Let’s Get Ready to Super-Rumble: Your Batman v Superman Reading List

Action Comics, Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel, by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales
One of the first things we see in both the teaser and the new trailer is a tidal wave of protest directed at Superman. Small wonder—after all, he did kind of help destroy Metropolis in Man of Steel. Although Superman was once a character of unimpeachable virtue whom the public trusted implicitly, he’s become a hot-button political issue in the Modern Age of comics. In their third joint issue of the New 52’s Action Comics, Morrison and Morales introduce their working-class Superman to the wrath of picketers, placing the Springsteen-esque vigilante in conflict with his own ideals.

Batman: Gates of Gotham, by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins
Our first glimpse of Bruce Wayne in the full-length Batman v Superman trailer shows him rushing into a cloud of debris from the collapsing Wayne Tower, presumably destroyed by Zod or Superman, given the copious alien lasers we see carving it into bits. Wayne Tower is no stranger to taking one for the team when a big building needs to get demolished for dramatic effect; it was last blown up in Snyder and Higgins’ architectural thriller miniseries, in which Batman races to stop a mad bomber from reducing Gotham’s oldest landmarks to rubble.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller
We all knew Warner Bros. would be leaning on Miller’s iconic graphic novel for Batman v Superman’s aesthetic, but it turns out there’s a lot the two stories have in common thematically as well. Beyond just the inevitable fisticuffs, Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne is an older vigilante whose rage masks grief at what his crimefighting mission has cost him personally, much like the Bruce we see in DKR. If you want early insight into Affleck’s characterization of the World’s Greatest Detective, this is where to start.

Batman: A Death in the Family, by Jim Starlin, Marv Wolfman, Jim Aparo, and George Perez
So what is it that Bruce lost, exactly? Well, what he always loses: his family. Besides the obligatory parental-murder flashback, the trailer hints that Batman has also lost at least one Robin to the Joker by the time Batman v Superman begins. If comics continuity has anything to say about it, it’ll have been Jason Todd, the second Robin, who blundered his way into a booby-trapped house and met an untimely end in one of D.C. Comics’ most infamous stories. In DKR, Bruce gave up being Batman entirely because of Jason’s death; he may have done the same in the new cinematic continuity.

Robin, Vol. 1: Reborn. by Chuck Dixon and Rom Lyle
On the other hand, there’s not much evidence that Jason’s costume really is the one behind glass in the Batman v Superman trailer. In fact, if the accompanying staff is anything to go by, this memorial might actually be to Tim Drake, the third Robin, who began his adventures in the 1990s and carried a metal quarterstaff (although not one with a weird halberd head). Tim has yet to actually die in almost any comics continuity, even the fascist dystopia of Injustice: Gods Among Us, but that doesn’t mean he’s safe from Zack Snyder.

Wonder Woman Archives, Vol. 1, by William Moulton Marston
Watch the trailer closely at 2:36 and you can see a shape that looks a lot like Wonder Woman’s invisible jet! We’re impatient for Gail Gadot’s WW to debut at long last, and it’s satisfying to see her poised to kick butt in this movie. The inclusion of Princess Diana’s invisible plane is a great sign that Warner Bros. is basing at least some of their decisions on original comics canon, especially since Marston, Wonder Woman’s creator, envisioned her plane as a symbol of avoiding conflict rather than instigating it. Maybe all the D.C. superheroes will be able to stop fighting each other soon and punch some bad guys instead!

Superman: Red Son, by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson
Millar and Johnson’s highly-regarded Elseworlds tale may take place in Soviet Russia rather than the Middle East, but the teased scene in which Ben Affleck fights soldiers in a desert still brings back plenty of memories of the People’s Bat. It’s not just the goggles-and-duster combination either: Batman appears to be specifically taking out guards wearing Superman’s symbol. Who are these people? Why are they worshipping Superman by way of firearms? We won’t get answers until next year, but until then—let the speculation commence!
What are you reading to get ready for DC’s next blockbuster?