What 'Batman v Superman' sneak peek reveals and why audiences want this movie

A short scene from the upcoming 'Batman v Superman' film has been released. The movie represents one of Hollywood's most important current business strategies.

A new sneak peek at the upcoming superhero film “Batman v Superman” has been released.

The clip is less than a minute long and so is essentially a “trailer for a trailer” – the full preview will be released on Dec. 2.

In the clip, Batman (Ben Affleck) is imprisoned in what looks like some kind of underground bunker. When Superman (Henry Cavill) enters, armed soldiers kneel before him. Superman walks up to Batman and takes off his mask, revealing his identity. 

As indicated by the title, the upcoming film, which opens in March, centers on not one but two superheroes. Superman has been at the head of his own films before, with Cavill taking on the role for the 2013 movie “Man of Steel,” and Batman was the focus of director Christopher Nolan's trilogy (though he was not portrayed by Affleck, who is new to the role). But in this movie, DC Comics characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) could be interacting.

It’s hard to think Warner Bros., who releases movies based on the DC Comics characters, hasn’t been looking to comics rival Marvel for inspiration. Comic books have long featured cross-overs – superheroes like Spider-Man, Captain America, and Ant-Man often interact and team up to fight enemies. The idea is that the fictional universe is just that, a universe where characters are friends or enemies and are often part of the same story. 

Marvel has brought this thinking to the big screen. Audiences have seen “versus” movies before with everything from monster movies from decades past to more modern movies like 2003’s “Freddy vs. Jason” (based on horror movie villains) and 2004’s “Alien vs. Predator.”

Now many superhero movies are also based on this idea. 2012’s “The Avengers,” which is one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, had heroes like Captain America and Iron Man team up, but it also had many of them battle first. 

With “Batman v. Superman,” a lot of the story has been kept secret, but judging from the title, it sounds like the Caped Crusader and the hero from Krypton aren’t friends right away, either. 

Warner Bros. is continuing with this strategy of bringing superheroes together, with movies based on the Justice League planned. The Justice League often consists of superheroes like Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and the Green Lantern. 

And monster movies are getting in on the action, too. After the 2014 “Godzilla” film, Warner Bros. is reportedly looking to bring Godzilla and King Kong together again.