Batman v Superman Teaser: Batfleck Unmasked

A new teaser trailer for next year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released this week, and in its ambiguous simplicity, it raises enough questions to get some fans all riled up.

The trailer features a dusty, trench-coat-wearing Batman regaining consciousness to find himself chained between two other prisoners in an underground bunker. Enter a menacing, grim-faced Superman, who stalks down a long hallway between kneeling soldiers to reach Batman. The teaser ends with Superman pulling Batman's mask away to reveal Bruce Wayne's face.

The sight of Superman apparently playing the bad guy doesn't sit well with purists who like to think of the Man of Steel as steadfastly virtuous. They were already upset when, in Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder allowed Superman to kill his enemy, and now it looks like he's gone over totally to the dark side.

There is a long tradition in comics, though, of superheroes coming into conflict with one another, and that usually involves one of them, through misunderstanding or other strange circumstances, to momentarily choose the wrong path. Here, hints for the reason behind Superman's seeming badness can be found in the extended trailer released earlier this year at Comic-Con. This trailer suggests that Superman is being manipulated by Lex Luthor, who wants to turn him into a menace to society.

With this in mind, fans should rest easy. It's virtually guaranteed that by the end of the movie, Superman will be back on the path of righteousness, and he and Batman will be pals.