What Hidden Meaning Is There in the 'Batman Vs. Superman' Trailer?

The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer hit the world this weekend... followed by the official trailer release, and it was glorious in it's batman-y superman-y wonder and speculations.

There has been so much speculation with this movie already that the trailer just added more questions with a few answers, so I wanted to take a second and give you a few things that you should takeaway from the trailer in regards to the direction that I believe their taking the movie as the pseudo follow up to Man of Steel, so lets start at the top.

4 Things You Need to Takeaway From the Trailer Release

The world where we left Superman and Metropolis in Man of Steel is entirely different than what we see in the trailer.

Metropolis is healing and rebuilding, Post-Zod destruction, and has embraced Superman as their protector as we can see in the statue center frame erected in his honor, or so we are led to believe. The interesting part of the beginning half of the trailer are the voices speaking- predominately Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) and a U.S. Senator (played by Holly Hunter) as well as various others.

Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy? - Charlie Rose

Human beings have a horrible track record of (tragedy) following people of great power... - Lex Luthor

Power corrupts, and absolute power (terror) corrupts absolutely (chaos). - U.S. Senator

We know better now don't we? Devil's don't come from Hell beneath us... They come from the sky... - Lex Luthor

The world has been so caught up in what he can do, that no-one has asked what he should do? - U.S. Senator

We get a good glimpse through the quotes and the imagery chosen of what the atmosphere of the film will be. The world both fears and worships Superman. He is a global character not solely Metropolis' protector anymore.

Here we see Superman standing with a crowd of people reaching out to him, symbolizing their hope that he is their savior, yet Superman looks off with a furrowed brow as if saying, "this isn't what I wanted..."

The brooding, ominous beginnings really speaks volumes to what Snyder is trying to accomplish right now, and he hits it out of the park with this trailer. The world is in shadows, and Superman is who the world is focused on. The darkness throughout the trailer is a beautiful foreshadow to what I believe we will see in the actual film: everything is different now.

We see here 4 soldiers kneeling before Superman. Is this another nod towards the quote above about - absolute power corrupting?

There are so many questions in this shot, and we have basically no answers.

• Are they kneeling in surrender? - A faction of soldiers acting in Superman's name without his knowledge and this is a scene of Superman confronting them>
• Are they kneeling in allegiance? - Do they work for Superman as his 'ground force'? Are they the 'corruption' that we hear through the opening voiceovers?

This leads into some interesting concepts that we may see in the movie. Has Superman been 'corrupted' by the government and he's being used? Is he surrounded by zealots who are attempting to claim power using his name?

Superman is showing up as a world figure now, which leads to the questions of corruption.

We're talking about a being (alien) whose very existence (they are not telling us the truth) challenges our own sense of priority in the universe. - Neil DeGrasse Tyson (?)

This leads me to think that Superman is being used and corrupted by the political and military powers. He has become a tool, and although he disagrees he thinks it's the only way he can save the most people. He is trying to be a beacon of light and hope to our world, but through his actions - is causing the world to question his impartiality and sentience.

Alfred's voice (Jeremy Irons) begins the second half of the trailer with the idea that what we are seeing is only the beginning of what is to come.

That's how it starts... The fever... The rage... The feeling of powerlessness that turns good men; cruel. - Alfred

This is our first look at the brooding Batfleck, err Batman, that we were promised. In the second half of the trailer we are introduced to Batman and what I take away is that Batman doesn't believe that Superman can be a sentient power. With Batman being the great detective that he is, you know that he has been researching Superman since he first arrived - and Batman doesn't like what he finds, leading to our conflict.

I think Alfred's quote is also a grind against Bruce's past. His powerlessness to protect his family and the Robin's that have died (Yes I believe that Robin, at least one, has died in this cinematic universe - and Batman feels the guilt, the fever, the rage) and that had caused him to put away the cowl for a time because he saw that he was going down a path that he didn't want to go. This concept seems to have validity since the film is supposed to carry high similarities to Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns. That also gives validation to my point about Superman being a 'government tool'.

Batman has been searching for the answers and the truth that no-one is willing to admit - that there is a bigger story, a darker story, a more devious enemy. I believe the confrontation that we see near the end of the trailer is Batman's last attempt to get Superman to change his stance and to see that he has been corrupted - and he needs to find the truth.

This is the most important thing to takeaway from the trailer. Ultimately there are so many questions unanswered and that is a GOOD thing.

The beauty of this trailer is that it gives us so many ideas to think about while we wait. It's called Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice for a reason. This film leads into the establishment of the Justice League. We have nearly a full year until the film is released. There are going to be many more teasers and trailers and sneak-peaks that we're going to get lost in all the information. The important thing to remember is that this is technically still a Superman movie. It is the follow up to Man of Steel. As much as people are making it out to be a movie about the Batman Vs. Superman fight montage... It's so much more than just that. It's about corruption. It's about discovering the true enemy. It's about heroes banding together. It's about truth. It's about justice. It's about 1 year away and I can't wait.