'Justice League' Trailer Breakdown: Let's Go All In On The DC Comics Superhero Union

During Comic-Con, Warner Bros. Pictures brought some superhero action into Hall H with a brand new trailer for Justice League, introducing the world to the villain called Steppenwolf, who both walks tall and carries a big stick, or rather an axe that appears to have the power to lay waste to the world.

As the new Justice League poster points out, you can't save the world alone, and we certainly can't let the new trailer go by without taking a cue from Aquaman and making a deep dive into what this footage tells us about the first big screen union of these DC Comics superheroes. So come with us as we deliver a Justice League trailer breakdown.

The trailer opens with a series of shots showing a group of unidentified, armed individuals walking into a corporate building of some kind. Could it be a bank or something else? Either way, they're looking for something, and they're not beyond shooting a couple people and scaring the hell out of some schoolgirls in the process.

Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) isn't about to put up with that, and Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Entertainment are smart for kicking off the trailer with their most successful superhero in the DC Extended Universe. She smashes through a door and dodges a bullet.

One of the armed men takes it upon himself to hit the butt of his rifle against the back of Wonder Woman's head, and he's definitely going to pay for that as Wonder Woman turns back around and dispatches with the rest of these bad guys.

When she's not battling armed bad guys, Diana works in art museums, as we saw in the bookends of Wonder Woman, which took place in the present day after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I'm not sure how her co-worker is oblivious to Diana's actions since she doesn't hide her identity while taking on various criminals, but maybe he's just not plugged into media of any kind.

Voiceover tells us that the world is still mourning the death of Superman, further confirmed by a black flag with the Superman logo hanging on a bridge in London.

It appears not much time has passed since the events of Batman v Superman because that Superman statue that was destroyed by Doomsday still hasn't been cleaned up. Who is looking upon the rubble? Could it be Lois Lane still grieving after Superman has apparently been killed?

Continued voiceover about the aftermath of the death of Superman mentions a crime wave around the world now that there's no superhero to stop them. There's also a French voice mentioning something about Arkham Asylum, but it's hard to make out what is being said besides the name of the institute for the criminally insane where many of Batman's villains get locked up. Perhaps this new crime wave is why Wonder Woman is the one stopping that opening crime from being committed. In Superman's stead, she seems to have taken back the mantle of protecting humanity after being gone for so many years. Because despite Commissioner Gordon (J.K. Simmons) shining the Bat signal in one of the shots...

...the news voiceover also adds that the "masked vigilante has been a no-show." Perhaps this crime wave is happening while Bruce Wayne is away looking for Aquaman. The first trailer did show Bruce far away from Gotham, so maybe Batman takes some flack for not dealing with this crime spree while Wonder Woman does her best to clean up the mess.

This conversation between Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince about the age of heroes coming again is reused from the first trailer, but I want to call attention to this image of Bruce Wayne simply for comparison for a shot later in the trailer that feels like it could be a flashback of some kind. But we'll get to that later.

We jump to the island of Themyscira, which appears out of thin air as we get closer to what appears to be an empty area of ocean. The home of the Amazons is about to get a rude awakening.

As we learned earlier this year, the Amazons have been protecting a Mother Box, a device of great power being sought by Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds). There are three in total, with another being protected by the Atlanteans and the other given to Mankind, but has since become part of the Justice League superhero Cyborg. It looks like some energy field is raining down upon the box as it activates, and that's not all.

Steppenwolf drops in with a superhero landing, axe in hand, breaking the ground beneath him as the Amazons look on in fear. They clearly were not expecting this.

It sounds like Steppenwolf goes into monologue mode before he begins his attack on Themyscira, acknowledging that with Diana gone, this place has "no protectors." At least Atlantis has Aquaman seen, who will have to deal with the villain himself later in the trailer.

Somewhere in Metropolis or Gotham City, Diana turns around to glance at something. We're not sure what grabs her attention, but is it the same thing that catches another superhero's gaze?

Cyborg is also seen glancing up into the sky from a broken window, and we can't see what he's staring at either. When we see him, we hear Steppenwolf's voiceover continue with an interesting reference to a part of the DC Extended Universe we haven't been formally introduced to yet. He says there are "no Lanterns" to stand in his way, which implies that he's had to deal with the Green Lantern Corps at some point.

Since Wayne Manor has been abandoned, Bruce Wayne has been staying in this glass house on the lake, which we'll return to in Justice League. In fact, a key moment at the end of the trailer appears to take place in the woods surrounding the house. But we'll get to that later.

Bruce Wayne looks at a hologram of Superman in the Batcave. He looks quite pensive, and Wayne doesn't waste time when he's in the Batcave, so maybe he's figuring out something about the Kryptonian while he's gone (which Steppenwolf acknowledges in continued voiceover). It could be as simple as coming to the conclusion that Superman can come back from the "dead", especially considering what Alfred says at the end of the trailer. But again, we'll get to that later.

This is what happens when Barry Allen uses his powers to push through a window, finger first. The glass shatters in slow-motion as he speeds through it. The visualization of The Flash's powers has been pretty cool in the footage we've seen so far, but will it be enough to outshine how Quicksilver's similar powers were visualized in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse?

Meanwhile, back on what appears to be Themyscira, Steppenwolf is swinging his axe around and slamming it into the ground. It's hard to tell this is Themyscira from this shot, but...

If you look at the left side of this shot of the fire spreading through the ground, those are clearly Amazon warriors standing at the ready to battle. Will Steppenwolf kill all of Themyscira? That could be quite an emotional gut punch for Diana to deal with, and it would give her even more motivation in her fight to stop Steppenwolf.

Remember when I said there was a strange shot of Bruce Wayne that looks like it could be from a flashback? Is it just me or does Ben Affleck look younger and less grizzled in this photo than every other shot of Bruce Wayne we've seen in Justice League footage? Maybe it's just because he's clean shaven instead of having consistent stubble on his face, but there also appears to be less gray on the side of his hair too. In this scene, Alfred makes a reference to whatever they're dealing with being less of a problem than exploding wind-up penguins. Considering this reference to Batman's past entanglements with The Penguin, this may not be a flashback, but the way Bruce Wayne looks in this scene is still odd.

Anyway, there are bigger problems to deal with as Steppenwolf has an army of parademons ready for some kind of big battle. The question is, where is this enemy stronghold? Does Steppenwolf have a ship that he brings to Earth with all these parademons on it? The architecture certainly looks alien.

Those are Steppenwolf's horns turning upward as he gazes up at a dark red sky. We're not sure why the sky is red, but the sky also looks this way in a major action sequence at some point in the movie, as we see later in the trailer.

That's enough for Aquaman to think they're probably all going to die while facing this new threat. But he doesn't sound too worried, because Aquaman is just chill like that.

The Batmobile races out of what appears to be the Flying Fox, a larger flying vehicle that the Justice League travels around in. Batman's vehicle flies out onto the street of what looks like some kind of abandoned industrial park. This might be the surface of the same underground area where we've seen our heroes doing battle in the first trailer.

This quick shot of Ezra Miller as The Flash shows how uncertain he is of himself, further confirmed by his exchange with Batman where he explains that he's never really engaged in battle, but has only used his powers to just kind of push people here and there. Of course, this is the guy who apprehended Captain Boomerang, according to Suicide Squad, so I'm not sure why he's so unsure of himself here.

What I love about this quick shot of Wonder Woman is it's clear that she's just as much of a leader as Batman when it comes to bringing the Justice League together. She's the one giving the pep talk here before they presumably have to face Steppenwolf.

Here's our heroes in some kind of laboratory, or maybe it's just one part of the Flying Fox vehicle, as they prepare to battle the villain we've seen wreaking havoc in the rest of the trailer.

One thing Steppenwolf will have to contend with is Cyborg's ability to tap into any technology and control it. Here he's taking control of the Nightcrawler, one of Batman's vehicles that we were introduced to in the first trailer. Alfred sounds a little perplexed by the vehicle having a new pilot, but I'm sure he'll get over it.

Steppenwolf leaps down from above the underground industrial setting that was glimpsed in the previous trailer. Could Steppenwolf's stronghold be underground this industrial park that we keep seeing in footage from the movie? No matter where this is, the villain doesn't hesitate to take on all four of these superheroes.

This second shot gives us our first quick flash of his face, which looks pretty menacing but still needs a touch-up on the visual effects front.

Themyscira apparently isn't the only place that has to deal with the arrival of Steppenwolf, because here he is flying into Atlantis, throwing his axe as he swims through the ocean.

Aquaman coolly swims out of the way of the glowing axe, looking even more chill because of the torn jeans he's wearing underwater while avoiding the deadly villain, undoubtedly coming to collect the Mother Box that Atlantis protects.

The axe smashes into some kind of structure behind Aquaman, though it remains to be seen if it will do any damage that will be a bigger problem for Atlantis. Could the axe be aimed at where the Mother Box is being kept?

Elsewhere, Batman takes on a parademon, and it looks like he even rips one of their arms off. Batman is clearly not fucking around, and that look on his face is actually kind of terrifying. If you've ever wondered why criminals are scared of a guy dressed like a bat, that's one of the many reasons.

An explosion happens at an entirely different location in broad daylight. Is this at the same building from the opening sequence featuring Wonder Woman? Is there a chance that she ultimately fails to stop the bad guys in question and an explosion goes off?

Speaking of Wonder Woman, we've seen this before. In Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman she used this signature move to thwart both Doomsday and Ares. It should come as no surprise who she's aiming this energy blast at.

There's Steppenwolf, revealing a better look at his face (which again, still needs to be touched up with visual effects), bringing his axe around to attack the Princess of Themyscira.

It's clear that Steppenwolf may have underestimated just how strong these superheroes can be as he's blasted back by Wonder Woman's power. What's not clear is where this battle is taking place, though it appears they're destroying a lot of real estate in the area. Though since we've seen that one of the settings looks like an abandoned industrial park, the casualties will likely be next to none.

This is one of my favorite shots in the trailer. It looks straight out of a comic book, and I love the contrast of the black of Batman's suit against the red sky, which is something that's likely caused by the arrival of Steppenwolf and whatever trouble he's bringing to Earth.

Here's another gorgeous comic book shot featuring Aquaman shoving his trident (or quindent) into the ground as water rushes around him. This doesn't look like a rush of water caused by Aquaman, but instead he might be trying to control it. This rush of water may be a result of the damage caused underground by the Justice League fighting Steppenwolf.

Here's a better shot of that industrial park that we've been seeing in close quarters. An explosion rocks a tower and fires roar all over the area. You can see the Batmobile in the upper middle of the photo.

As that tower falls next to the speeding Batmobile, the Dark Knight tries to throw off some parademons who have latched onto the vehicle. Notice the red sky, which again.

Clearly the visual effects aren't done in this shot yet, but four of the five members of Justice League we've seen so far are standing in downtown Metropolis, the crash site of the world engine behind them, and presumably the location where Superman's statue was before is in front of them, which is why the flowers and balloons are behind the police barricades. Is this where Superman has returned? Something definitely goes down here since Cyborg was seen protecting police officers in this location in the first trailer.

Here's more of the sequence where the Amazons try to stop Steppenwolf. You can see just a hint of the glowing orange ground below them caused by the villain. Do the Amazons even stand a chance?

This is one of my favorite moments from the trailer as it hints how the Justice League will be working together, something we got a taste of when the Trinity took on Doomsday in Batman v Superman. The Flash is speeding around this industrial facility while fighting Steppenwolf and parademons and he touches the tip of Wonder Woman's sword to push it back towards...

...Wonder Woman herself, as she jumps down this industrial silo to battle enemies as the structure crumbles above her, likely because of the Nightcrawler blasting everything to kingdom come.

I have no idea what's happening in this shot, but there's a vehicle, that presumably belongs to Batman, blasting some kind of glowing structure. Could this be some kind of energy supply that's powering Steppenwolf's stronghold? It has to be important in the grand scheme of things, but we're not sure why.

Here's one of the crazier shots in the trailer, featuring Aquaman dropping down from the sky, surfing on the body of a parademon and landing it in one of the abandoned buildings before jumping off of it casually like it's just an everyday thing.

Here four of the Justice League members stand on what is likely a rooftop in Gotham City, right next to the Bat Signal.

All of our superheroes disappear in that way they do whenever anyone turns their back on them. The Flash isn't quite as rude as the rest of them as he sticks around before speeding off.

That's not the end of the trailer though, as a rumble in the distance creates a ripple in Alfred's drink as he's working on fixing one of Batman's many tactical vehicles. It's not a tyrannosaurus rex creating those reverberations...

Instead, it's someone who Bruce told Alfred he expected would return. Though one might think that this could be Robin coming back as Nightwing to lend a hand, it's much more likely (and obviously) Superman returning from the dead. You can even see a hint of his red cape, albeit blurry, in the lower right hand corner. We don't see him in full, but of course Superman is coming back.

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Before the trailer began, there were some shots seen that aren't even in the trailer. Such as this shot of Aquaman:

This shot of Batman standing with the Bat signal shining in the sky above him in Gotham City:

And finally this shot of Cyborg with his arms both weaponized, looking like he's ready to do some damage:

That's all from this breakdown of the Justice League trailer. With the movie not hitting theaters until November 17, 2017, we've got plenty of time to get more footage and find out more about the story.