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New Details on BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE and SUICIDE SQUAD

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the start of a new cinematic universe, and also the first time we’ll see the DC Trinity – Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman – on the same screen. USA TODAY had a chance to speak with directors David Ayer (Suicide Squad), Zack Snyder (Batman v Superman), along with actors Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman).

I’ve been really impressed just as a working stiff to see how they’re doing it,” Affleck says, regarding the massive interconnecting universe they’re building. In a lot of ways, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad are “the cornerstone of the beginning” Snyder said. The world will only get bigger with Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg and Green Lantern Corps releasing in the next five years.  “I love Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman, but having Flash and Aquaman and Cyborg and to see them all standing together, it’s a pretty dorky and cool experience for me, basically every one of those characters has a logo that you would recognize without them standing there, and that’s a hard thing to achieve in this pop-culture world. We have history to draw on, but we also have these new frontiers to forge,”  Snyder says. We know that some of the other Justice League members will be appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

 Affleck is an older wiser Batman, and USA TODAY describes him as “A Gotham City hero who has no patience for injustice in Dawn of Justice, and after watching the death and destruction caused by Superman’s battle with the villainous Zod (see: Man of Steel), he’s determined to do something about it.

Snyder says that this version of the Dark Knight will differ from any version we’ve seen before saying: “You can see the idea of the innocent being victimized by whatever they are, aliens, he doesn’t know — that’s the thing that really boils his blood, as you can imagine it would,” Snyder says. “Suddenly the innocent children of the world are all of us.

Affleck adds that Snyder didn’t want a young Batman, but rather, “a guy who had been through that experience already for many years and was kind of burnt out and asking himself what the point of it all was and going through an existential crisis.”  It’s also interesting that Bruce Wayne is the mask, and Batman is the man. “Batman is covered up by a suit and sometimes a car and sometimes a lot of vehicles and weapons, whereas Bruce Wayne is much more naked — it’s just you and a suit of clothes,” Affleck says. “You can’t really play Batman because Batman is different things to different people. We project our own things onto the mythology of what Batman is, and he has to be able to be projected upon. With Bruce Wayne, you have to bring something distinct and new and different.

While many fans will be debating who will win, Henry Cavill compares the fight between Batman and Superman to a Father playing football with his children.  “He can sure as hell take Batman out if he wants to, and Batman takes advantage of that, he’s not going to go all-out against the kids because he’ll end up smashing people around. It’s the idea of still wanting to have fun but no one gets hurt, so you’re being careful about where your knees and elbows are going. That’s what Clark is for me, but Superman is far more relaxed. Superman is dad just being dad at home.

With the new DC Universe showing off new characters, Zack Snyder is excited for fans to get their first look at Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, saying,  “She’s a powerful female superhero, which is a thing we haven’t had for a while, she’s a piece of IP that basically exists in pop culture in a way where every kid’s got a Wonder Woman T-shirt and they don’t really know why. I want to give the why back to that.”

Then we have Suicide Squad, this film is a big departure from the usual in the superhero genre. Director David Ayer says, “We all need good guys and everything — yay, good guys — but at the end of the day, they’re kinda boring, “They’re always going to do the right thing. When you’re dealing with the baddies, it’s easy to get ahead of the audience and invert expectations.Suicide Squad has an amazing cast featuring Will Smith (Deadshot), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn),  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Karen Fukuhara (Katana), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) and Jared Leto as The Joker who Ayer describes as “the king of Planet Joker.

Of course, when you have the Clown Prince of Crime, you know that Batman isn’t too far behind, and one of Ayer’s favorite days during filming was having Affleck’s Batman. “We made him fight,” the director says with a laugh. “He’s awesome (as Batman). … You really sense that but for the grace of God he himself would be doing some really foul stuff out in the world.” Affleck seems to love the idea of Suicide Squad, saying,  “It felt like I have such a cool cousin. This thing that is so awesome is somehow related to me, and that was really exciting because it started to feel like a constellation of things, and I’ve never had that feeling.

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Snyder believes these films will differentiate themselves from the rest of the comic book genre by embracing Warner Bros.’ “pedigree of epicness,” something evident in franchises such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. “It’s our belief and our goal to honor the legacy of the studio with a batch of films that speaks to that world.”

There’s a whole world of fantasy in comic books, and if you just focus on one small portion of it, you’re never going to get the full magic of it,” Cavill says. “Now that we’re introducing all these other characters and really building the universe to a far larger place than just a simple alien’s life on Earth, it really makes it extraordinarily interesting.

For more news on Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad and the rest the DC Extended Universe, stay tuned.



Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25th, and Suicide Squad opens on August 5th.
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