As Comic-Con attendees continue to wonder if Warner Bros. might have anything "Batman v. Superman" related to present at its big panel on Saturday morning, DC Comics teamed up with Warner Bros. to sneak a little something onto the show floor.
First seen on "Preview Night," aka the Wednesday evening before Comic-Con proper officially kicks off, was a video montage that compiled many images of Batman to celebrate the Caped Crusader's 75th anniversary. The video played at the DC Comics booth, and eagle-eyed viewers spotted it almost immediately. Hidden within the montage of photos was a quick cut of this new photo of Ben Affleck as the new Batman.
Director Zack Snyder later tweeted the image to his followers, confirming its legitimacy. The photo is a profile shot of Affleck inside the same cowl that's viewable up close on the show floor at Comic-Con. The closeup on Batman's head shows that the surface of the cowl is textured, and that the bat ears on top are much shorter than they've been in any on-screen manifestation of Batman to-date. A tiny sliver of the suit itself can be seen at the bottom of the photo, showing more interesting textures that are woven into the suit's fabric. Affleck's face is peppered with stubble.
Comics readers will surely recognize this look. It's been known since last year's Comic-Con that Snyder and his team have been taking inspiration for their Batman from Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." That certainly appears to be the case in the design of the suit and the look of the leading man underneath. Both this shot and the one Snyder tweeted back in May have depicted a very serious superhero, a seemingly world-weary man who perfectly fills the shoes of the great detective in "The Dark Knight Returns."
Warner Bros.' Comic-Con panel takes place Saturday, July 26, 2014 at 10:00am. Warners has announced plans to showcase the films "Jupiter Ascending," "Mad Max: Fury Road," and "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." These big Hall H panels almost always include surprises, so it's a safe bet something related to DC's superheroes will be there, though the best stuff is probably being held onto for next year's Con.
"Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" opens in theaters on May 6, 2016.
