot of how Okamoto letting Sen. Finch into a room with large wooden doors and Oriental rug a burning fireplace books piled on the mantle and yet the head of a rhino over the fireplace Okamoto is widely reported to be playing mercy grace but that has yet to be confirmed and personally I think that she's Luther's assistant or valet but will probably have a different name not every character has to be pulled from the Canon necessarily nonetheless if I slip and call her mercy you'll know who I mean now obviously Lex lives well and one wonders if he comes from old money explaining his trappings in his established brand or if this was all recently acquired as well I'm leaning towards old money providing an assist for a new money explosion but will see the lives of the youngest quote unquote self-made billionaires are fascinating and perhaps give insight into Lex but to skip on that for now to part of the reason I'm curious about that old money or new money dichotomy is because I want to know if the hell I know came with the house or did Lex shoot last year a Texas Hunter paid $350,000 to legally hunt and endangered black rhinoceros in Namibia which had been marked for death for being too old to breed but having aggressively killed three other equally endangered my notes so is Lex Safari thrillseeker with the kind of money to burn for experiences that involve mounting a rare animal as a trophy and if so does that inform us how he views and interacts with the last son of krypton the room appears to be the same one featured in the entertainment weekly shot and Lex is wearing the same blue with black polkadots and we see what appears to be old tax and a painting of Lucifer's rebellion which tends to emphasize Luther's point to Sen. fetch a don't think Finch is in Lex's pocket per se but instead this is an opportunity to make a pitch the government wants to hold Superman accountable and he declined to be unleashed so Lex is offering the power to force compliance Lex comes across very much as somebody trying to persuade so were going to get insight into his mind here we get the image of Superman bowed and Lex caressing his head without touching and that's so striking Lex gives the slightest smirk and smile because this is like that rhino thing that he absolutely appreciates for what it is rare powerful beautiful but he appreciates it by killing and possessing it Lex is wearing the same white shirt with the black pattern as we he says the God versus man line so this is when the conflict with Batman is already established or precipitating is like sending Superman after Batman and then saying his lines or is Lex commenting on the conflict already in progress Superman's face is filled with discussed so is he down out of duress or is Superman kneeling due to weakness perhaps kryptonite note behind Luther is a skylight but also to red lights and contrary to the comics light from a red sun would not make everything red Man of Steel recognize this with everything on krypton let as it was so maybe those are red sun lamps probably not but does want the flip the idea and if Lex had had the time to study's odds body and how it metabolizes radiation may be Lex uncovered the red sun weakness along with kryptonite we know to that Lex's hand is wrapped so when and how did he receive that injury and treatment is a brief shot of Okamoto leading soldiers with a casket down a Lex Corp. Hall in the casket is labeled US a.m. are IID for United States Army medical research Institute of infectious diseases an actual real world agency and this reinforces the idea that Tao is Lex's assistant that access to this was granted by Lex's meeting with the Sen. and that the US military ultimately took custody of the alien technology coming from the BZ eat the black zero event we discussed the ramifications about who takes what tech way back in episode two of this podcast but it seems like Superman deferred to the US government and let them take everything including Zide in a body back the ramifications of that are far reaching but largely already discussed you can go back and listen to those episodes the images start coming fast now and speak to a larger universe beyond just Batman and Superman to get Robin's costume clearly marked with the stylized are over the left breast and in the wide shot we see a rack of grapple guns and that Batman suit appears to be biometric league locked with a handprint the color of the suit is Brown or bronze to the Joker put on a coat of primer before writing his graffiti was the suit always this color or is the colored the result of damage the Cape is in tatters and there's visual damage throughout the suit including a number of holes are these bullet holes bomb fragments or something else remember Bruce's scar on his back the suit isn't for a child thankfully and the texture is very reminiscent of Batman's out the yellow graffiti seems unmistakably jokers ha ha Ha jokes on you Batman placing this in the central location in his cave where he must always see it whenever he accesses his suit goes to the Batmobile seems rather morbid but it may act as the psychological fuel that keeps Batman going the powerlessness to stop this event the rage which is turned Bruce cruel the costume is holding an interesting segmented staff weapon reinforcing the idea that Batman fights with martial arts rather than firearms we get a glimpse of Diana in white and then Bruce talking to Alfred in the red room we get a reprisal of Superman in the shaft now walking past the soldiers and then Batman in armor unveiling and powering the bat signal the bat signal tends to go against the idea of an urban legend but will see and this scene may be the analog to the where seem in the dark that returns where Superman Burns that question into the ground from space to pick a place to have their dual the sign appears to be Batman calling Superman out so now let's go back over the lines 20 years in Gotham how many good guys are left how many stayed that way 20 years appears to be Batman's tenure and the rough duration of his crusade these lines may also be an oblique reference to fallen friends and allies Gordon Elliott Dent Todd and so on it also appears to be an acknowledgment that Superman may be good but Batman's concern is about the future not Superman's past or present deeds and this is crystallized in the
he has the power to wipe out the entire human race and we have to destroy him now it's easy to assume this line is about Superman maybe it's about Lex I'm inclined to believe it's about Superman it's interesting that he says it we does he mean we need the human race or we as an Bruce and Alford also these are the first lines from Bruce that we've heard and based on past reports we know that there is a Batman voice that's likely separate but I'm pleased with this performance Affleck can tend to pitch up his voice but here he's kept his voice low and Ernest we didn't get a shot of a free diver following down a rope and a chain to some object where it swimming at relatively shallow depths and in warm waters and that might suggest that the object has some buoyancy is it a body is a rock what am I looking at I have no idea with the water people obviously want to make the connection to Aquaman maybe will find out the next we see horseback riders now this was probably shot in New Mexico and one of the writers appears to have something on his back maybe a bottle were rifle they appear to be men wearing bulky outfits which include some sort of headgear and the sepia tones in the grading make me want to link in this scene to the ones with the super shock troopers only we see that they are kitted out with modern vehicles but they're obviously fighting and firing at someone so here's my prediction these horseback riders are members of Batman's resistance a bit more on this later but next we have the death of the Wayne's in a. Accurate seen a left-handed shooter Joe chill perhaps buyers his got Jeffrey Dean Morgan the role of Thomas Wayne is confirmed with the Aragon Marquis behind him and young Bruce screens in anguish again that guilt as Batman wanted to see the 1940 film the market zero the Marquis also lists the 1981 film Excalibur putting the birth of Batman one year after Superman Clark arriving on earth in 1980 and this horrible crime giving rise to the Batman one year later perhaps a subtle all mosh to Batman's debut in 1939 one year after Superman started the genre in 1938 this scene was shot in IMAX so there is a judicious use of slow-motion adding that tool back into Snyder's toolbox we cut to two coffins being brought to a Wayne mausoleum and as we talked about in episode 23 the prop Department often populates the scene the text not meant to be caught on camera and has fun with that text so given the headstone marked Richard Grayson from spy photos appearing in the scene the text is clearly not meant to be visible so in less they intended for Dick to predecease the Wayne's or they don't mind that minor continuity error personally I think is just a bit of fun on the prop Department's part we don't know how many robins there were an which one might be implicitly thought to be dead but the spy photo of the tombstone isn't dispositive we then get a shot of the batwing which seems to have been branded the bat jet in licensing literature flying over a fiery landscape against so much fire in this film as city skyline can be seen in the distance with a body of water between them so very likely were looking at one of the sister cities from the shore of the other just a ferry ride away and although fire is everywhere it does seem to be a central crater and conflagration we then cut to Lois at the rally were back at Washington behind the police barricade with Lois who is among the demonstrators and everyone has ducked down and is getting up so what happened why but I'm excited that we might get to see Lois is press badge in detail in this shot lets us know that while the trailer has a certain storytelling float away clearly some of the sequences are out of order and we shouldn't be so quick to presume that anyone scene takes place in the same order in the film as they do in the trailer so for a rough sequence of events Superman does something I proposed something of international import which triggers the Senate committee hearing and somehow it concludes with an inciting incident at Washington which has Superman conversing with Lois later at night maybe I mean what if Superman arrived with a sonic boom causing people to dock people are ducking but they're not clearly screaming or scattering Lois is astonished so I tend to think that this occurs after the hearing and not before maybe Superman is so mad leaving the hearing that he takes off with an angry sonic boom or maybe they tried to arrest or stop him or somebody attacks him leading to the crowd cowering there is more to this scene and it will be interesting to find out exactly what next is Bruce in black in front of the MSU's Eli and Edythe broad Art Museum note that neither Bruce nor Diana are wearing a tux with a sequined evening gown that we saw in the entertainment weekly exclusive pictures a brief note on costuming and colors and the brilliance of these filmmakers so in the trailer Diana appears in red and in white in paparazzi set photos we've also seen her in a blue dress and in entertainment weekly we saw her in a dress of gold metallic sequence so red white blue and metal likewise Bruce's scene in a blue outfit with colors that summon to mind his old blue costume so the layers of references and respect for the source material in this film is some all these costume changes also mean that barring montage flashbacks or deleted scenes each outfit also suggests another scene with Diana Prince so she probably appears at least four separate times and this means the Diana is well acquainted with the quote unquote man's world in this scene she appears to be getting into the driver seat of a sports car so she can drive in which is pardon the pun wonderful there are times when the fish out of water version of wonder woman is right for the story where she's unaccustomed to ice cream or modern culture but a sophisticated wonder woman is what this film and the world needs today just like Superman is called to tackle challenging moral dilemmas we need a savvy wonder woman to negotiate the complexities of modern diplomacy and not one the gets confused by man's world of course that sophistication and intelligence doesn't mean she can't kick ass which is exactly what we see next wonder woman winding up in the cockpit of the batch it behind the cockpit shares a lot of lines with the Batmobile so it might be that but since the intake ports are missing from the sides this doesn't seem to be the Batmobile also they took care to show the tracks and the ground that sent the cockpit there so wonder woman locks her infamous bracelets together and waves of blinding light in energy, have to frame by frame it to see it but definitely something is going on which she crashes her bracelets together now whether that's the same effect as the dome of energy we cut to is a little less clear that explosion seems to have more color to it and wild streams of lightning and fire inside not quite as pure as the energy from the bracelet collision that don't explosion is massive were talking about a dome that's larger than skyscrapers and that's the scale were talking about whether this is magic science or whatever so the stakes are definitely real now cut to desert Batman with barbed wired desaturated sepia a bleak sky and rubble he get the feeling that the cities have been bombed out this is the apocalypse desert Batman has his own look and gear and that means more toys and like but in story I think this is a vision of a future where Superman rains and Batman leads a rebellion the horseback riders harken back to the dark Knight returns when Batman takes the city on horseback and essentially enforces martial law and here we have a future where Superman rules Batman is leading a literal underground resistance which is why he emerges from a bunker and why Superman descends into one where his soldiers bow it is presents the shock troopers are appropriately baseless and Batman is swarmed and on his knees managing to kill one I don't think this takes place within the main storyline but instead is a vision the question is does now while Batman is prone to paranoia I don't really consider him to have these kinds of flights of fantasy or imagination I think the best person to have this vision would be wonder woman whether she has a directly or by an Oracle of legend because magic solves any of the issues of portend prediction predestination and the like and it serves as a concise and powerful motivation to explain wonder woman's involvement at this time in this place and with these parties when she is not yet known to the world at large of vision of the world ending because these two fight would completely justify her motivations showing and not telling it would also give us more Batman be Superman action in an else worlds tradition I'm predicting a pretty weird trip be D tour the one that else worlds fans like myself I can eat up with a spoon sort of the way that people are dying to know krypton story from Man of Steel I can easily imagine people wanting to know more about this alternate world of Batman and Superman each have their legions and again this is going to be a reminder not to take Superman for granted it's what stories like what's so funny about truth justice and the American way are about showing you what Superman could be like if he didn't honor those values so that you don't taken for granted a Moving on we get a quick shot of the Batmobile peeling out at Gotham gas as an oil tanker explodes and imagine if that sets off the fire which requires Superman to save someone probably not but it's a thought and from one pyrotechnic to another this time and interior shot we get a glimpse of Batman as a ferocious whirlwind of motion using his grapple gun is a melee weapon to disarm someone trying to raise a rifle and get a reprisal of the Batmobile driving through an explosion's hope much fire and then a quick glimpse of Superman looking over his shoulder and that visual is juxtaposed with Alfred's lines you're going to go to war he is not our enemy and that image was in there to make the subject of his sentence clear Alford is saying that Superman is in their enemy and we get to see how Fred who is trembling with every syllable in static Batman's sole remaining confidant can see the forest for the trees and recognizes Superman from what he is but Batman cynicism and personal experience watching Wayne tower fall before his eyes during the BZ E has blinded him while next we get a Lex Corp. exterior shot and the comp wants Lex the showdown but he just blows right past and Lex riding a motorcycle in the rain reinforces that adventurous and antiauthoritarian spirit which is what we need because a conservative and a cautious Lex content with the comforts of his wealth would probably never even get mixed up with the capes but endearing one that delights in danger and turmoil is the perfect puppet master and as a little energy and levity to the film we see a deflated basketball living and wounded guards and way too many bullet casings a mix of handgun and rifle and some of the firearms on the ground and incidentally no copies going to let a civilian walk onto a crime scene with unsecured weapons but perhaps that's a testament to how even the cops can't tell Lex what to do I think the general speculation is that with all the guards to living Batman has assaulted and invaded Lex Corp. if true leaving this larger footprint either means he's not an urban legend or he's not any more which might make for an easier transition into the justice league thereafter while next is Lex and his green rock and if I were in denial I would say that the rock is not clearly glowing green but only blink green but I think between entertainment weekly past rumors and more were at the point where it's clear that kryptonite is here the world without kryptonite is definitely something different the world with kryptonite is definitely tradition and something easily intuited by the audience as an explanation for how this fight can work and as long as it's used sparingly and judiciously I'm okay with it the biggest potential plus for kryptonite is the possibility of getting that scene or Superman in trusts kryptonite to Batman with all the meaning that that details now I don't know you can get there in one film but it opens the door to that eventual possibility Lex's expression and outstretched hands is similar to what he does when Superman was Neil before him and it perhaps suggests a more complicated set of emotions about Superman and kryptonian's than pure hate or entity Lex seems to be looking at the kryptonite with affection or longing because of what it means to him or what it can bring him he isn't arching his fingers or twirling his mustache it seems that this Lex has a genuine all of the alien well cut to our first glimpse of the Marquis fight armored Batman stomps Superman through a skylight and we know from the comic con close-ups of those boots have specs on the bottom it's a big epic comic book styled hit which just shows the kind of punishment that Superman can take now that were inside the building perhaps Superman throws Batman often they climbed to their feet and we get that collision that we saw in the IMAX exclusive footage if you look closely at Batman's chest plate you can see the imprints of Superman's hands meaning that even if he's fighting a tactical and martial genius who has planned for this fight and is wearing a suit laced with Superman's explicit weakness that this Superman can still mess up Batman's armor and has Snyder said at the panel Batman is going to be pummeled like a piņata both of these heroes organic give it their all in an epic spectacle about me is wearing a thick bandolier not seen at comic con so perhaps he's carrying some more tricks or toys that we have yet to see a comic con we also learned that the armor is primarily protective and not strength enhancing and this is important and welcome detail because it helps justify Batman without the armor in the future if the sole purpose and function of the suit is to survive Superman and they become allies then it makes sense that Batman would stop wearing it if the suit gave Batman superpowers than it harder to explain why Batman retires the suit the filmmakers are thinking all this stuff through and that's why I love this take on DC lore now cut to wonder woman taking a hit well she shakes it off and gives that perfect look that says how you've done it your trouble now and in the recently released IMAX theatrical cut we get a little bit more of wonder woman getting pushed back and her shield seems to be cooling off from glowing with heat now maybe it's just catching the light of all the flames around them against so much fire speaking of which we see Superman flying through flaming rubble his eyes light up read for the first time we see him uses heat vision in conjunction with flight they'll be interesting to see if they've kept it where Superman has to recover each time he uses it or if he's learned to use it without that recovery. Shot cuts to Batman dodging in an ethical mosh to the cover of the dark Knight returns seriously I can imagine how many hidden Easter eggs like that are going to be in this film or yet to be discovered in Man of Steel we get to see Batman use his grapple gun and completely embody the comics character in that instant now while the cut in tends to make it look like Superman buyer on Batman there are some possible clues that allow for an alternative first assuming that the armor was there climactic battle when would this happened is this a rematch after the armor or Batman tries to fight Superman without it worth this takes place before the armor battle then why is all the wreckage and rubble reminiscent of what surrounds wonder woman and that's the second point all that wreckage and bubble tends to imply that this is the third act threat why would a battle between just Batman and Superman alone result in all that flaming wreckage and third and finally as we discussed Superman's heat vision always appears red and focused but the beam dodged was orange and broad like the heat vision that Bruce witnessed when his tower went down burned into his memory etching this fear mistrust and hatred into himself and tackling whatever generates these beams is like conquering that fear and avenging that evil on the edges of the broad beam are wispy ropes of energy that sort of resemble that don't explosion so might the to be tied together who or what is shooting at Batman causing these persistent ambient sparks and fires everywhere metaphorically the dark Knight the Man of Steel and the Amazonian warrior maybe slaying a firebreathing dragon together now as long as I'm mentioning the Trinity I might as well just quickly mention this as the father of all superheroes it's natural that all superheroes may have an element or aspect of Superman in them but it's interesting that the three pillars of Superman's values truth justice and the American way are mirrored in the modern Trinity and that's why they are the foundational bedrock of the DC universe wonder woman is the spirit of truth Batman is driven by the need for justice and Superman is perhaps the only hero who can truly reflect the American way not just as a cartoonish optimistic I deal with all the complexity nuance confusion in questions of being the world's last superpower am rambling with get back to it we have Luther again in that same outfit that we saw him wearing when he had Superman kneeling before him and he says black and blue God versus man day versus night it's over the top but I love it it shows how much insight Lex has into these heroes that he's one step ahead of everybody and he totally grasps the situation and he does completely revels in it you can see the madness but also the light in his eyes and the amusement on his face this is an exterior shot and it isn't raining but you can see lightning off in the distance so I'm guessing these lines occur before Superman and Batman meet up in the rain and Lex the describing something to be not which already use I'm not sure how I feel if Lex is the one sicking Superman on Batman but that might be a good origin for their specific animosity towards one another in the Lords if Lex doesn't do something that specifically victimizes Superman he may as well just be a Batman or justice league film but here Lex is tinkering with dead kryptonian's and he's brought kryptonite into the world and if he's responsible for setting Superman loose on the one who will become his most trusted colleague those would all explain why he's a Superman specific villain three images quickly flashed by we get Superman and Lois at night again intimately close together and hopefully this is a separate scene and not just an extension of the Washington Monument scene so that Lois gets more to do it implies that their relationship has continued to develop hopefully we get a scene of Superman floating over a wrecked building winding up to do his trademark two-fisted charging move is the only FX shot the bothered me a little bit maybe that's cavil's actual head but the way that it screws up in anger just triggers little bit of an uncanny Valley for me think it's a digital double a kind of hope that it is because that means that they can fix it it's a split second belt and it's out of context and the next shot of Batman completely vaporizing window as he crashes through it absolutely the comic books brought to life I just love it that we have Lex saying the red capes are coming the red tapes are coming and this is back with Sen. Finch and Lex is sarcastically referencing the cry of the redcoats are coming during the American Revolutionary war we talked about the British redcoats back in episode 16 when talking about wonder woman's costume and Aquaman you can check that out but again what I'm getting from Lex is that he sees the big picture he's brilliant and he's mad but he sees the beginning of the DC universe in a way that nobody else does and he sarcastically acting as the Herald for the superhero revolution to come Warner Bros. marketed this perfectly by first providing us with that black and white Raven and shaven bald headed Luther in entertainment weekly then showing us this flamboyant playful and reckless Lex if and when this Lex is laid low that's when will see the transformation into that other Lex but for now it makes perfect sense for him to treat these capes like toys because there a novelty because he thinks he's the only one that understands part of his confidence in dealing with Superman is the idea that he could snuff them out but he has games that he wants to play first and if Luther proves to be a greater threat to humanity than Superman that would help resolve some of the angst that the planet has over a being from another planet whose only trying to help when one of their own can bring about instruction just as easily as that alien that they all feared now finally we close with Superman walking in slow motion towards the Batmobile seemingly inflames were still at Gotham city gas and Superman effort lead tears the doors off the Batmobile Batman stands to face him Superman demonstrating strength Batman demonstrating fearlessness the choir reminds us how epic this is an were done I think this feels like a first meeting that's probably just a fraction of all my thoughts but that's all the time allows of course were to learn more over the coming months but I am hyped excited and I'm so happy to see that this film seems like as good a live up to the legacy of the things that I love about Man of Steel and Zack Snyder's approach I suspect that this is going to be an extremely densely layered film which can be enjoyed easily on a superficial level but also with a lot of exposition themes references and more Lane just below the surface for fans like love to chew is probably do a suicide squad and mailbag episode next and then will continue with our Man of Steel commentary episode's good have to cut it off here I'm recording way longer than I meant to what thanks so much for your patience I really appreciate you guys listening keeping your mind open and positive and optimistic about the future of the DC cinematic universe I'm Dr. awkward your DC see you apologist signing off of answers