With ‘Justice League’ arriving in just over a week, Warner Brothers is cranking out the promotional material. Luckily, so far it hasn’t been too spoiler-y. The newest clips from the film have been presented in abridged form in various trailers and featurettes, but now we have them uncut as they appear in the film. It’s not entirely clear where they fall within the film, but we can kind of imagine.
One nice thing about these clips is that they showcase not only the newer heroes, The Flash and to a lesser degree Cyborg, but two of the film’s supporting civilian characters. Viewers already got a dose of Jeremy Irons as a leaner, meaner Alfred Pennyworth than we’ve ever seen on the big screen, but he is once more presented here as Bruce Wayne’s conscious/wise adviser.
This is also our first extended exposure to J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon. Gary Oldman did a remarkable job with the role of Batman’s closest police contact in the ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’. And many may also fondly recall Pat Hingle’s embodiment of the role in the earlier late 80s-early 90s ‘Batman’ series. And many fans’ first exposure to the character may have been Neil Hamilton on the late ’60s TV series and the spin-off film.
Will the former J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy be able to shift gears to the DC Universe in this classic supporting role? Well, the following clip may give a decent indication. Below, Gordon uses the famous Bat Signal to summon the Dark Knight, but he gets more than he bargained for when he shows up with a few friends.
This also gives us our longest look at Cyborg (Ray Fisher), who has mostly been seen in quick cut action sequences. There isn’t a lot of light shed on his character, but with the slow pace of the clip, we get a stable look at what the mostly-CGI character will look like in the film. To be honest, so far, Cyborg has been… worrisome. The effects haven’t looked realistic or very impressive, but in this clip, maybe it’s just me, but he looks a little better.
Have a look for yourself:
As stated, Irons’ Alfred factors heavily in this film. This clip, which seems to come early in the film, but that’s just a guess. Bruce expresses doubt in himself and his ability to lead the team, measuring himself against the impossible standard of Clark Kent/Superman. It’s a rarity to see Batman as anything but supremely confident, so this is a fresh wrinkle. Will it work in the larger narrative? That remains to be seen. But until then, enjoy this clip:
Once again, bits of the next clip have appeared in various other trailers, but we get a longer look here which gives a bit more context to the League’s plans. It seems that this sequence takes place after the League goes off to confront Steppenwolf and his Parademon army and rescue the S.T.A.R. Labs hostages. Though superheroes are a new discovery for most of humanity, it’s been established that Wonder Woman, in particular, has been around for a long time and even Batman has a longer history than the public is aware. But Flash is a neophyte and despite his powers, doesn’t seem ready to face this threat against the world.
‘Justice League’, directed by Zack Snyder (with Joss Whedon), stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot, Ciarán Hinds, Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa with Amy Adams, Billy Crudup, Amber Heard, Jeremy Irons, Joe Morton, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons and Robin Wright. It hits theaters on November 16th.
