After a heady few days of unbridled consumerism, ToyFair has come and gone. While the big takeaways this year were the new Ghostbusters villain and Aquaman”s costume from Dawn of Justice. But once I started sifting through the literal thousands of photos taken from the convention, a handful of other potential plot points popped up for both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. These are spoilers only in the broadest sense of the word since Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment signed off on these toy displays. Shout out to ToyArk for letting me use their photos!
First up? Dawn of Justice! Throughout the marketing campaign for Batman v Superman, Superman has been painted as a wild card. Who is this hyper-powerful alien who can wipe out whole swaths of humanity on accident? Is he friend or foe? What kind of oversight or control – if any – does he need? This looming statue of the Man of Steel graffitied with a message of distrust was one of the first we saw:
But it”s not just Superman who has a PR problem. We know from the trailers that Clark Kent disapproves of the Bat Vigilante. Bruce Wayne points out this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, but based on this display at ToyFair, Superman isn”t the only one wary of the Dark Knight. There”s a part of me that wonders if all this dissent has been sown by Lex Luthor. It takes nothing to hire punk kids to deface public property and a grassroots campaign to besmirch both heroes sounds right up the mogul”s alley.
Bonus points if anyone can translate what it says on Wonder Woman”s shield. At first I thought it was Greek but some of those characters don”t quite fit the language.
But speaking of Lex Luthor, it looks like things end poorly for him. Which shouldn”t be a surprise. Jesse Eisenberg”s take on the character may start out with luxurious locks, but something is gonna make him lose his hair…literally. I will note this action figure was sitting in a different display than the other Dawn of Justice characters, so it could just be a multiverse toy. But the fact it”s a cast of Eisenberg”s face makes me think the placement was to throw off the scent. NICE TRY, MATTEL.
And finally, the Suicide Squad reveal. Mattel had the some of the Squad lined up in a group, including Jai Courtney”s Captain Boomerang. That”s him arm in the background of the next image, along with a fraction of Deadshot”s (Will Smith) arm. I point this out because the only thing on the table were Suicide Squad action figures…and this version of Batman. So it”s a good bet this is what Batman is wearing in his cameo. What he needs a gas mask for is anyone”s guess.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice arrives in theaters March 25, 2016. Suicide Squad is scheduled for August 5, 2106.