With just over a month to go before the highly anticipated premiere of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros. is starting to kick their marketing efforts into high gear. Today saw the release of the final trailer for the film, which has generated a far more favorable reception than the spoiler-heavy preview that debuted in early December. In addition, the studio has also put a new image of Bruce Wayne and used the Super Bowl 50 broadcast to showcase Gotham City and Metropolis in Turkish Airlines TV spots.
Posters have also been part of the latest wave of advertising. In conjunction with the new trailer, WB shared an IMAX poster depicting DC’s two titans going head to head in their epic showdown. The battle between the Dark Knight and Last Son of Krypton continues to be put in the spotlight with a new pair of one-sheets illustrating the heroes gearing up for a massive punch.
By now, the iconography on display here should be well-known to moviegoers, since a majority of the marketing campaign has focused on Batman and Superman coming to blows. That said, it’s still exciting to see that after all these years, the two are finally going to share the big screen. Check out the posters below:
The posters aren’t particularly flashy in design, but they do get the job done in regards to selling audiences on the basic premise. When a couple of the most recognizable pop culture icons of all-time are in your film, you can keep things relatively simple and still generate mass revenue. This is a film that comic book fans have been waiting to see for a long time, and they are going to show up en masse when Batman V Superman hits theaters. Based on early tracking numbers, it’s on pace to break the record for largest opening weekend in March.
This is why so many people took issue with that infamous third trailer, which showed Batman and Superman teaming up with Wonder Woman to take on the villain Doomsday. The prospect of seeing the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel go toe-to-toe is tantalizing on its own, and more than enough to sell copious amounts of tickets. It was disappointing to some that WB felt a need to go beyond that conflict in certain promotional materials, but the studio seems to be putting the onus back on the title fight over the past few weeks. Social media users can weigh in on the #WhoWillWin debate with hashtags for the main heroes and the latest trailer was all about Batman taking on Superman - smart decisions that will hopefully pay off in the long run.
At this point, there isn’t much else WB can do to market Batman V Superman, especially since the movie comes out soon. The studio just has to hope what they’ve done so far has raised awareness and excitement enough for the film to become a bona fide hit. One can’t understate the amount of pressure on Dawn of Justice to succeed commercially and critically if the franchise is to prosper in the longterm. The good news for them is that Batman V Superman is guaranteed to be a blockbuster financially, so that’s half the battle won already.
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 then Green Lantern Corps. on June 19, 2020.
Source: Warner Bros.
