That there Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice teaser was, true to form, a little on the bleak side, wasn’t it? The first half was all about how the world is both welcoming and wary of Superman’s presence, especially following the disastrous, city-destroying events of Man of Steel. The second half is all broody, angry Batman with his vehicles shooting things and walking through fire and Alfred telling him about rage. And let’s not forget the whole “Do you bleed?” exchange. It’s going to be quite a battle, I’m sure.
But is it as dark if, say, they’d made the movie not with Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, but with Christopher Reeve and Adam West? Kind of? This was the challenge accepted by YouTuber Bobby Burns, who used the same exact audio from the new teaser with scenes from Richard Donner’s 1978 film Superman and the 1966 film Batman: The Movie. It’s surprising how much of it still works, and when it doesn’t, it’s even better.
All the shots of Reeve’s Supes actually fits pretty well, but it’s when we start seeing West’s Batman larking about, trying with all his Battusi-dancing might to get rid of a bomb (some days you just can’t!), that this trailer really starts cooking with gas. It’s so funny to me that when I was a kid, watching reruns of Batman that were already over 20 years old, I didn’t think anything about it was campy, but now as a grown up, I kind of want the new films to have even the slightest glimmer of humor. Not Schumacher-level, of course; I’m not a monster.
Tell us what you think of a retro-style Batman V Superman in the comments below, and don’t miss our breakdown of the Batman v Superman teaser on Nerdist News:
