Is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a sequel to Man of Steel or not? Well, to ask Superman himself (Henry Cavill), he says no. “I wouldn’t call this a Superman sequel,” he said back in April. “This is Batman versus Superman. It’s a separate entity altogether. It’s introducing the Batman character and expanding upon the universe, which was kicked off by Man of Steel.”
We’ll probably have to wait to see the final product to make a decision for ourselves, but anyone that watched the new Batman v Superman Comic Con trailer knows, the film clearly will be addressing the climactic battle from Man of Steel up to and including exterior shots of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) looking on as Zod (Michael Shannon) burns holes through one of Metropolis’ buildings, culminating in 9/11 imagery, spurring Wayne’s hatred for Superman as well as public doubt over the man from Krypton.
Clearly the continuity is intact. Does that make this a Man of Steel sequel? Personally I say it does, but I assume Cavill is answering as to whether this is solely another Superman story, which it clearly is not. As he said back in April, “Everything could change in the editing room, but as it stands, it’s an introduction of the [Batman] character and ultimately, the introduction of Justice League.”
The trailer did also show scenes of Bruce Wayne’s parents being killed, which is somewhat annoying, but I understand a filmmaker can’t base all their decisions on what has been seen in the past. The fact we are being introduced to an older Batman is definitely more interesting than dwelling on his early days and it would appear with Batman v Superman, Zack Snyder is hoping to build something that has little or nothing to compare to Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight trilogy to which this film will likely be unfairly compared. Unavoidable.
With that, I leave you with another look at the Comic Con trailer if you missed it before as well as a continuity comparison previewing a scene from the Batman v Superman trailer to a scene from Man of Steel. You know once this movie is on Blu-ray someone will be cutting these things together to make one mega movie, which could actually be quite cool if somehow a way is found to entirely weave the Batman flashbacks in with Man of Steel. Who knows, could be interesting.
