'Justice League' Trailer Breakdown: A New Age of Heroes

After nearly a year since our last peek at November's highly-anticipated team-up film Justice League, DC and Warner Bros. finally unleashed our first full look at just what the superhero epic has in store for us. Giving us the rundown as to who's who in the metahuman line-up, from Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry aka Aquaman to Ezra Miller's speedster Barry Allen, the trailer also teased a plethora of other comic-book faces who plan on popping up in the film. With a rock-n-roll cover of The Beatles' 'Come Together' and some crafty editing, the first trailer for Justice League teased a lot, but never made the mistake of giving away too much. With a lot to chew on, here's my breakdown of the latest trailer of Zack Snyder's next massive superhero project. 

As the trailer begins, we find Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne where he last was in the Comic Con trailer for the film released last year, on the shores of a snowy landscape in search of a man. That man, who we meet first in the trailer, is Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), King of Atlantis. Touching briefly on both Curry's abilities as Aquaman, as well as his initial reaction to Wayne's intrusion in his quiet life on the shore, we can already see just how volatile Momoa's character could be. Initially reluctant to join the team, but becoming much more playful as the trailer continues -- especially in his scenes with Affleck's Batman -- this could tease at one of the film's more dynamic partnerships.

The trailer continues as it lays down the central conflict of the film, as Gal Gadot's Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman talks to Bruce about a danger already at their doorsteps. We then get a glimpse at Joe Morton's Dr. Silas Stone, scientist at S.T.A.R Labs and father to Ray Fisher's Victor Stone, as he enters his home to find a startling discovery. The trailer then gives us our first peek at one of the film's antagonists, the Parademons, the extraterrestrial soldiers of Darkseid. With last year's Batman v Superman teasing at the villain Darkseid's future involvement in the DC Extended Universe, Justice League looks to be taking one step closer to introducing the character, as the hoards of Parademons under the control of Darkseid's uncle and the film's central antagonist, Steppenwolf, search for the so-called "Mother Boxes" on Earth. 

The Mother Boxes, which play heavily into the film, also play a major part in the creation of the next character introduced in the trailer. Made of "organic and biomegatronic body parts", we meet Ray Fisher's Victor Stone aka Cyborg at a point in his life when being a hero is that last thing on his mind. The trailer teasing not only as Stone's former life as a football star, but also his initial reluctance to be in the public's eye following his near-fatal accident, the half-man-half-cyberkenetic-robot's origins seem to be at the heart of the film's story. With that, his progression from a secluded being similar to that of Frankenstein's monster to the center of the film's action should be a compelling enough subplot to keep the film grounded. 

The trailer revs up the action as we once again meet speedster Barry Allen aka The Flash. Tossing us a brief tease at Allen's power set within the Speed Force, as blue lightning streaks off his heels, we also get a look at both Batman and Aquaman in action, taking on the armored hoards of the Parademons. As Wonder Woman's words sprawl over the action, believing the "age of heroes" would never come again, we get more peeks at what the heroes can do, from Aquaman doing much more than just summoning fish, and Fisher's Cyborg taking flight. While the source of the alien hoards might still remain a mystery for now, the action of the film definitely looks like a step above from what we saw in Batman v Superman, as the team of heroes band together and take on an enemy that challenges each of their individual strengths.

As the trailer begins to wind down, we get a plethora of glimpses at a number of characters both familiar and new. Teasing the return of Amy Adams' Lois Lane, while also hinting at the introduction of not only Amber Heard's Queen of Atlantis, Mera, but also Barry Allen's imprisoned father, Henry Allen (Billy Crudup), the film looks like it could briefly touch on the supporting characters of its main heroes. Whether or not these characters play into the central plot of the film, hopefully the brief introductions to these characters will fuel the motivations of the heroes who haven't been completely fleshed out in the films yet.

While I did touch on the chemistry between the characters of Batman and Aquaman already, as well as between Batman and The Flash, one of the most interesting things about the film is going to be the potential of how other characters interact with each other. While the minor flirtation between Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince we've already seen might be exciting, another interaction I'm curious to see is the dynamic between Ben Affleck's grizzled and tortured Batman and J.K. Simmons' Commissioner Gordon. While we may have gotten a lot of that relationship in the Dark Knight trilogy, Justice League could tease at a much more complex and emotional bond between the two, as their experiences together have harbored a dark and tragic past.

Overall, the latest Justice League trailer managed to show us the visual scale of Zack Snyder's next massive endeavor, while also teasing at some of the major character arcs of the film. Keeping somethings a secret for now (When the hell does Superman show up?), but giving us a near-perfect taste of the style and character dynamics we can expect, the newest Justice League trailer offers plenty to speculation. While I might still have my reservations about the DC Extended Universe, Justice League has the potential to open a variety of doors to how the future of the DC heroes on film could play out.