Ah, the glorious gifts the San Diego Comic-Con showers over the Earth just keep on coming! Thank you, Geek Gods of Hall H!

I have to admit, I haven’t been feeling overly thrilled about the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. For my money, the darkness and cold of the recent DC film adaptions have felt rather unrelenting—not that that bothered me too much, I just feel that darkness feels more real when contrasted with light.

If someone’s punching a brick wall until they bleed to death from their knuckles, it’s harsh and it fits but it feels a bit contrived and not at all surprising. If a film shows someone laughing over cupcakes about an online cat video before choking to death, it fits and it’s all the more shocking—most importantly, it feels like life, with ups and downs, beginnings and endings. It’s the fine line between merely successful story mechanics and truly elegant story mechanics.

It’s the reason The Dark Knight is arguably the best of the three recent Batman film adaptations. Heath Ledger’s Joker contained all of that contrast in one character—everything else with the film was there to serve that character’s story. It could’ve easily been called “The Dark Clown: And a Guy in a Bat-suit” instead.

I mean, since when did Superman become so mopey? Isn’t that Batman’s job anyway?—and that torture is always best when contrasted against billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne’s attempts to buy happiness. If you’re upset and your secret identity is that you’re angry, it’s not very interesting. One of the super things about Superman for me has always been his optimism—while we’re on the subject, it’s what I liked about James Bond, before the latest films. Superman and James Bond always used to have that twinkle in their eye even in the face of defeat. A hidden grin knowing they’d find a new solution even as the laser was inching closer to their crotch.

That being said, it seems this new trailer hints at a sprinkling of that necessary contrast with Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor (with a FULL head of hair). The trailer portrays the film as being highly detailed and complex with buckets of brooding all around and I’m hoping that Lex may give us a bit of contrast to all that so it feels more genuine. And, dear Lord, please. . . give Wonder Woman a personality—something layered, complex and witty. It really is time she got her due. Please.

What do you think?