JOHNS". The thing I love about the DC characters,
specifically the trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman,
is that their icons, the symbols, mean something.
The Superman the Batman symbol and the Wonder Woman shield,
all of that is very iconic, and it means a lot to people.
Just the other day, I was driving down the street,
I saw two different people wearing Superman shirts.
And I see more people wearing Wonder Woman shirts now,
because of the movie. And Batman shirts all the time.
They're not just characters people love, they mean something.
What they do represents something to the people.
ROVEN: I'm a big fan of Batman.
It started outwith Detective Comics.
Batman doesn't have any super powers,
so I find him relatable.
JOHNS: For Superman, it's not just about being this "Man of Steel."
I'll take the ones on the right.
It's about him being that beacon of hope.
It's about him inspiring others.
It's about him giving people faith that tomorrow will be better.
Oh! Now, you can't pick amongst your children.
Obviously, I have an affinity for Wonder Woman.
She completes the trinity, and her character is amazing.
JOHNS". You can say that
Superman represents truth, justice and the American way.
But really he represents hope.
And Wonder Woman represents love, and compassion, and truth.
But you can boil it down to love.
And you look at Batman, and he represents justice.
So they all have these great elements of heroism
that are embodied and defined so vividly in these different characters.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
AFFLECK'. AS a little kid,
I looked at comics in a sort of very black and white way.
I liked the idea of just superheroes and super powers,
in a plain little kid fantasy way.
The first time I looked at them in an allegorical way,
or in a more complicated way,
in a way that they could tell more complicated stories
that could reflect stories of our own,
was when I looked at Batman.
In particular the Frank Miller treatment of Batman.
That was something that I thought was really complicated and grown up.
SIMMONS: Batman specifically is son' of the dark, brooding version
of reluctant superhero.
And in fact not even a superhero, just a hero.
He's just a guy who has worked very hard and through his own physical prowess
and more importantly, his cleverness and design of all the props
and gags and gadgets
that he invents and gets to use, has made himself
into a character who is on par with these superheroes
who do have extrahuman capabilities.
What are your superpowers again?
I'm rich.
LEE: I think a lot of fans at some point in their reading career go,
"Why is Batman part of this team?"
When you talk about taking on these intergalactic threats,
they all have amazing powers
and Batman's, like, looking for a place to throw his grappling hook around
so he can fly up to join the party.
Then you realize, he's there because he's the most brilliant strategist
in the group and he's thought of every contingency.
I think Batman in particular has stayed really relevant
and resonant because he's on the one hand like a superhero
and on the other hand just like us.
He feels vulnerable, he bleeds if you cut him.
He is a real person on the inside and yet he is super.
And so there's all kinds of contradictions inherent in that
that make for really interesting storytelling.
You know you can't do this forever.
I can barely do it now.
Steppenwolf.
This is the job.
When he started his journey he thought he'd figured everything out
which he didn't,
and then obviously Superman died
and he felt such a huge guilt for it.
And I think it haunted him in his dreams.
ROVEN: There's always a casualty of war.
Superman makes an extremely noble act.
So he's the inspiration to both Batman and Diana
and therefore he's our inspiration.
The reason they go on this journey is
to make sure the Earth that he was trying to protect stays that way.
I'm gonna take out that tower and knock down that shield dome.
Don't wait for me, just do the job.
GADOT: In this movie, you see Batman starts to work in a group,
cares for people.
He becomes softer and softer and I think that he understands
that he can't do this by himself.
COLLER: It's fun to watch Bruce with this new attitude
work collaboratively,
and someone that's been working alone and isolated from others in so many ways
in his vigilantism have to be part of a team.
But it's good to see you playing well with others.
(CHUCKLES)
Dressed like a bat.
L dig it.
May be temporary.
KAN EMOTO: I would say that he is the first person
to be truly inspired by Superman.
And he's continuing the legacy of Superman
with bringing together the Justice League.
He truly is the voice, he truly is the founder
and team leader of the Justice League.
I don't recognize this world.
I don't have to recognize it.
I just have to save it.
(EXPLOSION)
SNYDER: It's been amazing to see Wonder Woman evolve.
We got a little glimpse of her
in BVS and you could tell she was mysterious
but she was really strong-willed and in the Wonder Woman movie
we find out how she kind of becomes Wonder Woman.
So in this movie we get to see more of who she is.
COLLER: As much as Bruce wants to step up and take on this new role,
he's a little clumsy at that. He's not been a team player.
He's not been a leader. And for as much as Diana's also been on her own
and been acting sort of in isolation for so long,
there's a spirit about her that is much more collaborative
and that becomes much more of a leader,
and I think the two of them together bolster one another.
They shore up one another and become a great partnership.
You're risking lives.
Theirs and maybe countless more.
We don't have time for a control group.
Is it a risk? Yes. But it's necessary.
Why, because of your guilt?
Diana in the comics has great relationships
with all the Justice League, but her relationship with Batman specifically
goes a little deeper than the others.
She is often the voice of reason when he's emotionally driven,
doing something that maybe is not the best interest of the team.
Love writing her, it makes her very tricky to write
because you've gotta put your mindset in somebody who is beyond thoughtful,
beyond strategic, beyond smart
and the nuance of the character is unlike any other character.
Because of where she comes from,
or what her mission is and what she believes in.
She's just a character that is an inspiration.
GADOT". For me it was really important
that she would be the glue of the team.
That we would track the same character
that we established in the Wonder Woman movie.
One of the most beautiful qualities are the fact that she just cares for people
in the most sincere way. So I made a point
out of the importance of Diana being this glue to the team.
That she would make each and every one of them, even if it's in small moments,
feel stronger and loved and capable.
I know it's frightening, but if you go under,
I promise, we will pull you back out.
GADOT". The Justice League is far bigger than Diana,
but for me I think that the most magical moments are the ones,
even when the stakes are really high
and there's so much tension and there's no time
and the pace is going forward really quick,
that she finds a moment to make them feel better, to make them feel capable.
Remember what you told me about heart in the hangar?
I bet you thought I wasn't listening.
Thank you.
I think a lot of these guys,
because of their special powers and maybe feeling partially either ashamed
or trying to hide them, were kind of alone.
It was a secret they were concealing.
And now with the Justice League, they get to share their powers
so I think that there's something
really comforting and bonding in that.
GADOT: That's what makes these movies so appealing to me.
Because I can't relate to a superhero
if it's only for his powers 'cause I'm not one.
I don't know how it feels to have greatest power
and this is something that I really was aware of and it was important for me
that we bring something that is easy to relate to.
She's vulnerable and she's sincere and she cares.
And she's warm and she's loving.
These are qualities that all of us have.
On my lead.
GADOT". So for me these qualities
are what makes Wonder Woman more interesting.
(RAIN PATTERING)
JOHNS: The death of Superman in comic books
was the biggest thing that had ever happened.
And people were really upset at the time.
I remember I was upset at the time.
I was like, wait, I love Superman.
Everyone wore these black armbands with a Superman symbol on it.
And everyone felt the weight of his death.
You saw funerals for Superman
and it felt like the DC Universe was missing something big.
And I think people outside of comics
crave Superman to come back too, they're like...
You can't take Superman away.
And ultimately when he did come back it was a celebration.
MILLER: It's a classic story, isn't it?
The old death and rebirth of the king.
He's the genesis. He's the first superhero.
He's like the alpha and omega of our pantheon.
So we need him. We need Superman.
I believe in truth.
But I'm also a big fan of justice.
(G ROWLS)
In my opinion, this is the first time we see Superman in truth.
We have seen the origin story of Superman.
We have seen the downfall and doubt of Superman.
And finally with this rebirth we see the true Superman.
The Superman who is confident and sure and full of hope and joy.
ADAMS: He feels more grounded in the Earth, actually.
He feels more and more that he belongs to the planet.
And the planet belongs to him. He feels a part of it.
ROVEN: That's one of the great things
about these stories having continuity.
The characters progress and continue
to expand and fulfill their arcs as the movies progress.
So to be able to bring him back
and to be able to bring him back in the right way
and for the right reasons, it's epic.
But I'm back now.
And I'm gonna make things right.
The thing about Henry is that he loves the character so much
and he's read so many comics and he's lived this character.
His dog's named Kai.
And just like us he wants to bring that core hopeful,
larger than life, yet very human Superman to the screen.
We've all been working closely together to get to the core of who Superman is.
(GROWLING)
He will inspire, be joyful and give hope to anyone who's watching.
JOHNS: The thing is really interesting is you could say,
any situation, "What would Superman do?"
And you'd do the right thing.
And I think to people who love these characters it means much more.
Wonder Woman isn't just a character people love,
it's a character that people embody.
A character people want to be, a character that people aspire to be.
And I think that's what Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman do,
is that they go beyond just being characters that are cool.
They're characters that are important.
That's why I think the trinity is above and beyond anybody else
and it always will be.