Cape, caul and all, Warner Bros. landed at Comic-Con 2015 to showcase its superhero-centric slate on Saturday — and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad” stole the show.
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Jeremy Irons and Jesse Eisenberg united to offer a new trailer for “Dawn of Justice,” which hits theaters March 25, 2016.
Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Cara Delevigne, Jay Hernandez, Jai Courtney and Joel Kinnaman were among the fantastic villains to light up the stage — as did a sneak peak at Jared Leto’s Joker.
Here’s the play-by-play from Hall H:
Following a sizzle reel of the studio’s greatest hits like the “Harry Potter” series and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” moderator Aisha Tyler walked on to thunderous applause.
She wasted no time in jumping into the goods: The typical Hall H setup is one large projection screen behind the talent, but Saturday morning the entire room was papered in screens.
First up in the immersive experience was “The Man From U.N.C.:L.E.” — the first legitimate look at Guy Ritchie’s take on the Cold War-era spy caper. Footage revealed a syrupy ’60s throwback, playing for sex and intrigue with no lack of fanfare for stars Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander.
“They closed off the Spanish Steps,” Vikander said of the film’s Roman location. “Everyone was in costume, there were hundreds of extras, it kind of does the work for you.”
After gabbing about their period piece, Tyler quickly into a very brief clip from next month’s reimagining of Peter Pan “Pan,” followed by a Q&A with director Joe Wright and stars Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund and Hugh Jackman.
Wright addressed his use of practical sets over computer-generated imagery, recurring theme over the weekend in San Diego. “I’m not sure it would’ve been less expensive doing CGI,” he said.
The group introduced a full trailer for the film, which showcased absent star Rooney Mara. Jackman has a distinct look as Black Beard, who foresees that a young Peter Pan will eventually lead a revolutionary charge against him.
Jackman explained why he leapt at the role when Wright described his plan. “He showed me a picture of my face superimposed with the wig of Marie Antoinette and the costume of Louis XIV, and I said, ‘I’m in,’” the star said.
The “Pan” people flew away quickly, making way for the main event: an update on the studio’s plan for the DC Comics universe on film.
David Ayer presented footage from “Suicide Squad,” due August 5, 2016, preceded by a clip package of DC’s best-sellers and a subtle tease for a Green Lantern franchise reboot in “Green Lantern Corps.”
“We’re making this movie for you, this is DC Comics shit. This is all about canon,” Ayer said of “Squad” before trotting out his stars.
“All this good versus evil shit is kinda played out, it’s time for bad versus evil — it’s time for a movie about bad guys, and who has the best bad guys out there? DC Comics,” Ayer said. “I’m not trying to start no East Coast, West Coast with Marvel, but someone has to say the truth.”
Smith, who previously flirted with the superhero genre in “Hancock,” had high praise for the “Suicide Squad” team. “This group right here, we’re banging out something that’s absolutely fantastic and stunning — David Ayer is the absolute truth,” the star said.
Though Jared Leto didn’t make it to Hall H, the actor left quite an impression toward the very end of a reel of footage from the film. His Joker, the lead antagonist in a movie full of villains, is seen holding electroshock wands and threatening to use them on an unseen victim. “I’m not going to cure you,” he says maniacally. “But ‘m going to hurt you. Really, really bad.”
The squad almost matched the bonkers reception for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” in which we finally get a rounder glimpse at Ben Affleck’s Batman.
A world-weary professional with a chip on his shoulder, the new Caped Crusader is over it — indifferent to everything from Cavill’s Superman to lectures from Alfred (Jeremy Irons) to even the charms of Wonder Woman Gal Gadot (who clocked the loudest screams in Hall H, by TheWrap’s estimation).
Affleck told an anecdote about taking his son to buy a Halloween costume in Los Angeles, a Batman costume of course, and revealed that he ran into Christian Bale shopping for the same with his boy.
“There he and I are standing in the Batman costume row and I said, ‘Do you have any tips?’ And he said, ‘Make sure you can piss in that suit.’”
Watch the “Batman v Superman” trailer above.