The image comes courtesy of USA Today, and it's appropriately dark and gloomy image of Superman, fitting the harsher world out there that he's facing. In fact it very much resembles the brooding atmosphere of Frank Miller's seminal Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns, from which elements of the film have been based. Snyder spoke a little bit about the decision to bring in Batman so early, saying...
Snyder: "I was in no rush to put Batman in the movie, but on the other hand it seemed organic the way our story was unfolding to start to feather him in."
He adds that "it's cooler to see a crusty old Batman beating the snot out of guys." rather than depicting a more youthful Bruce Wayne, and suggests the "V" rather than "Vs" in the film's title is a way to keep it from being a straight showdown between the two heroes. It's a questionable theory since everyone reads it as "versus", but that was Snyder's thinking behind the decision.
While there's been a great deal of consternation about his recurring involvement in the DC Universe movies, he's also set to direct Justice League in the future, there's no denying that Snyder is an avid comic book fan with a genuine enthusiasm....
Snyder: "You can talk all you want about other superhero movies, but it's Batman and Superman, let's just be honest. I don't know how you get bigger than that."
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will have to be pretty big as it's currently slated to go up against Captain America 3 on May 6th 2016.
