With just over a week to go before the premiere of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, anticipation for the film is building to a fever pitch. The film will mark the first time that the three most iconic heroes of the DC Universe — Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman — share the big screen, something many fans have been wanting for years. More importantly, the film will kick off the DC Extended Universe, paving the way for a two-part Justice League film. Early reports have advance ticket sales somewhere between $20 and 25 million, outperforming the advance sales of massively successful comic book films Deadpool as well as The Avengers.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has already built an impressively large shared universe on television. Currently there are three DC Comics shows airing on The CW: Arrow, The Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. While these share obvious connections, including character and plotline crossovers, the idea of a shared television universe was recently solidified on The Flash. The series opened up the multiverse, confirming that CBS’ Supergirl is tenuously connected to The CW’s DC Universe and setting up an upcoming crossover between the two series.
The CW has been heavily promoting the upcoming release of Batman V Superman, recently releasing a video where the cast of The Flashpredicted the winner of the title fight. As a follow-up to that video, the network has released a second video titled “Batman V Superman V DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” where the cast of the spinoff series make their own predictions.
Where the cast of The Flash was heavily in favor of Superman, the Legends cast is more evenly split. Franz Drameh (Jefferson Jackson/Firestorm), Caity Lotz (Sara Lance), and Ciara Renée (Hawkgirl) all vote for the Dark Knight, while Dominic Purcell (Heat Wave) and Brandon Routh (The Atom) side with the Man of Steel. Lotz gives a strong argument for Batman, claiming he will win “because he’s Batman.”
Routh, who previously portrayed Superman on the big screen, doesn’t give a reason for his choice, opting to simply give the camera a knowing look. Perhaps the least satisfying answer is Arthur Darvill (Rip Hunter) who simply states “I have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.”
A fight between Batman and Superman has long been the source of spirited debate between fans of the characters. It’s a fight that has taken place a number of times across different mediums, including in the animated series Batman The Brave and the Bold, the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, and a number of comic titles. The powerful Kryptonian has all the advantages in a physical fight, but Batman’s quick thinking and strategy has seen him win more than his fair share.
It’s a question that will never be definitively answered, as the fights will continue to occur into the forseeable future, with different writers offering different resolutions. But with the release of Batman V Superman, we will see who manages to score the first win in live action. Whether Lotz’ confidence is misplaced or Purcell’s humorous bias misled him will be revealed on March 25.
The Flash airs Tuesdays @8pm on The CW; Arrow airs in the same time slot on the network on Wednesdays and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on Thursdays. Supergirl airs Mondays @8pm on CBS.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opens on March 25th, 2016, followed by Suicide Squad on August 5th, 2016; Wonder Woman on June 23rd, 2017; Justice League Part One on November 17th, 2017; The Flashon March 16th, 2018; Aquaman on July 27th, 2018; Shazam on April 5th, 2019;Justice League Part Two on June 14th, 2019; Cyborg on April 3rd, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on June 19th, 2020.
Emoticon Emoticon