Batman, Superman and the Suicide Squad: What We Learned at Warner Bros.’ Comic-Con Panel

The ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ team at Comic-Con. Front row: Amy Adams, director Zack Snyder, Holly Hunter. Back row: Jesse Eisenberg, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons (Photo: Getty).

Holy hype machine, Batman! Warner Bros. on Saturday trotted out the sprawling, star-studded casts of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad to wow a hall full of costumed fans with some stunning new footage.

Along the way, we were treated to the first official look at the Suicide Squad in action via a teaser (ending with Jared Leto revealing his Jack Nicholson-esque Joker); a new, five-minute Batman v Superman trailer that featured extended looks at Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Jesse Eisenberg’s manipulative Lex Luthor; and a remarkably game Ben Affleck, making his first public appearance since news broke of his and Jennifer Garner’s divorce.

The DC-themed portion of the panel began on a 270-degree screen wrapping Comic-Con’s Hall H, mixing iconic images of Justice Leaguers Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Green Lantern (including a tease of the just-confirmed Green Lantern Corps. movie) with supervillains like the Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Killer Croc, then transitioning to concept art of the characters from the respective movies coming out next year.

With that, Suicide Squad writer-director David Ayer came out for a profane introduction of his Squaddies. “We were just shooting last night in Toronto but we had to come down because we had to report in to Hall H because you guys run this sh-t.  We’re making this movie for you,” Ayer proclaimed, adding that he’s going to be faithful to the comic source material.

Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, and Will Smith at the ‘Suicide Squad’ panel (Photo: Getty).

“All this good vs. evil sh-t is played out right now,” Ayer continued. “It’s time for bad vs. evil, right? It’s time for a movie about bad guys, and who has the greatest bad guys? DC Comics has the best villains ever. I’m not trying to start, you know, an East Coast-West Coast feud [with Marvel], but someone’s got to say the truth.”

Related: Behind the Scenes of ‘Suicide Squad’

Then Ayer took a potshot at all the behind-the-scenes footage that has leaked online from fans. “I’ve got a little footage I want to show you guys. We’ve been working really hard, but unfortunately people with iPhones have been roaming around and posting things. So this is a little something I found on the Internet and wanted  to show you.”

And with that we got the first trailer of Suicide Squad, beginning with Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller, a shadowy government official, huddled with two military leaders and explaining her idea for a team comprised of “the worst of the worst.”

“I’ve assembled a task force of the most dangerous people on the planet, who I think can do some good.”

As an echo-y, haunting rendition of the Bee Gees’ 1968 hit “I Started a Joke” plays in the background, the trailer presents a roll call of each villain, with the most screen time going to Marot Robbie’s Harley Quinn — who’s introduced doing upside-down yoga in a glorified bird cage — and Will Smith’s Deadshot, beating the hell out of a punching bag in a cell and delivering the money line: “So that’s it, huh? … We’re some kind of suicide squad.”

There’s a cackle off screen, and then, emerging from the shadows, Jared Leto’s twisted, tatted Joker appears, ready to administer some pain. “I’m not gonna kill you,” he says, in a delivery reminiscent of previous Joker Nicholson in The Shining. “I’m just gonna hurt you really, really bad.”

As the teaser applause subsided, Ayer brought out the bulk of his cast (sans Leto): Karen Fukuhara (Katana), Adam Beach (Slipknot), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress),  Jay Hernandez (El Diablo), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Col. Rick Flag), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), and “the man who cannot miss,” Will Smith (Deadshot).

They took a bow, did a team “Suicide Squad!” chant, and then turned around to head back to Toronto. “We are banging out something that is absolutely fantastic and stunning,” Smith said before heading off. “We’ll see you all next year!”

Then it was time for the main event, the introduction of the Batman v Superman and the unveiling of the trailer.

Related: Our Breakdown of That Over-the-Top ‘Batman v Superman’ Trailer

Up on stage were Holly Hunter (who plays a crusading anti-Superman senator, a character created wholecloth by Snyder), Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth), Henry Cavill (Superman), and Affleck, who arrived to an enthusiastic reaction from the audience. But no sign of other Justice League members in the film, including Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Flash (Ezra Miller), or Cyborg (Ray Fisher).

Director Zack Snyder revealed that his film is an homage to Frank Miller’s classic story, The Dark Knight Returns, but is not a direct adaptation. “The story itself is something we came up with on our own.”

But Snyder revealed that he warped the geography of the DC Universe by placing Superman’s Metropolis next to Batman’s Gotham. “It made sense for our story that they were kind of sister cities across a bay. Like Oakland and San Francisco.”

Eisenberg said that his hirsute Luthor has “a real emotional grounding… even though the situations are so heightened and theatrical.”

Gadot, who will be the first major screen Wonder Woman since Lynda Carter in the 1970s, addressed how she approached the Amazonian princess. “I have been given such a huge opportunity to show the strong, beautiful side of women. Finally… I feel very privileged to be the one to bring her back to life.”

Related: More Batprops Unveiled at Comic-Con!

Affleck recalled how Synder pitched him on the role. “He said, ‘I have this vision for the guy and you’re perfect for it. He’s at the end of his rope. He’s older, he’s burned out.”

He then recounted “a really weird experience” he had soon after taking the job. He was taking his get his son shopping in Los Angeles to get a Batman costume for Halloween. “I was in the aisle and there was this ‘Oy’, and I turn around and it’s Christian Bale. He’s the sweetest guy. There he and I were standing in the Batman aisle of the costume store. I said, ‘Look, man, you’re the best. You got any tips?’ [Adopting Bale’s British accent] ‘Make sure you can piss in that suit.’”

Snyder also talked a bit about Batman’s armored suit, which he uses to clash with Superman in the trailer. “It’s more about self-preservation… It’s not really enhancing his strength but to project him, buying him time.”

“Everybody always wants to know who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman,” mused panel moderator Aisha Tyler. Replied Snyder without missing a beat: “I got to make a whole movie about it.”