Man of Steel, though, felt reactionary: The film seemed to want to apologize for elements of the character, while pandering to more base pleasures. After an unapologetically optimistic, worldly and still action-packed character study of the character in Superman Returns, the reboot instead was full of long fight scenes, a strangely nationalist American viewpoint, and a cynical streak. In a strange inverse of the “show don't tell” rule for writing, the film kept saying how Superman is an inspiring figure, but he did little justify that. He seemed more passive than anything. Part of that is Snyder's direction, part of it is a weak script—both problems that could easily mar the sequel, given that the same filmmakers are involved.

There are other reasons for pessimism, based on what we know about this forthcoming film.

The creative team is taking inspiration from Frank Miller's 1980s miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, which imagined a Batman in his 50s who came out of retirement for one last attempt at stamping out crime in a dystopic future. The climax involves Superman, who is portrayed as a government patsy, fighting the rogue Batman, who manages to take on the man who's stronger than a locomotive. The comic was hailed as a bold new take on the Batman character, and dispelled and of the lingering camp from the ‘60s (a good thing—Adam West’s Bat-doofus cynically made the character into a hypercompetent joke, forwarding a dismissive view of the entire superhero genre). But it also removed the Gothic overtones and humanity from Bruce Wayne. Instead of finding drama in ambiguity, it focused on extremes, making Batman into a militaristic vigilante reliant on brute force rather than cunning, with the physique of the Hulk.

So if Snyder and Goyer are going for this portrayal, as they've hinted, it looks like Affleck's Batman might be written as a grim meathead, more into punching things than detective work. That portrayal would, unfortunately, fit right in with a continuation of Man of Steel's emphasis on action over character or story.

In Hollywood, of course, picking action over depth happens all the time. But as Marvel’s successes have shown that truly memorable superhero films manage to deliver both action and indelible characters, as with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. Warner Brothers, as Man of Steel showed, still doesn’t seem to understand this. Green Lantern, the first DC superhero attempt outside of the Dark Knight trilogy, was heavily edited to remove character and story-building scenes in the name of a lesser runtime. The idea was that a shorter film meant more screenings, which meant more money. But it didn’t work. Audiences didn't like the bare-bones film and Green Lantern did not do as well as the studio hoped for.

DC/Warner Brothers' formula-beholden strategy is also affecting the development—or lack thereof—of another of DC’s most iconic characters.