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Silas tells his son to be greater with his newfound abilities. Bruce, Diana, and Alfred find a building where they plan to establish the Hall of Justice. Arthur still chooses to stay away from Atlantis, to Mera's dismay.
I think it's pretty great either way, it is probably all fake and part of his mothers and his delusions. But if he really is the son of Thomas and brother to Bruce, that would make for a hell of a twist.
- Overview
- Zack Snyder’s Justice League epilogue: the new Knightmare sequence explained
- Why is Jared Leto’s Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League?
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By Tom Power
published 18 March 2021
A glimpse into a future we’ll never see
(Image credit: HBO Max)
Spoilers follow for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
This is your final spoiler warning. Don’t keep scrolling if you haven’t completed the movie yet.
As we mentioned, there are two major additions that hint at what Snyder’s two Justice League sequels would have covered.
The first one is an extension of Bruce Wayne’s nightmare from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. To briefly recap that movie’s sequence, known officially as the Knightmare, Batman is one of the last heroes standing in a post-apocalyptic Earth. During a scouting mission, he is overwhelmed by Parademons - Darkseid’s winged-but-soulless army - and taken into custody. There, Batman is confronted by a seemingly evil Superman. After a brief interrogation, it’s strongly suggested that Superman kills Batman by crushing his heart.
Justice League’s Knightmare sequence, then, appears to take place before those events. Moments after we see Lex Luthor and Deathstroke converse on the former’s yacht - an incident that occurs during the present day in the real world - the movie abruptly transitions to the barren, scorched Earth we saw in Batman v Superman. A Parademon scout patrol flies overhead and, after they move on, Batman emerges from behind a destroyed vehicle.
He comes out of hiding, but he isn’t alone. Cyborg reveals himself from underneath a cloak and, even more surprisingly, Queen Mera and Deathstroke are along for the ride. As a Batman adversary, it might be strange to see Slade Wilson working with the Caped Crusader. Given that Darkseid has taken control of the planet, though, these two foes have evidently put their differences aside for the greater good.
Deathstroke isn’t the only individual from Batman’s rogues gallery in attendance either. After The Flash reveals himself and Mera mentions that someone will pay for killing Aquaman, the Dark Knight’s most iconic foe pipes up. Yep, it’s Joker - and it’s Jared Leto’s version to boot. We knew that Leto would reprise his role as the Clown Prince of Crime in the Snyder Cut, with Justice League’s teaser trailer hinting that this is where he would appear.
A comment that Leto’s Joker makes might hold the answers to this conundrum. During the pair’s vitriolic conversation, Joker asks Batman how many alternate timelines he’ll destroy before he decides to die. It might be seen as a throwaway line, but it may explain how Leto’s Joker is here, and how the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) factors into this.
In 2016 flick Suicide Squad, Ben Affleck’s Batman makes a brief cameo in a mid-credits scene - and briefly appeared in action sequences set earlier in the movie. This confirmed that Snyder’s movies and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad exist in the same universe, which is how Snyder was able to utilize Leto’s Joker in his Justice League cut. Back then, there was evidently a plan to connect the films together.
How, then, does the ‘alternate timelines’ comment factor in? Well, rather than follow Marvel’s blueprint that allows every hero and villain to exist in the same cinematic universe, DC and Warner Bros. went in a different direction in 2017.
By de-emphasizing their shared universe, Warner Bros. elected for the DCEU - a model that allows filmmakers to reboot DC characters without retconning or destroying those versions that have come before. It’s why we’re getting a new Batman movie, which stars Robert Pattinson instead of Ben Affleck, and a new Suicide Squad movie that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is a part of.
If Affleck’s Batman somehow found a way to travel across the DCEU, he may have tried to persuade - or save - a different Lois Lane in order to prevent Darkseid’s eventual conquest of Earth and stop Superman turning evil in the wake of her death. If he’s failed multiple times with this plan, Joker’s comment may make more sense.
This is something that could be explored in The Flash’s upcoming solo movie, too. Affleck is reprising his role in Barry Allen’s standalone flick, which will incorporate elements of the speedster’s Flashpoint comic arc into its plot. If that’s still the case, The Flash movie should tie various elements of the DCEU together, including the Batman films starring Michael Keaton, who is also expected to return as the Dark Knight.
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