Comic-Con 2015: Everything We Learned About 'Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice'

The big reveal for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice at Comic-Con was a brand new trailer, showing off the first big screen meeting of The Dark Knight and Man of Steel. You can watch the extended peek of the movie right here, but there was also a whole panel for fans to soak up where some interesting tidbits were revealed, especially about Metropolis and Gotham City.

Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons and Holly Hunter were all on hand for the panel, each with some interesting things to say about their characters, the legacy that comes with them, and much more. After the jump, find out everything we learned from the Batman v Superman Comic Con 2015 panel!

Director Zack Snyder clarified his use of elements from Frank Miller's iconic The Dark Knight Returns, and says that while they lifted parts of the fan favorite Batman story, it's meant to be homages, and isn't that particular story brought to life.

Even though Batman and Superman have a slew of mythology and "rules" for how to portray these characters and their world, Snyder showed in Man of Steel that he's not always going to adhere to them. And Batman v. Superman is no different.

In the movie, they decided to put Metropolis and Gotham City right next to each other, making them sister cities like Oakland and San Francisco (that's the example Snyder used). Ben Affleck elaborated on that particular detail, and gave us some context as to why it matters in the scheme of the story:

"There's this interesting idea of Metropolopis being this successful, wealthy city and Gotham being where downtrodden people live. Gotham people take the ferry to Metropolis, and there's this idea of wealth and power, power engenders fear, which made it feel real and smart."

That's another great way to create more conflict between Batman and Superman, making them each fighting for their city in a way. Speaking of that conflict, Snyder clarified how Batman uses that metal suit we've seen him wear in images and trailers. They call it the "mech suit" and the director says it's a self-preservation concept, "It's not really enhancing his strength more than protecting him or buying him time. And he's just gonna get pummeled like a pinata."

Each of the actors was asked how their version of the character compares to the previous iterations that we've seen in comics and on the big screen. Jeremy Irons kicked it off by praising Michael Caine, but explaining that his version of Alfred is a little different, and just tries to keep Bruce Wayne happy, safe and maybe try to make him grow up a little.

Jesse Eisenberg addressed the campy nature of Lex Luthor in the past, but also said that this version has a real emotional grounded-ness, which he attributes to screenwriter Chris Terrio, who gave each character a real emotional core despite heightened situations.

Both Amy Adams and Gal Gadot were excited to be playing two strong women in the DC Comics universe. Gadot called playing Wonder Woman an opportunity to show this strong, beautiful side of women with someone who's sophisticated, loving, and full of emotional intelligence. Adams, who wanted to play Lois since she was five years old, added that she also loves playing a strong woman with emotional intelligence, but also vulnerability and strength. Will Lois Lane and Diana Prince meet? We'll have to wait and see.

Finally, Ben Affleck said that if he thought too hard about the actors who played Batman before him, he probably couldn't have taken the job. He asked Snyder if he was sure about casting him in the role, and the director said it was perfect for Affleck, because Bruce Wayne is at the end of his rope, an older burnout. But in all seriousness, Affleck ended up discovering a version of the character that was astonishing to him.

Even though this new version of Batman has no ties to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, that doesn't mean Affleck isn't linked to the former Batman star. Affleck told a story about how he ran into Christian Bale at a costume shop around Halloween, they were both getting costumes for their sons. And the one piece of advice Bale had for Affleck was, "Don't piss in the suit."

We've heard Ben Affleck is directing a solo Batman movie for sometime in 2018, and it sounds like he might be picking up some tricks from Snyder while working on Batman v. Superman. Affleck explained that he would look at the script and the cast, and once that's all in place, there's only so much you can tweak. He would start to envision how a scene would be shot, and then he would see how Snyder moved the camera around for coverage, grabbing dialogue scenes, action, weaving in and our of the scene and thought, "Fuck, I would never have thought to do that." We'll have to wait and see if some of Syder rubbed off on Affleck behind the camera.

Finally, Zack Snyder told fans how he felt taking on a project like this, "It's cool for me because it's really a dream come true type of project. I've always been into the big icon superheroes, and with Batman and Superman, after that I don't know what you do. Geting a chance to make this particular movie with this particular cast, I don't know how it gets better than that. It's a pleasure and an honor to be working with this group.

Don't forget, this is just the beginning. Man of Steel not only kicked off this conflict between two of the most iconic superheroes of all-time, but Snyder says it might end up being the catalyst for creating conflicts with other superheroes. Did Superman's fight with General Zod somehow mess up the ocean? That would probably piss him off.

If you haven't already, go watch the epic new Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer, and stay tuned for continue updates on the development of the DC Comimcs cinematic universe.