Right now, theaters are gearing up for the Easter Weekend Release Date of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It is pretty clear that Warner Brothers and the movie-going public are expecting numbers equal to that of 2015 hits like Furious 7, Jurassic World, and, of course, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The hype for this film is huge, but oftentimes, the greater the hype, the greater the fall. If Batman v. Superman does not succeed to be a monstrous hit, then all superhero films, even those that Marvel wants to make, will fail.
Right now, Batman v. Superman has a lot of things working against it. First, it is essentially a sequel to a film that many called mediocre at best with Man of Steel. A lot of audiences didn't like the darker version of Superman, but this film embraces it to a full degree. The second is the presence of "Batfleck". Many have criticized the choice of Ben Affleck to play the Caped Crusader, citing his not well-received performance of a similar superhero the 2003 film Daredevil.
However, the biggest thing that Batman v. Superman has working against it is on the trailer. Too much is revealed as popular characters like Doomsday and Wonder Woman show up. Then there are rumors of Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, and other DC comics characters showing up...somewhere.
Some trailers have Superman unmasking Batman, which should be an event that audiences should be surprised by. Granted, most know that the big conflict in the film is somewhat based on the classic Frank Miller graphic novel series The Dark Knight Returns. Most fans know there is a scene where Superman unmasks Batman, not caring about revealing his secret identity.
In other words, audiences know essentially what they will see in Batman v. Superman, but like many comic book films, such as X3: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3, film adaptations of comics often attempt to cram comic book storylines that are decades-old into two-hour films. DC's first big film to introduce its Cinematic Universe might also be trying to do too much. At this point, the film seems like more of a Justice League film rather than a story of how Batman and Superman became friends/enemies, which really should be the subject of the film.
For this reason of too much happening in one film, even fans of the comic book source material might not want to see this film. The failure of this film would be devastating for Warner Brothers, as they would have to completely re-examine their DC Cinematic Universe that they want to develop with films like Sucide Squad coming later this August as well as the Justice League films.
There is also a greater issue to consider, which is at some point in time, audience are going to get sick of superhero films. Yes, Marvel has been putting out a stream of hits over the past decade since they began their Cinematic Universe, but the next offering of Captain America Civil War looks extremely similar to Batman v. Superman. Should DC's attempt at heroes fighting heroes fail, then Marvel's version could also suffer a similar fate.
It is possible the audiences don't want to see all the comic book source material be jammed into films, and they don't want to see it in multiple films. Like the western movie genre and the dying romantic comedy genre, audiences could get tired of these superhero films even with great effects. It could start with Batman v. Superman, and then all of these planned film franchises would not be as great as they were projected to be.
