After nearly three years of waiting, Batman V Superman is almost here. Once thought to be a pipe dream for DC comic book fans, the recent trend toward shared-universe moviemaking has opened the door to a steady stream of interconnected adventures in the worlds of Marvel, X-Men, DC, and even Star Wars. The result? “The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world: Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham.” A divisive approach to spoilers has left many fans wondering how much of Zack Snyder’s highly-anticipated film will still manage to surprise when Dawn of Justice actually makes it to theaters; though, the director maintains, even though certain elements have been unveiled, there are still a lot of reveals that remain unspoiled.

It’s easy to focus on what was shown in the Doomsday trailer, which many fans felt went a bit too far in laying out key plot beats (especially: Batman + Superman + Wonder Woman V Doomsday); yet, one of the primary goals of Snyder’s film is to introduce new takes on well-known pieces of DC mythology. As a result, just because we know Doomsday is in the film, doesn’t mean it won’t still be interesting to see exactly how the character is brought to life - as well as what his final form will look like. The same goes for other pieces of the puzzle - we’ve seen several pictures of the armored Batsuit and watched Alfred remote pilot the Batwing but there’s still a lot we’ve yet to learn about this version of Batman and his supporting players.

Today, thanks to some digging by What Culture, we have new details about Alfred’s reimagined backstory for Batman V Superman as well as new tech specifications for the Batsuit (all courtesy of the Dawn of Justice companion book).

First up, What Culture suggests that Alfred’s relationship to the Wayne family has been significantly reworked, in comparison to the proper British butler version that has been prominent in prior Batman TV shows and films. Instead, the Alfred played by Jeremy Irons didn’t just grow into the mission control asset fans saw in the latest Batman V Superman trailer, it turns out that this Alfred was never a butler; instead, he was a bodyguard for the Wayne family - and the only member of the staff that Bruce Wayne opted to keep on after his parents were murdered. This Alfred, much like the one depicted in Fox’s TV series Gotham, was a highly-trained combatant - who didn’t just support Bruce in his time of mourning, he also trained him to fight back.

Years later and the Dawn of Justice Alfred is publicly known as Bruce Wayne’s head of security, with a knack for tactical intelligence and knowledge of diverse weapon systems - putting his prior role as a Special Air Service officer to work for Wayne Enterprises (and, subsequently, Batman). As a result, it’s easy to imagine that the Dawn of Justice Alfred had a hand in the engineering (or at the very least refining) Batman’s ever-evolving arsenal.

On a similar note, What Culture is also releasing details about the Dark Knight’s new cowl tech in the DCEU. The article doesn’t make it clear whether the tech is installed in both Batman’s standard Frank Miller-inspired grey suit - or just power armor the Caped Crusader will use to battle Superman. Either way, the report suggests that the inner-cowl is made of titanium (covered in sensory as well as processing tech) and includes a throat microphone to modulate Wayne’s voice - along with Google Glass-like lenses that display information over in-world visuals.

Given that modern versions of Batman lean heavily on “detective mode” features built into the cowl, it’s definitely possible that the titanium helmet fits under Batman’s standard cowl, not just the armored suit, in order to provide the vigilante with environmental data during combat and in-field investigations. Prior images of the cowl tech suggested that, in spite of its science fiction-inspired design, it wasn’t overly bulky or cumbersome - meaning the tech cowl might be standard-issue for even this fast-moving and flexible Batman.

No doubt, many of Batman V Superman’s broad strokes have already been revealed but even these small details and world-building are interesting for DC comic lovers - meaning that the final product, even if fans can predict how the larger plot will play out, should still provide an intriguing other-world exploration of Batman and the people in his life (if absolutely nothing else). With just over a month left before the film hits theaters, it’s becoming increasingly tempting to avoid new details (many die-hard fans already are) - since we’ll soon know exactly how all the various pre-release info will come together in context.

We’ll keep you up to date as further information is unveiled but, one last thing, check out a glimpse at new Dawn of Justice posters, featuring Alfred and Lois Lane, below!

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opens on March 25, 2016, which is followed by Suicide Squad on August 5, 2016; Wonder Woman on June 23, 2017; Justice League Part One on November 17, 2017; The Flash on March 16, 2018; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League Part Two on June 14, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps. on June 19, 2020.

Here is the Batman v Superman display at the valet entrance to @TheGroveLA, including a closer look @ Lois/Alfred. pic.twitter.com/qQOhhjWnRO— Henry Cavill News (@HenryCavillNews) February 19, 2016

Source: What Culture