DC Comics and Warner Bros. Justice League trailer arguably stole the entire show at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 – and not without good reason. After years of fan anticipation, false starts, and some pretty divisive lead-in films, Justice League is finally headed to theaters – and from the look of the trailer, plus other facts learned on the Justice League set, it’s going to be a pretty substantial movie for DC/WB.
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No matter how many times you watch the Justice League trailer, however, it can be hard to wrap your head around every single one of the reveals and larger DCEU clues that are included in the footage. To help you out we’ve assembled the Top 5 Justice League Trailer Reveals.
There’s More Humor
There’s More Humor
When Warner Bros. tapped select outlets to a top-secretย Justice Leagueย set visit there was a clear agenda: start to reverse the bad publicity started byย Man of Steelย andย Batman v Superman. The studio was largelyย successful in that endeavor, as the hype generated by the reporting outlets almost unanimously stated that Justice League was going to be a lighter and more humorous affair than Dawn of Justice.ย ย
While that news was good to hear, it was also hard to believe; after all, Zack Snyder is directingย Justice League, so it would be fair to assume that he’d makeย JLย in the same vein he didย MoSย andย BvSย (read: light on humor). However, with the first Justice Leagueย trailer, we now know that Snyder has indeed found more funnybone for this film. From Barry Allen’s oddball mannerisms to even Ben Afleck’sย Batman getting in almost half a dozen witty clips in just this short preview, Justice Leagueย is clearly not taking itself too seriously. Thank god. ย
Ancient History of the Mother Box
Ancient History of the Mother Box
Batman v Supermanย had a particularly telling DC comics Easter egg inside of its many, many, story threads: the Mother Box. Seen during the brief introduction video of Ray Fisher’s Cyborg, Mother Box is a living computer that also can act as a teleportationย device. It was created by the alien race The New Gods, and is a weapon of planet Apokolipsย and its leader, Darkseid. When human Vic Stone is merged with a Mother Box, he becomes the hero Cyborg, as seen in the trailer.ย
What thisย Justice Leagueย first look reveals to us, however, is the Mother Box’s place in Earth’s history. A scene of strange looking people in regal armor, burying an object in the ground, is telling; set visit info suggests the men we see are an ancient race of humans who, along with the Amazonians and Atlanteans, united to fight off the invading hordes of Apokolips. The burying of the Mother Box in this scene likely sets up a MacGuffinย quest for the Justice League to gather all three Mother Boxes in order to stop Darkseid’sย general, Steppenwolf, who is the main villain of the film.ย
Badass Aquaman
Badass Aquaman
Aquamanย has been a running joke for pretty much as long as DC Comics have existed. The superhero who “talks to fish” has been mocked all up and down the interwebsย since superhero movies hit the mainstream, but that didn’t stop DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns from giving him a much-needed reboot in the mid-2000s. That fresh vision has helped re-position Aquamanย from longtime punchline to big-time player in the DC Universe. Now, it’s up toย Justice Leagueย to package and sell him to the moviegoing masses.ย
Theย Justice Leagueย trailer actually spends a great deal of time selling us onย Aquamanย (as played byย Jason Mamoa). And, after scenes of him slamming Bruce Wayne against a wall, hard drinking, or facing the brutal waves of the sea, ย the end result is that the King of Atlantis comes away looking like a pretty complex, powerful, and all-around badassย character. We can’t wait to see what Zack Snyder does with the full breadth of his powers.ย
A Worthy (Movie) Flash
A Worthy (Movie) Flash
CW’sย The Flashย TV series has been killing it for two seasons and a highly-anticipated season 3, and when star Grant Gustinย first broke into mainstream success playing Barry Allen/The Flash, many fans wondered how the DCEU would balance introducing a movie version of Flash, when the TV version was gaining so much acclaim. The casting of We Need to Talk About Kevinย star Ezra Miller didn’t sway theย fan base, which overwhelminglyย believed thatย Gustinย deserved to be the only Flash in the DCEU.
However, afterย seeing the scene between Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) in the Justice Leagueย trailer, we have no doubt that Miller was a fitting choice to play the movie version of Barry Allen. Viewers were almost universally confused by Flash’s out-of-left-field cameo inย Batman v Superman –ย more so because the mechanized suit he was wearing looked nothing like The Flash. Now, after seeing the Justice Leagueย trailer, we’re also a lot more confident that we’ll be getting a suitable Flash movie costume, in addition to a quality Barry Allen. Cue our collective sigh of relief.ย
Squad Goal Easter Eggs
Squad Goal Easter Eggs
Everybody likes to run around proclaiming “Squad Goals” these days, but theย Justice Leagueย trailer actually teases what some of those goals are going to be.ย
First things first: if you didn’t catch it in the scene where Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) are discussing their recruitment drive, there is a computer screen showing off a diagram of an aerodynamicย test being done: fan boys and girls, meet the “Flying Fox,” akaย the Justice League’s team jet. In addition to the jet, the team will also have Batman’s “Nightcrawler,” a four-tread tank that’s able to walk up walls.ย
The trailer also ends with Batman, Flash, Cyborg and Wonder Woman headed underground; fans will recognize that scene as an ode to the Justice League “New 52” reboot comics, in which Batman and Green Lantern head underground to investigate the attacks of Darkseid’sย parademons. In the movie, that underground lair is known as the Stryker’s Island Ventilation shaft, a subterraneanย system that connects Gotham and Metropolis.