Given all the film’s hype, it is hard to believe that Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is almost two years away.
This last week, a pirated picture of the new Batmobile surfaced. The image was of low quality and probably not the best possible image of such a piece of iconography. It seemed that this pirated photo seemed to force the hand of director Zack Snyder to release a high resolution image of the Dark Knight’s sweet ride.
Let me be clear, this is not a review of the picture (side note: the new Batmobile looks totally awesome). This is more of a media study.
One of the most recurring stories of the Batman v. Superman saga since the film’s inception has been the loud, vocal criticism of the choices made on behalf of Warner Bros.
The follow-up to 2013’s polarizing Man of Steel was announced as a team-up with Batman and Superman.
Some found this incredibly interesting and couldn’t wait to see what would finally happen when the Man of Tomorrow and the Dark Knight Detective team up, while other vocal critics challenged this move as a ploy to copy Marvel’s formula.
When Ben Affleck was cast as Batman, a formal petition was signed by thousands and thousands of fans who wanted Affleck removed from the role simply because they didn’t see him in the role.
Months later, Zack Snyder released a formal image of Ben Affleck in the batsuit. The image seemed to sway a lot of people who seemed to doubt Affleck’s casting choice. People could finally see (in a literal and symbolic way) Affleck as the Caped Crusader.
With the Affleck picture and the Batmobile images, it seems like there’s a growing trend.
Fans complain loud enough or take photos they aren’t supposed to and Warner Bros. seems to try to beat them to the punch and release better images or information to shut up the critics.
On a personal level I really appreciate the fact that Warner Bros. is taking steps to simmer down people who are already attempting to criticize a piece of art that doesn’t even exist yet.
However, it’s hard to maintain artistic integrity when you’re constantly responding to criticism.
Let art be art. Let people criticize the work, as they should.
The Internet has seemed to destroy the age of secrecy.
Last week, news leaked concerning Star Wars Episode VII – one of the most closely guarded productions – and the second draft of the screenplay.
I’m a person who likes to be surprised when I go to the movies. So when I pay for my ticket on opening weekend, I do not want to know what I’m walking into. I want to be surprised.
I don’t want to know whose guest cameo was great or what sort of amazing technical things happen and I certainly don’t want to know what the key plot points of the movie are going to be.
Just because you said “spoiler alert” doesn’t give anyone license to go ahead and divulge information that could ruin anyone else’s viewing experience.
Simply because we live in an age of immediate information doesn’t necessarily mean that the information should be immediate and when it comes to movies, I’m the kind of guy who wants to wait and be surprised.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief