ben affleck

Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse is back for the first time over a decade.

This new international trailer for Justice League isn’t nearly as long as the domestic trailers, but the latest sneak peek at Zack Snyder’s ambitious superhero team-up should hold you over until the next full-length preview drops. And despite its compact runtime, it does feature a little bit of new footage while teasing the mysterious new villain that will bring these heroic titans together, all set to a generic heavy rock cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” that was clearly lifted from Snyder’s iPod circa 2001.

When we last left the caped crusader, things weren’t looking all that bright. Sure, he had a new super-friend in the form of Diana Prince, but Superman — the complete-stranger-turned-mortal-enemy-turned-best-friend in Batman’s life — has sacrificed his life to protect Earth (or something) and now the weight of protecting our planet rested heavily on the shoulders of Bruce Wayne. If Wayne could organize others like him, then maybe Earth could stand a fighting chance.

Never underestimate the importance of the right song to your trailer. In the first trailer for The Accountant, we got our first glimpse at Ben Affleck’s killer set to the haunting dissonance of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” And while Britt may have been right — the track may have been just a little too on the nose — gosh darn it, the whole thing just worked. Now Warner Bros. is back with a brand new trailer that teases out a little more information about the title character but kept the Radiohead song. Everything in its right place, indeed.

Early details on The Accountant made the new film from Warrior director Gavin O’Connor sound like it was based on a graphic novel, even though it’s not: Ben Affleck stars as a white collar accountant who leads a double-life as a lethal assassin. So it wasn’t really surprising when WB announced plans to release a tie-in comic book for The Accountant. What is a bit surprising is the tone of the first trailer, which presents an intriguing and off-kilter drama about a man struggling with a vague mental disorder.

Zack Snyder makes superhero movies, but his characters don’t act very heroic. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice features all the other trappings of the superhero genre: Capes, gadgets, outlandish muscles, punching stuff. But the two stars aren’t noble or chivalrous; they’re violent, aggressive, and angry — mostly at each other instead of the bad guys. In Snyder’s formulation, protecting the world from evil isn’t a gift or a calling; it’s a burden. And that feeling is reflected in the movie itself, a burdensome 150- minute slog about two men fighting over who is in the right when both are very clearly in the wrong.

Ben Affleck’s commitment to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has caused a few delays for his next directorial effort, Live by Night, which was originally set to hit theaters in 2015. Warner Bros. has announced yet another new release date for the thriller, hopefully one that’s a bit more permanent this time around. The studio has also set dates for a few other films, including the sequel to The Conjuring spinoff Annabelle.

A couple of years ago, The Revenant and Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu shared some particularly severe opinions about the prevalence of superhero films, referring to them as “cultural genocide.” Ouch. But Ben Affleck disagrees, and having been on both sides of the equation, the actor and director is in a position to offer an informed but diplomatic response.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters in just six days, and we’re currently sitting at peak marketing for Zack Snyder’s superhero epic, with Warner Bros. unleashing a torrent of clips, featurettes, photos and images leading up to the film’s highly-anticipated release. Today brings two featurettes exploring Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight and Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel, their respective motivations and mythology, and while a lot of it is stuff we’ve been hearing for months (Batman is older and crankier and probably needs a nap!), there’s some footage in these videos that we haven’t seen before.

It’s both cool and a little silly to hear the name “Alfred” come out of Ben Affleck’s mouth, but the brief moments we’ve seen between our new Batman and Jeremy Irons’ Alfred have been one of the highlights of the trailers and TV spots for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The latest spot opens with Bruce Wayne and his most trusted friend bantering about the Dark Knight’s age, though that does not stop him from taking on the Man of Steel later on in the new sneak peek.

There’s been a lot of news out of the DC movie universe this week, including new details on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and its forthcoming R-rated Ultimate Edition, as well as more intel on Warner Bros.’ plans for their slate of superhero films. There was one interesting detail that was easy to overlook in this huge info dump, but it’s something we’ve been curious about for a while: How does Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen / The Flash fit into Batman v Superman?

It’s only a few more weeks until Batman and Superman go head-to-head in ‘Dawn of Justice,’ but by the looks of a new photo, they also might have a heart-to-heart.