Since the initial announcement of Zack Snyder's Justice League , the director has opened up about his plans for the DCEU prior to his departure from the universe in 2017. The long-awaited Snyder Cut released on March 18 to critical acclaim and great reviews across the board, leading to calls to “Restore the Snyder Verse” and resume the director's storyline.
Snyder has revealed both Batman V Superman and Justice League feature set-up for the second installment of his superhero team-up trilogy in Batman's Knightmare sequences that would see Superman take a villainous role in a post-apocalyptic future .
It's unlikely the story will ever be returned to as the director has confirmed Joss Whedon's version of the film is canon . However, he continues to reveal new plot points he had previously written for the second and third films .
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUEL'S TIME-TRAVEL MISSION
In an interview with Esquire, Zack Snyder was asked if the post-apocalyptic Knightmare sequences Batman experiences in Batman V Superman and Justice League represent the director's vision for an entire movie.
The director commented on his plans for his Justice League sequel in the Knightmare world that would've been an “alternate-future movie” featuring a “ragtag group of Justice League members.” Snyder's sequel would have featured the group trying to steal a Mother Box to “power the cosmic treadmill to jump Flash back in time” so he could “warn Bruce to save Lois:”
“So basically in the alternate-future movie, we would have been in this post-Superman, Anti-Life Equation world, where the team knew that the only way to fix the world was to run Flash back and warn Bruce to save Lois. And so in that world, the movie was basically going to be about a ragtag group of Justice League members pulling off a crazy mission to steal a Mother Box from this half-destroyed cathedral in Gotham and get it back to the Batcave in order to use it to power the cosmic treadmill to jump Flash back in time.”
On the “night before the big mission,” the Justice League “would have this last supper sort of reckoning” in which they would share stories, including Joker recounting Robin's DCEU death:
“And the night before the big mission, they would have this last supper sort of reckoning, where they would all tell their stories. One of those stories was Joker telling the story of the death of Robin.”
Throughout the movie, Superman would serve as a villain, who “kills everybody” by the end, except Flash who “jumps through time just to escape him:”
“And Superman, by the way, in the end, he like kills everybody. Except for Flash. Makes it just through. Jumps through time just to escape him. And there was always a fun thing that we were doing where I had this concept for time travel, where the earth has to be in relatively the same position in space. So you could only jump like once a year, or you would jump into space.”
The DC director went on to explain the plans for the third movie to “be about after they rescue him or after they send Flash back in time.” The concluding installment of the trilogy saw Batman sacrifice himself “as we go into the third movie,” and went on to show “the battle between Darkseid and the defenders of Earth:”
“This was the direct sequel. Then the third movie was going to be about after they rescue him or after they send Flash back in time. And then Batman sacrifices himself. That would be as we go into the third movie. And the third movie would have been about the battle between Darkseid and the defenders of Earth.”
A DC FUTURE THAT WILL NEVER BE...PROBABLY
The more Snyder reveals about his planned sequels to Justice League , the more calls to “Restore the Snyder Verse” continue to spread across social media. The director's plans for his DC universe seem to showcase a unique storyline, unlike any other comic book story that has been put to screen.
Batman V Superman set the stage to finally explore Joker's murder of Robin in the DCEU , hardcore fans have been waiting to see the Death of Robin adapted into live-action for many years now. However, Snyder was set to take a different angle with the story as Dick Grayson would've been the deceased Boy of Wonder, not Jason Todd as usual .
The post-apocalyptic storyline would've linked back nicely to the Flash's debut in Batman V Superman , taking the character full circle. Additionally, plans for Batman to sacrifice himself early in the third film makes a lot of sense , much like Iron Man's sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame . By this point, Affleck would've appeared in four team-up films as well as several solo films meaning it isn't surprising he'd want out by then.
Zack Snyder's Justice League is streaming now, exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S.
