It's a trope as old as superhero crossovers themselves. The two heroes in question meet, there's a misunderstanding, then the pair realise in the last quarter that there's a bigger enemy they should probably be fighting instead. It's an idea which served The Avengers well; not to mention (deep breath) two Batman/Judge Dredd crossovers, Superman/Hulk, Batman/Spawn, The Justice League/Avengers and almost every combative Batman/Superman crossover ever written. That template is bound to serve Dawn Of Justice well. The most likely outcome of this cinematic Batman/Superman dust up will see Batman and Superman waste half an hour (give or take) punching one another in the face until Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor (or any other to-be-announced villain sort) does something dastardly and the pair realise that there's someone else they could be hitting instead. After all, how else would two Alpha Males of the (specifically antisocial New 52) DC Universe bond should ever they meet? Why, via their shared interest of kicking the snot out of a mutual enemy, of course.
A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.
