The news that DC new movie had wrapped and would be released next week not only sparked some nervous thoughts in S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson and Hill but also made the World Security Council and the U.S. government realize that an uncontrollable major variable was about to emerge on Earth.
Superman existence was confirmed by Anton.
A conversation that had occurred at the White House a few days ago was shared with representatives of the World Security Council by John Kler.
These representatives were not entirely ignorant of Superman power.
From the works released by DC, it was clear that Superman was the mightiest of all the Justice League superheroes, without a rival.
Throughout their conversations, Anton never denied this.
Anton even had great confidence in Superman, seeming to believe that once Superman returned, any problem could be solved.
After reviewing DC works, many concluded that while Batman was the undisputed leader of the Justice League, he was not the ceiling of their strength.
That ceiling was Superman, Clark Kent.
People studied Superman background and discovered he was born in a small town in Kansas.
The reason it was just "a small town" was that, in this world, there was no actual place called Smallville.
The direct translation of Smallville is simply "small town," and it was only because of Superman fame that it came to be known as Smallville.
It worth noting that a previous DC series about Superman origins was named "Smallville."
Under such circumstances, the World Security Council, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the U.S. government scoured the farms of Kansas and searched through various towns but found no Kent farm from the stories.
There were indeed some farmers named Kent, but no one knew Clark Kent.
Nor did anyone know of a spaceship that crashed decades ago containing an alien infant indistinguishable from a human baby!
If it weren't for the utmost trust in Anton, they might have doubted the reality of Superman existence.
"The story might be right, but the background has been altered..."
Eventually, they gave up searching for Superman Earthly home.
They realized that in the works released by DC, the background details of the superheroes were modified.
The storyline might be correct, and the characters might be right, but specific information couldn't be found just by following the names and places mentioned in the stories.
Anton and his colleagues wouldn't be so foolish.
Fortunately, these individuals didn't harbor too many expectations and simply decided to wait for the movie release.
Anton previous works revealed that the relationship between Batman and Superman wasn't as unified as imagined.
There seemed to be some conflict between the two.
This point of contention would likely be addressed in the movie.
A week later, Anton smoothly completed all the post-production work for the movie.
The rest of the tasks were entirely managed by Jim, who needed no help from Anton, and their long-time distribution company was well-prepared for Anton whims, so no significant issues arose.
A few days later, the premiere began.
At a venue in Los Angeles, Anton walked the red carpet, briefly interviewed under the dense cameras, and stylishly entered the venue.
Then, stars paraded down the red carpet like products on an assembly line.
Notably, Tony Stark, who almost never missed an Anton movie premiere, was absent this time.
According to Anton understanding, the research into deciphering the Skrulls shapeshifting technology had hit a snag and was at a critical stage.
Tony currently had no interest in movies.
Solving this problem would lead to preliminary results in his research.
He was thankful that a few days ago, the Skrulls had come knocking at his door.
The presence of live specimens accelerated the research team efforts to decode their abilities, giving them more confidence in solving the problem.
Meanwhile, Coulson and Hill in Europe would have to wait until after the premiere to see the finished film.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was in a precarious position and they dared not return to the U.S. lightly.
And using means to learn about the movie content in advance risked alerting Anton.
Offending Anton was no trivial matter.
After all, it was just a movie being a day late or early made little difference, and it wasn't worth the effort and potential backlash.
However, some agents under the command of the World Security Council, as well as the Secretary of Defense, John Kler, attended the premiere in secret.
The former needed to understand the information in the movie right away to prepare an analytical report and submit it for review.
The latter purpose was similar, but his approach was more straightforward.
Watch the movie, get a heads-up on Superman, and have a word with Anton to understand the movements of the Justice League and the progress of the research team.
Moments later.
The lights in the auditorium dimmed, and images appeared on the big screen.
With the DC logo flashing past, the first scene the audience saw was a monologue by Batman.
Batman, Bruce Wayne, lost his parents at a young age.
This was a well-known setting.
After his parents died, Bruce Wayne fell into the Batcave.
Bats flapped their wings and swooped down en masse, enveloping the young Bruce.
In a daze, the scene of his parents being murdered flashed through Bruce mind, and then looking at his deceased mother, he called out her name.
"Martha…"
The original movie had a runtime of 2 hours and 25 minutes, and the opening scene showcased director Zack Snyder typical "romantic narrative" style.
Anton made only minor adjustments, slightly quickening the pace.
The slow pace and overly dramatic dialogue scenes were common criticisms of Zack Snyder style.
Batman memories were trimmed a bit, and using a transition from the original film, the scene moved to the massive battle in "Superman: Man of Steel."
During the fight between Superman and his fellow Kryptonian, General Zod, Bruce Wayne old friend and long-time employee of Wayne Enterprises, Jack, was buried under a collapsing building.
As the building fell, other employees were either killed or injured…
In the scene, Bruce Wayne, who has become Batman, saves a little girl while her mother becomes another casualty of the battle.
Amid the ruins, Batman, with a deep gaze and stern face, looks towards the distant battlefield and clenches his fist.
Eighteen months later.
A fisherman retrieves an item that had been lost from the alien spaceship from the sea.
A green stone.
Here, Anton added a scene to clarify for those who might not understand.
Bruce Wayne purchases the stone for a large sum and, after research, learns that the stone has a strong inhibitory effect on Kryptonians…
Clearly, Batman had thought of a way to counter Superman.
Elsewhere.
Superman is on a call with his own mother.
Before hanging up the phone, Superman calls out his mother name.
"Martha…"
Another Martha!