DC's latest film set to spark renewed rivalry with Marvel

The cast members of Justice League visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The film will be simultaneously released in China and the United States on Nov 17. [Photo provided to China Daily]

But the slice did not say if Superman would be brought back to life in the movie.

In the DC film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which was released in 2016, Superman sacrificed his life to kill a deadly monster, but the last scene seemed to indicate a possible return.

Despite avoiding questions about the return issue, Cavill says the death of Superman has changed Batman, who now works with Wonder Woman to guard the planet.

Compared with previous DC superhero movies, Justice League has a brighter tone with more funny scenes, indicating DC's strategy to target non-fan audiences.

Referring to the "preview", producer Charles Roven, who is behind a string of DC comics hits such as The Dark Knight Trilogy and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, says: "You (the Chinese audience) are the first in the world to see that 25 minutes."

Justice League was conceived by American writer Gardner Fox and first appeared in a DC comic book in 1960.

Over the past decades, the fictional alliance has inspired a series of animated movies and TV shows, but Justice League marks the first time the team is part of a live-action movie.

For most DC fans and movie industry watchers, the movie is a late reply to Marvel, probably DC's biggest rival in the comics-adapted superhero movies genre.

Marvel, the publisher of Iron Man, Captain America and Hulk comics, released its first movie, Iron Man, in 2008. And with The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014) and a series of standalone movies and franchises, it has established a well-known cinematic universe for its heroes.

Now, with the latest Marvel superhero movie Thor: Ragnarok, which will be released in China and the United States simultaneously on Nov 3, Marvel has 17 such movies.

Wang Xiaoyang, a Beijing-based critic, says Justice League will be a pivotal chapter in the history of DC, as it will decide if DC's warriors can regain the audiences they have lost to Marvel.