With the recent news of a Superman/Batman movie on the horizon for 2015, we can safely assume DC hopes to build it's cinematic universe around the two giants of both comics and the box office. The combined force of both the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader will (hopefully) ensure massive financial success and will, as a result, spark events both on and off camera building towards a fantasy long held dearly in the minds of comic book fans: the on-screen assembly of The Justice League. In this write up I try to present my ideas and hopefully address a few issues. So here are my thoughts/hopes for how this film play out.
SUPERMAN/BATMAN: WORLD'S FINEST
- Bruce Wayne arrives in Metropolis to engage with the press about Wayne Enterprises new partnership with LexCorp to finance the huge clean-up/rebuild project following the destruction caused by the World Engine in 'Man Of Steel'.
- Having investigated Luthor's presence in numerous undisclosed business deals and similarly suspicious activities, Bruce is keen to shed some light on Luthor's true motivations, as well as investigate 'the alien' first-hand. During the first act, a shadowy figure is shown to take a sample of Kryptonite from a LexCorp facility.
- Kryptonite itself is shown to be a radioactive isotope from Krypton that powers the World Engine, similar to a small nuclear reactor. However, the Kryptonite is only dangerous to Kryptonians due to their physiology, as the radiation emitted from the Kryptonite is highly ionizing to Kryptonian cells. So when Superman is near Kryptonite, he has a form of radiation sickness, one which can be cured easily by the rays of our yellow sun when the Kryptonite itself is removed. Superman cannot die from Kryptonite due his stored solar radiation.
- Batman would be a year on from donning the cowl; similar to what we are to expect in 'Arkham Origins', he has no ties to the Gotham Police and he is viewed as a vigilante. His methods are still raw and his attitude is very hostile and suspicious. He has not adopted his rule of 'no killing' at this point in time.
- Superman has been suffering from a lot of self-doubt and borderline depression since the events of 'Man Of Steel'. Embracing his role at The Daily Planet, Clark has had to cover the aftermath of the destruction from a human standpoint in his journalism, on some occasions interviewing those affected. This, combined with the haunting memory Zod's death, has not only caused Clark to doubt himself but the public as well, who see him as an ominous force of potential destruction. During the first act there would be background allusions to Luthor's attempts to cause public concern (perhaps in a press conference), covered on the news by G. Gordon Godfrey, being watched by Clark.
- There comes a time in the film when Superman and Batman have to disable a few guards. At this point, Batman is kicking ass left, right and centre in such a fluid and agile fashion he leaves Superman sidelined. Until Batman goes to kill one of the guards. Superman stops him just before he snaps the guards neck. He reveals that he saw through Bruce's cowl using his X-Ray vision when they first met and has since researched Bruce's earlier life. Cue flashbacks with Clark's narrative, showing Bruce's training, his idea to become Batman and lastly, the death of his parents. We see Bruce's crying face age into that of Bruce in the present day, with Clark telling him that killing his enemies makes him no better than them himself, as he realises that now. Bruce admits this, but not before he informs Clark that he already worked out his secret identity earlier on. This is key moment for both characters in the film.
- Lex Luthor and Metallo would be the main villains. Metallo is assumed to be the main physical villain, but it turns out he was merely a prototype to see if Kryptonite could be used as an energy source. Once Metallo is defeated, Batman deduces that Luthor had a hand in his creation, so they go to confront him. When they do, it is revealed that Lex has fine tuned the incorporation of the Kryptonite power source, creating his famous war suit. During the fight, Lex plays upon Clark's uncertainties as being our protector, protesting that he is in fact the one true saviour of the human race, that humans will never truly accept an alien on their planet, his alien presence merely limits mankind and Clark is unfit to be the champion of Metropolis. He boasts that with his discovery of Kryptonite he has drawn blood from a god, saying that the moniker of 'Man of Steel' is hardly apt. Clark responds that he isn't a 'Man of Steel', but whilst he may be a son of Krypton, he is a man of Earth. He fights for mankind not because he is better than them but because he is one of them. As kryptonite is not quite so crudely used in Lex's war suit as it was in Metallo, so Superman is able to fight and together with Batman they outsmart and outmuscle Luthor and take him into custody.
- At the end of the film, Clark asks Bruce if he can count on him if the situation presents itself, to which Bruce replies that he'll give it some thought, and leaves for Gotham.
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