Justice League MOVIE Discussion (The SynderCut Drops 3/18/2021)
- Thread starter fonzerrillii
- Start date
I much prefer how women were done in this movie as opposed to that woman hear me roar bullshit from Endgame. The Amazons got down in this movie without overdoing it like say Captain Marvel and some of the other ways Marvel portrays so called strong women in their movies.
Like the big rescue scene is fucking completely different now....... It has the same beats but you can tell the new scenes ... Why was this shit cut out.
It seems way more serious now.... Everyone is contributing...
Like Flash is fucking night and day ..... Even his big Oops I tripped scene feels more like a "I'm a badass but even bad asses slip up" vs the "Oy Vey... I'm a clumsy superhero... I don't have confidence... but I'm going to come through at the end... Just you wait... Foreshadowing"
Like I can watch a movie starring this guy now .... This flash is more like the CW's Barry Allen.
It seems way more serious now.... Everyone is contributing...
Like Flash is fucking night and day ..... Even his big Oops I tripped scene feels more like a "I'm a badass but even bad asses slip up" vs the "Oy Vey... I'm a clumsy superhero... I don't have confidence... but I'm going to come through at the end... Just you wait... Foreshadowing"
Like I can watch a movie starring this guy now .... This flash is more like the CW's Barry Allen.
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I was wrong... this could have definitely be split into two movies..
I would have ended Part 1 ... at 2 hr and 8 minute mark
Start Part 2... Right after the scene with Cyborg saying "He doesn't have it.. I do"
I would have ended Part 1 ... at 2 hr and 8 minute mark
Start Part 2... Right after the scene with Cyborg saying "He doesn't have it.. I do"
I don't know if Cyborg could work in his own movie.... but I would like to see more of Cyborg...
I would have liked to see him in the new Flash movie.
I would have liked to see him in the new Flash movie.
OK I finished the Snyder Cut today.
The movie is way too long it really doesn't need to be 4 hours. DC should of had individual movies for the characters first.
Snyder did a much better job with Flash than Wheedon did. In the original they made Flash way too nerdy. In the Snyder version he was much more normal. Still a bit awkward but not over the top.
Also the fight scenes were much better. The blood didn't really add anything but if you watch in the beginning when WW stops the terrorists Snyder did a much better job of showing how fast she is blocking the bullets. It made the scene much better.
The movie is way too long it really doesn't need to be 4 hours. DC should of had individual movies for the characters first.
Snyder did a much better job with Flash than Wheedon did. In the original they made Flash way too nerdy. In the Snyder version he was much more normal. Still a bit awkward but not over the top.
Also the fight scenes were much better. The blood didn't really add anything but if you watch in the beginning when WW stops the terrorists Snyder did a much better job of showing how fast she is blocking the bullets. It made the scene much better.
I was just saying that this is a MUCH BETTER version of Flash. Still awkward but not to the point he's useless.
Exactly. It's not about mother. Dude is like yeah I fucked up but I'm doing my job and found some extra shit......can I come home.
So I disagree with his father dying. I think they could of still showed them reconciling without the Black father having to die and leaving Cyborg fatherless.
I really need someone to explain why Cyborg was completely evaporated from the Movie version of Justice League and not just him.... All the actors that were paid to be in scenes that were completely Thanos snapped from existence ...
All I can say is racism. Can’t have the Black man be more important than Superman. Any other excuse I can’t fathom.
They need to release the fucking wide screen edition. This box cut is garbage.
THE SNYDER CUT 10:00 A.M.
How Does the Snyder Cut Differ From Joss Whedon’s Justice League?
By James Grebey
Photo: HBO Max
Now that the Snyder cut has finally — and, by all accounts, improbably! —been released, the world at last can see what director Zack Snyder’s original vision for Justice League would have become had he not left the film after a family tragedy, thereby allowing Warner Bros. to invite Joss Whedon to take the 2017 film over the finish line. In a way, the newly released cut is even more true to Snyder’s vision than it would have been had he overseen the original film to completion, because there’s no possible way he would have been allowed to release a four-hour movie into theaters. But a four-hour film streaming on HBO Max in the middle of a pandemic? Well, that’s an average binge, right there!
As of today, we can all see exactly what was cut from Snyder’s version of the film as we fully experience just how different Zack Snyder’s Justice League is from the theatrical release. A note upfront: The two versions are fundamentally the same movie. With a few specific exceptions, the plot is identical; Batman and Wonder Woman need to recruit the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg to stop the invading alien conqueror Steppenwolf from uniting three Mother Boxes that would allow him to lay waste to Earth. In the process, they bring Superman, who died in a fight with Doomsday in Batman v Superman, back from the dead. There’s a final showdown in a Chernobyl-like former Soviet Bloc setting, and (spoilers ahead) the day is saved.
One Great Story
The one story you shouldn’t miss, selected by New York editors
Although both versions share the same broad plot brushstrokes, quite a few differences and additional scenes in Zack Snyder’s Justice League add some much-needed context. And since the Snyder cut is literally twice as long as the theatrical version, all those lesser changes and new additions add up to a lot. Given the disparity in length, a minute-by-minute comparison of the two is pretty pointless, though I’m sure some brave fool with a stopwatch will do it. Instead, here’s a rundown of all the substantial ways Zack Snyder’s Justice League is different from the theatrical Justice League.
This story contains full spoilers for both Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
New Beginnings
The theatrical Justice League opens with a horizontally shot cell-phone video of Superman (prior to his death) talking to some kids who want to make a podcast. It’s a moment that was probably added to help endear audiences to Superman since he’s dead and MIA for half the movie. It’s cute but perhaps too cute, and Henry Cavill’s digitally erased mustache is … a problem. The next scene is a showdown between Batman and a Parademon across the Gotham skyline.
Neither scene appears in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Instead, this cut opens with extremely Snyder-core slow-motion footage of the ending of Batman v Superman’s final fight, with Superman crying out as he dies defeating Doomsday. The echoes of his death wails travel across the globe, awakening the first Mother Box and giving viewers early glimpses of the other heroes we’ll soon meet.
New Score, Great Results
Zack Snyder’s Justice League simply sounds different. Composer Tom Holkenborg (a.k.a. Junkie XL) was originally responsible for the score, but when Snyder left and Whedon came on, Holkenborg’s score was dropped in favor of a new one by Danny Elfman. Holkenborg came back to score Zack Snyder’s Justice League, though the music you’ll hear is not what would have appeared in the film as originally planned. Holkenborg threw out his old score and started from scratch for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. We love commitment!
Snyder Cuts Whedon’s Quips
This is a more sweeping change but one you’ll really feel if you compare the two movies. Whedon, who, prior to a recent wave of allegations of harassment on the Buffy and Justice League sets, was celebrated for his nerdy genre stylings, was basically brought on to finish Justice League and make it more like Marvel’s ultrasuccessful Avengers, which he had directed. You can see a lot of this tension in the theatrical release as Whedon’s lighthearted quips contrast with Snyder’s darker and edgier (yet totally sincere) stylings.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League reportedly doesn’t use a single frame of anything Whedon shot, so as a result, all the Whedonesque quirks and oddities are gone. For instance, during Batman and Aquaman’s first meeting in both versions, Aquaman says, “‘Strong man is strongest alone.’ You ever heard of that?” In the theatrical release, Batman responds, “That’s not a saying. That’s the opposite of what the saying is.” Zach Snyder’s Justice League does away with that little quip, and instead Bats moves on with a sincere observation that he had died fighting alongside Superman. (Granted, it’s unclear whether Batman’s quip can be wholly attributed to Whedon, but its absence from the Snyder cut is indicative of the generally less self-aware and cutely clever vibe of the film, regardless.)
On the whole, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is much lighter on banter, replacing jokes and bits with more straightforward interactions that benefit from the expanded runtime’s ability to really develop the characters. It’s more effective for the most part — plus the Snyder cut doesn’t feature a much-criticized moment from the original in which Aquaman straight-up ogles Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman.
Much More Cyborg, the Flash, and Aquaman
A lot of Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s two additional hours of runtime go toward making Aquaman, the Flash, and, especially, Cyborg more well-rounded characters. Aquaman has a visit with Vulko (Willem Dafoe), the chief counselor to the Throne of Atlantis and Aquaman’s secret teacher growing up. Had this scene not been cut from the theatrical version, it would have been Vulko’s film debut, ahead of his appearance in Aquaman, which came out after Justice League. It explains Aquaman’s complicated relationship with the Atlanteans and, really, what his whole deal is as a character, but the additional scenes in Zack Snyder’s Justice League make him more complete going by just this movie alone.
The Flash gets more screen time too, notably in another scene cut from the theatrical release, in which he saves the life of his eventual love interest, Iris West, played by Kiersey Clemons. The Flash’s various ticks and self-doubt are toned down, making him an easier screen presence in this version than in the original. He has an expanded role in the climax as well, though we’ll get to that in more detail later.
Please Welcome to the Stage … Darkseid
Steppenwolf, the villain in Justice League, isn’t actually that big of a deal in the comics because he’s really a lackey for his nephew Darkseid, the New God who rules the hellish planet Apokolips. A creation of the comics legend Jack Kirby as part of his Fourth World Saga, Darkseid is the ultimate embodiment of evil. He’s a supremely powerful being who wants to conquer worlds and find the Anti-Life Equation, a mythical formula that allows those who know it to dominate the will of any sentient beings they come across.
Although the theatrical release’s Steppenwolf makes subtle references to “New Gods,” the Snyder Cut makes it clear that he’s working on behalf of Darkseid. Played by Ray Porter, Darkseid appears in the flashback to the battle for Earth 2,000 years ago — which is a notable change in itself, as it’s Steppenwolf, not Darkseid, who fights the men, Atlanteans, and Amazonians in the theatrical release.
Darkseid also appears in the Snyder cut in molten form to speak with Steppenwolf, as does Desaad (Peter Guinness), Darkseid’s master torturer and adviser. We get two other glimpses of Darkseid in visions of a dystopian future and at the end, when we see him in the flesh via the portal the Mother Boxes have opened up. All thing considered, he’s not in the movie that much, but his presence makes Steppenwolf (who, it should be noted, has been redesigned for the Snyder cut) a more engaging villain because we know he’s really just the desperate herald of a greater evil, rather than a simple, uninspired alien conqueror.
Parademons Don’t Smell Fear
There’s a through line in the theatrical release that the Parademons — Steppenwolf’s flying goons — can smell fear and are drawn to it. This, apparently, was a Whedon invention. The Snyder cut’s Parademons don’t seem to care about fear one way or another, which means they don’t ultimately turn on a scaredy-cat Steppenwolf in the big finale.
New Characters Make the Cut
Iris West and Vulko aren’t the only characters new to the Snyder cut. Chinese actor Zheng Kai plays Ryan Choi, a scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs alongside Silas Stone, Cyborg’s father. He’s identified as the director of nanotechnology, which is a fun little Easter egg because the character eventually goes on to become the shrinking superhero the Atom in the comics.
More consequential — and somewhat more baffling, if you think about it too hard — is the Snyder cut’s reveal that Secretary of Defense Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix), a somewhat major character from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, has actually been the superhero Martian Manhunter this whole time. Martian Manhunter is one of the original seven founding members of the Justice League in the comics’ continuity, making his presence in Zack Snyder’s Justice League kind of a big deal. However, he doesn’t see too much action. He first reveals himself in a scene when it’s revealed that it was actually he, not Martha Kent (Diane Lane), who was visiting Lois Lane. He appears again at the very end of the film when he introduces himself to Batman.
Cyborg’s Dad Bites It
One of the clearest differences between the theatrical release and the Snyder cut is that the former ends with Cyborg and his dad, Silas, making up and bonding while Cyborg adopts a glossy new look and C-shaped logo. In the latter, Silas dies in a pretty graphic way, sacrificing himself in order to superheat the final Mother Box so the League can track Steppenwolf’s location. It’s certainly much more in line with Snyder’s oeuvre, but it makes Cyborg’s character journey feel much more authentic and realized than the happier, brighter ending of the theatrical version.
The Superman Differences Go Beyond Just a Mustache
One of the most infamous parts of the original Justice League is Henry Cavill’s upper lip. The actor was shooting Mission: Impossible — Fallout when it came time to film Justice League’s (substantial) reshoots with Whedon as director. Problem was, Cavill had grown a mustache for the other role, and Paramount Pictures, the studio behind Fallout, wasn’t about to pause filming its movie for the months it would take for Cavill to shoot Justice League and regrow the stache. Instead, Whedon filmed scenes with a mustachioed Superman and then digitally erased the hair. The result is a Man of Steel with a very conspicuously weird upper lip.
With the exception of his initial fight with the League after he’s brought back from the dead (a scene that, in both versions, includes the very fun moment when the Flash realizes Superman is almost as fast as he is), most of the sequences involving Superman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League are new. His role in the climax — which we’ll get to in a moment, I promise — is much cooler and less corny. Superman changes clothes for the Snyder cut, too. He wears a black version of his suit, a nod to the outfit he wore in the comics when he came back to life in the early 1990s after the iconic “Death of Superman” story line.
A Radically Altered Climactic Battle
Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s big final battle is quite different from the theatrical release’s. It’s still a battle between the League and Steppenwolf, who are fighting in an abandoned Russian town in a desperate attempt to prevent the three Mother Boxes from forming the Unity and causing the end of the world as we know it. Aside from those broad strokes, however, this grand action sequence feels essentially all new. The entire battle isn’t tinted red, an aesthetic choice that was presumably a nod to the red skies in DC Comics’ various Earth-changing “Crises” over the years but that in practice just made the end of the theatrical release bad to look at. Zack Snyder’s Justice League also completely omits the subplot from the theatrical release in which the heroes — especially the Flash and Superman — need to save civilians from the battle, including a family living in the shadow of Steppenwolf’s headquarters, which the original film keeps cutting to. This is a good change! The fate of the world is explicitly at stake! We don’t need to keep cutting to a vulnerable child in need of saving in order for audiences to be invested in what’s happening.
Superman’s entrance, and indeed his whole role in the fight, is different. In the theatrical release, Superman enters by appearing behind Steppenwolf after the villain has ripped off Cyborg’s leg, quipping, “I believe in truth, but I’m also a big fan of Justice.” In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Superman simply appears in his black suit to effortlessly shrug off Steppenwolf’s ax strike before proceeding to kick his ass.
Then, in the theatrical version, Superman saves the day by helping Cyborg pull the Mother Boxes apart before they unify, and the two have a little laugh after they both survive the subsequent explosion. That’s not how things go in the Snyder cut. Here, Steppenwolf is successful in uniting the Mother Boxes, and he opens up a portal to Apokolips, setting the stage for Darkseid to conquer Earth and obtain the Anti-Life Equation. However, the Flash runs so fast he’s able to go back in time just enough to prevent the worst from happening, and Superman helps Cyborg separate the boxes in time for Wonder Woman to cut off Steppenwolf’s head and send his corpse hurtling through the rapidly closing portal.
A New “Knightmare”
The theatrical version of Justice League features a scene in which Batman has a vision of a dark future. Wearing a cool trench coat and goggles, he travels through a world that has seemingly been overtaken by Parademons only to encounter Superman, who is apparently evil. This sequence, which occurs much earlier in the original movie than in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where it’s the final scene, is a remnant of some presumably very defunct plans to make Justice League a two-parter. Batman’s “Knightmare,” as the vision is called, sets up a possible Justice League sequel in which Darkseid has won.
The Knightmare in Zack Snyder’s Justice League is almost entirely different (it’s reportedly the only newly shot footage in the whole movie) and even more overtly sets up a sequel that won’t happen. Superman is evil, presumably because Lois Lane has died and Darkseid was able to draw the Man of Steel under his influence as a result. Batman, the Flash (looking as he did in his brief Batman v Superman cameo), Mera, Deathstroke, and, yes, Jared Leto’s Joker, have apparently formed an alliance in an attempt to save the day. It seems doubtful that we’ll ever see a feature-length version of this dark future, so the Snyder cut’s Knightmare will have to suffice for now. That said … it seemed doubtful that we would ever see the Snyder cut itself, and having achieved that goal, the people who championed the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag could easily move on to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse. Who knows what dark power fandom has in this brave new world of entertainment?
No Post-Credit Scenes!
Instead of post-credits scenes, Zack Snyder’s Justice League has a pre-credits epilogue that runs just over 30 minutes. One scene in it, Deathstroke’s meeting with Lex Luthor, is a post-credits scene in the theatrical release. It plays out mostly the same way, except Luthor teases Deathstroke with information about Batman’s secret identity, rather than hinting at the formation of an Injustice League. The Knightmare vision and Batman’s subsequent meeting with the Martian Manhunter constitute what would normally be a post-credits scene in this sort of superhero blockbuster. (The theatrical release’s other post-credits scene, a race between Superman and the Flash, isn’t in the Snyder Cut at all.)
It’s Rated R
Oh yeah, the Snyder cut is rated R! Hell, yeah! There are more blood and violence, Cyborg says “fuck,” and the Joker makes a crack about giving Batman reach-arounds. Biff! Pow! Comics aren’t just for kids anymore!
How Does the Snyder Cut Differ From Joss Whedon’s Justice League?
By James Grebey
Photo: HBO Max
Now that the Snyder cut has finally — and, by all accounts, improbably! —been released, the world at last can see what director Zack Snyder’s original vision for Justice League would have become had he not left the film after a family tragedy, thereby allowing Warner Bros. to invite Joss Whedon to take the 2017 film over the finish line. In a way, the newly released cut is even more true to Snyder’s vision than it would have been had he overseen the original film to completion, because there’s no possible way he would have been allowed to release a four-hour movie into theaters. But a four-hour film streaming on HBO Max in the middle of a pandemic? Well, that’s an average binge, right there!
As of today, we can all see exactly what was cut from Snyder’s version of the film as we fully experience just how different Zack Snyder’s Justice League is from the theatrical release. A note upfront: The two versions are fundamentally the same movie. With a few specific exceptions, the plot is identical; Batman and Wonder Woman need to recruit the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg to stop the invading alien conqueror Steppenwolf from uniting three Mother Boxes that would allow him to lay waste to Earth. In the process, they bring Superman, who died in a fight with Doomsday in Batman v Superman, back from the dead. There’s a final showdown in a Chernobyl-like former Soviet Bloc setting, and (spoilers ahead) the day is saved.
One Great Story
The one story you shouldn’t miss, selected by New York editors
Although both versions share the same broad plot brushstrokes, quite a few differences and additional scenes in Zack Snyder’s Justice League add some much-needed context. And since the Snyder cut is literally twice as long as the theatrical version, all those lesser changes and new additions add up to a lot. Given the disparity in length, a minute-by-minute comparison of the two is pretty pointless, though I’m sure some brave fool with a stopwatch will do it. Instead, here’s a rundown of all the substantial ways Zack Snyder’s Justice League is different from the theatrical Justice League.
This story contains full spoilers for both Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
New Beginnings
The theatrical Justice League opens with a horizontally shot cell-phone video of Superman (prior to his death) talking to some kids who want to make a podcast. It’s a moment that was probably added to help endear audiences to Superman since he’s dead and MIA for half the movie. It’s cute but perhaps too cute, and Henry Cavill’s digitally erased mustache is … a problem. The next scene is a showdown between Batman and a Parademon across the Gotham skyline.
Neither scene appears in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Instead, this cut opens with extremely Snyder-core slow-motion footage of the ending of Batman v Superman’s final fight, with Superman crying out as he dies defeating Doomsday. The echoes of his death wails travel across the globe, awakening the first Mother Box and giving viewers early glimpses of the other heroes we’ll soon meet.
New Score, Great Results
Zack Snyder’s Justice League simply sounds different. Composer Tom Holkenborg (a.k.a. Junkie XL) was originally responsible for the score, but when Snyder left and Whedon came on, Holkenborg’s score was dropped in favor of a new one by Danny Elfman. Holkenborg came back to score Zack Snyder’s Justice League, though the music you’ll hear is not what would have appeared in the film as originally planned. Holkenborg threw out his old score and started from scratch for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. We love commitment!
Snyder Cuts Whedon’s Quips
This is a more sweeping change but one you’ll really feel if you compare the two movies. Whedon, who, prior to a recent wave of allegations of harassment on the Buffy and Justice League sets, was celebrated for his nerdy genre stylings, was basically brought on to finish Justice League and make it more like Marvel’s ultrasuccessful Avengers, which he had directed. You can see a lot of this tension in the theatrical release as Whedon’s lighthearted quips contrast with Snyder’s darker and edgier (yet totally sincere) stylings.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League reportedly doesn’t use a single frame of anything Whedon shot, so as a result, all the Whedonesque quirks and oddities are gone. For instance, during Batman and Aquaman’s first meeting in both versions, Aquaman says, “‘Strong man is strongest alone.’ You ever heard of that?” In the theatrical release, Batman responds, “That’s not a saying. That’s the opposite of what the saying is.” Zach Snyder’s Justice League does away with that little quip, and instead Bats moves on with a sincere observation that he had died fighting alongside Superman. (Granted, it’s unclear whether Batman’s quip can be wholly attributed to Whedon, but its absence from the Snyder cut is indicative of the generally less self-aware and cutely clever vibe of the film, regardless.)
On the whole, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is much lighter on banter, replacing jokes and bits with more straightforward interactions that benefit from the expanded runtime’s ability to really develop the characters. It’s more effective for the most part — plus the Snyder cut doesn’t feature a much-criticized moment from the original in which Aquaman straight-up ogles Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman.
Much More Cyborg, the Flash, and Aquaman
A lot of Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s two additional hours of runtime go toward making Aquaman, the Flash, and, especially, Cyborg more well-rounded characters. Aquaman has a visit with Vulko (Willem Dafoe), the chief counselor to the Throne of Atlantis and Aquaman’s secret teacher growing up. Had this scene not been cut from the theatrical version, it would have been Vulko’s film debut, ahead of his appearance in Aquaman, which came out after Justice League. It explains Aquaman’s complicated relationship with the Atlanteans and, really, what his whole deal is as a character, but the additional scenes in Zack Snyder’s Justice League make him more complete going by just this movie alone.
The Flash gets more screen time too, notably in another scene cut from the theatrical release, in which he saves the life of his eventual love interest, Iris West, played by Kiersey Clemons. The Flash’s various ticks and self-doubt are toned down, making him an easier screen presence in this version than in the original. He has an expanded role in the climax as well, though we’ll get to that in more detail later.
Please Welcome to the Stage … Darkseid
Steppenwolf, the villain in Justice League, isn’t actually that big of a deal in the comics because he’s really a lackey for his nephew Darkseid, the New God who rules the hellish planet Apokolips. A creation of the comics legend Jack Kirby as part of his Fourth World Saga, Darkseid is the ultimate embodiment of evil. He’s a supremely powerful being who wants to conquer worlds and find the Anti-Life Equation, a mythical formula that allows those who know it to dominate the will of any sentient beings they come across.
Although the theatrical release’s Steppenwolf makes subtle references to “New Gods,” the Snyder Cut makes it clear that he’s working on behalf of Darkseid. Played by Ray Porter, Darkseid appears in the flashback to the battle for Earth 2,000 years ago — which is a notable change in itself, as it’s Steppenwolf, not Darkseid, who fights the men, Atlanteans, and Amazonians in the theatrical release.
Darkseid also appears in the Snyder cut in molten form to speak with Steppenwolf, as does Desaad (Peter Guinness), Darkseid’s master torturer and adviser. We get two other glimpses of Darkseid in visions of a dystopian future and at the end, when we see him in the flesh via the portal the Mother Boxes have opened up. All thing considered, he’s not in the movie that much, but his presence makes Steppenwolf (who, it should be noted, has been redesigned for the Snyder cut) a more engaging villain because we know he’s really just the desperate herald of a greater evil, rather than a simple, uninspired alien conqueror.
Parademons Don’t Smell Fear
There’s a through line in the theatrical release that the Parademons — Steppenwolf’s flying goons — can smell fear and are drawn to it. This, apparently, was a Whedon invention. The Snyder cut’s Parademons don’t seem to care about fear one way or another, which means they don’t ultimately turn on a scaredy-cat Steppenwolf in the big finale.
New Characters Make the Cut
Iris West and Vulko aren’t the only characters new to the Snyder cut. Chinese actor Zheng Kai plays Ryan Choi, a scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs alongside Silas Stone, Cyborg’s father. He’s identified as the director of nanotechnology, which is a fun little Easter egg because the character eventually goes on to become the shrinking superhero the Atom in the comics.
More consequential — and somewhat more baffling, if you think about it too hard — is the Snyder cut’s reveal that Secretary of Defense Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix), a somewhat major character from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, has actually been the superhero Martian Manhunter this whole time. Martian Manhunter is one of the original seven founding members of the Justice League in the comics’ continuity, making his presence in Zack Snyder’s Justice League kind of a big deal. However, he doesn’t see too much action. He first reveals himself in a scene when it’s revealed that it was actually he, not Martha Kent (Diane Lane), who was visiting Lois Lane. He appears again at the very end of the film when he introduces himself to Batman.
Cyborg’s Dad Bites It
One of the clearest differences between the theatrical release and the Snyder cut is that the former ends with Cyborg and his dad, Silas, making up and bonding while Cyborg adopts a glossy new look and C-shaped logo. In the latter, Silas dies in a pretty graphic way, sacrificing himself in order to superheat the final Mother Box so the League can track Steppenwolf’s location. It’s certainly much more in line with Snyder’s oeuvre, but it makes Cyborg’s character journey feel much more authentic and realized than the happier, brighter ending of the theatrical version.
The Superman Differences Go Beyond Just a Mustache
One of the most infamous parts of the original Justice League is Henry Cavill’s upper lip. The actor was shooting Mission: Impossible — Fallout when it came time to film Justice League’s (substantial) reshoots with Whedon as director. Problem was, Cavill had grown a mustache for the other role, and Paramount Pictures, the studio behind Fallout, wasn’t about to pause filming its movie for the months it would take for Cavill to shoot Justice League and regrow the stache. Instead, Whedon filmed scenes with a mustachioed Superman and then digitally erased the hair. The result is a Man of Steel with a very conspicuously weird upper lip.
With the exception of his initial fight with the League after he’s brought back from the dead (a scene that, in both versions, includes the very fun moment when the Flash realizes Superman is almost as fast as he is), most of the sequences involving Superman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League are new. His role in the climax — which we’ll get to in a moment, I promise — is much cooler and less corny. Superman changes clothes for the Snyder cut, too. He wears a black version of his suit, a nod to the outfit he wore in the comics when he came back to life in the early 1990s after the iconic “Death of Superman” story line.
A Radically Altered Climactic Battle
Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s big final battle is quite different from the theatrical release’s. It’s still a battle between the League and Steppenwolf, who are fighting in an abandoned Russian town in a desperate attempt to prevent the three Mother Boxes from forming the Unity and causing the end of the world as we know it. Aside from those broad strokes, however, this grand action sequence feels essentially all new. The entire battle isn’t tinted red, an aesthetic choice that was presumably a nod to the red skies in DC Comics’ various Earth-changing “Crises” over the years but that in practice just made the end of the theatrical release bad to look at. Zack Snyder’s Justice League also completely omits the subplot from the theatrical release in which the heroes — especially the Flash and Superman — need to save civilians from the battle, including a family living in the shadow of Steppenwolf’s headquarters, which the original film keeps cutting to. This is a good change! The fate of the world is explicitly at stake! We don’t need to keep cutting to a vulnerable child in need of saving in order for audiences to be invested in what’s happening.
Superman’s entrance, and indeed his whole role in the fight, is different. In the theatrical release, Superman enters by appearing behind Steppenwolf after the villain has ripped off Cyborg’s leg, quipping, “I believe in truth, but I’m also a big fan of Justice.” In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Superman simply appears in his black suit to effortlessly shrug off Steppenwolf’s ax strike before proceeding to kick his ass.
Then, in the theatrical version, Superman saves the day by helping Cyborg pull the Mother Boxes apart before they unify, and the two have a little laugh after they both survive the subsequent explosion. That’s not how things go in the Snyder cut. Here, Steppenwolf is successful in uniting the Mother Boxes, and he opens up a portal to Apokolips, setting the stage for Darkseid to conquer Earth and obtain the Anti-Life Equation. However, the Flash runs so fast he’s able to go back in time just enough to prevent the worst from happening, and Superman helps Cyborg separate the boxes in time for Wonder Woman to cut off Steppenwolf’s head and send his corpse hurtling through the rapidly closing portal.
A New “Knightmare”
The theatrical version of Justice League features a scene in which Batman has a vision of a dark future. Wearing a cool trench coat and goggles, he travels through a world that has seemingly been overtaken by Parademons only to encounter Superman, who is apparently evil. This sequence, which occurs much earlier in the original movie than in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where it’s the final scene, is a remnant of some presumably very defunct plans to make Justice League a two-parter. Batman’s “Knightmare,” as the vision is called, sets up a possible Justice League sequel in which Darkseid has won.
The Knightmare in Zack Snyder’s Justice League is almost entirely different (it’s reportedly the only newly shot footage in the whole movie) and even more overtly sets up a sequel that won’t happen. Superman is evil, presumably because Lois Lane has died and Darkseid was able to draw the Man of Steel under his influence as a result. Batman, the Flash (looking as he did in his brief Batman v Superman cameo), Mera, Deathstroke, and, yes, Jared Leto’s Joker, have apparently formed an alliance in an attempt to save the day. It seems doubtful that we’ll ever see a feature-length version of this dark future, so the Snyder cut’s Knightmare will have to suffice for now. That said … it seemed doubtful that we would ever see the Snyder cut itself, and having achieved that goal, the people who championed the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag could easily move on to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse. Who knows what dark power fandom has in this brave new world of entertainment?
No Post-Credit Scenes!
Instead of post-credits scenes, Zack Snyder’s Justice League has a pre-credits epilogue that runs just over 30 minutes. One scene in it, Deathstroke’s meeting with Lex Luthor, is a post-credits scene in the theatrical release. It plays out mostly the same way, except Luthor teases Deathstroke with information about Batman’s secret identity, rather than hinting at the formation of an Injustice League. The Knightmare vision and Batman’s subsequent meeting with the Martian Manhunter constitute what would normally be a post-credits scene in this sort of superhero blockbuster. (The theatrical release’s other post-credits scene, a race between Superman and the Flash, isn’t in the Snyder Cut at all.)
It’s Rated R
Oh yeah, the Snyder cut is rated R! Hell, yeah! There are more blood and violence, Cyborg says “fuck,” and the Joker makes a crack about giving Batman reach-arounds. Biff! Pow! Comics aren’t just for kids anymore!
Every Single Easter Egg in Zack Snyder’s Justice League
By James Grebey
Photo: HBO Max
We’re now living in a post-Snyder Cut — known properly on HBO Max as Zack Snyder’s Justice League — world, a development in film that is no doubt still surprising to some fans. That the four-hour film is actually pretty entertaining (if flawed) might be even more surprising still. What shouldn’t come as a surprise is that Zack Snyder’s Justice League is stuffed with plenty of fun, geeky Easter eggs for fans willing to embark on this behemoth of a movie.
Seeing as Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an alternate, expanded version of the original (critically panned) Justice League that premiered in theaters four years ago — albeit one that’s literally twice as long — there are many Easter eggs and references that fans already spotted when the movie first came out. We’re including those returning instances in this roundup and identifying anything that’s exclusive to Zack Snyder’s Justice League with a “new” label to help you distinguish. Some of the following Easter eggs are subtle allusions to deep cuts of comic lore, while others are fairly major characters or obvious plot points. We’re including pretty much everything and providing background context to boot, because that feels very true to the spirit of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
(Just as Batman alone wasn’t enough to stop Steppenwolf, finding every single Easter egg is too much of a task for any one person to do by themselves. We’ll update this list to include Easter eggs that other outlets or eagle-eyed fans on Reddit spotted that we might have overlooked the first time around.)
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The one story you shouldn’t miss, selected by New York editors
Superman’s Black-and-White S on the Tower Bridge
At the end of Batman v Superman, the world mourns the loss of Superman following his gruesome death at Doomsday’s hands (seen in glorious slow motion at the start of Zack Snyder’s Justice League). A banner with a white Superman S on a black background hangs on London’s Tower Bridge, a nod to Superman’s famous black suit that he wore after he came back to life in the comics. (The black suit itself appears later in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, as Superman wears it upon his resurrection.)
Statue of Themis
Before stopping the terrorist attack on the bank (comic fans, don’t fret: The Black Clad are DCEU-exclusive and not a group from the comics), Wonder Woman briefly rests on a statue of Themis, a Titan from Greek mythology who represents order and justice. How fitting.
“Daughters of Themyscira … We have no fear!” (NEW)
Before engaging with the movie’s main villain, Steppenwolf, Queen Hippolyta commands her warriors to “show him your fear,” and they chant back “we have no fear!” in unison. Maybe this isn’t quite an Easter egg, but it’s got big 300 vibes, a movie Snyder directed back in 2007 that’s about boasting, badass Greek warriors as well.
Central City
Many of the scenes involving the Flash are set in Central City, the speedster’s comic-book hometown. If Metropolis and Gotham are different flavors of the DC Universe’s New York, then Central City is its Midwestern counterpart, a St. Louis of sorts. A later scene reveals that the town’s paper is the Central City Tribune, the same as in the comics.
Amazonian Formalwear Echoes Diana’s Eagle Armor
The outfit Queen Hippolyta wears while firing the Arrow of Artemis echoes Wonder Woman’s golden-eagle armor, which first appeared in the 1996 comic Kingdom Come and eventually became the outfit Diana wears when things are really getting intense. Wonder Woman 1984 would eventually reveal that, in this canon, the armor belonged to the legendary Amazon Asteria (played by Lynda Carter in 1984’s end-credits scene).
Arrow of Artemis
Artemis was the Greek goddess of the hunt, but there’s another reason why it’s fitting that it’s her arrow that will alert Diana to the coming threat: In Roman mythology, Artemis’s name is Diana.
Ryan Choi, the Atom, Appears (NEW)
Chinese actor Zheng Kai plays Ryan Choi in scenes that were cut from the theatrical release but restored for the Snyder Cut. In the comics, Choi becomes the shrinking superhero known as the Atom. Choi, who first appeared in DCU: Brave New World #1 in 2006, is the fourth person to take on the mantle in the main comics canon (Ray Palmer, the second, is by far the most prominent). Later in the movie, Choi reveals he’s the director of nanotechnology, so while there’s no evidence that he’s currently a superhero in the DCEU, the groundwork has certainly been laid.
The Mother Box Is “Object 6-1982”
The Mother Box that created Cyborg is labeled “Object 6-1982,” which is likely a reference to June 1982, the month that the comic that first revealed his origin story, Tales of the New Teen Titans #1, hit shelves. This Easter egg first appeared at the end of Batman v Superman.
The Cortlandt Sinks
Aquaman rescues a sailor from a sinking boat, named the Cortlandt — possibly a reference to the Cortlandt housing project from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. Snyder has wanted to make a film adaptation of the controversial novel for a while, though development is currently on hold.
Vulko Appears, Played by Willem Dafoe (NEW)
Willem Dafoe’s character from Aquaman, Vulko, appears in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Had his scenes not been cut, this would have been his film debut rather than his initial appearance in Aquaman, which came out the year after Justice League’s theatrical release. Vulko, the chief counselor to the throne of Atlantis and Arthur’s childhood teacher, mentions King Orm and Arthur’s “mother’s trident,” both of which are major parts of Aquaman.
Desaad (NEW)
At several points in the movie, Steppenwolf conferences with a molten visage of a being named Desaad. In the comics, Desaad is a master torturer serving his lord Darkseid (more on him in a second). As played by English actor Peter Guinness, Desaad appears in the Snyder Cut largely as Steppenwolf’s main point of contact with his home world as he attempts to conquer Earth and redeem himself.
“I Once Knew a Man Who Would’ve Loved to Fly It”
While looking at Batman’s experimental plane the Flying Fox, Diana makes an allusion to Steve Trevor, Chris Pine’s character who died in Wonder Woman, and then died again (sort of) in Wonder Woman 1984.
Darkseid appears (NEW)
One of the biggest differences in Zack Snyder’s Justice League is that there’s a new villain, and he’s perhaps the biggest, baddest villain DC has to offer: Darkseid, a creation of the legendary Jack Kirby as part of his Fourth World saga. In the theatrical version, Steppenwolf was essentially the only villain, as there were only oblique mentions that he was working on behalf of a larger, more powerful being. The Snyder Cut makes it clear that Darkseid (played by Ray Porter) is the real power, and Steppenwolf is only his disgraced lackey — his uncle, in fact. It’s Darkseid himself who tried to conquer Earth 2,000 years ago in this version, rather than Steppenwolf as in the theatrical release, and he appears additional times in visions, when Steppenwolf is communicating with him, and briefly in the flesh through the Mother Box portal during the climax.
Darkseid — who, it should be noted, predates Marvel’s Thanos by three years — is a “New God” from the hellish world of Apokolips. His goal is to conquer worlds in search of the Anti-Life equation, a transcendental mathematical formula that allows the being who knows it to utterly dominate any other life-form. The Snyder Cut reveals that the Anti-Life Equation is hidden on Earth. Presumably, the seemingly scrapped Justice League sequel would have followed up on this more.
Green Lantern
During a flashback, we see a member of the Green Lantern Corp — the DC Universe’s “space cops” who wield magical rings as weapons. Traditionally, there’s a Green Lantern on the Justice League (human Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart among them). However, there isn’t a Lantern on the team in the current day in either the theatrical or Snyder versions of the film. Instead, in this flashback from thousands of years beforehand, we see an alien Lantern — possibly Yalan Gur, a Lantern who protected Space Sector 2814 (which includes Earth) some 2,000 years ago.
Greek Gods
Zeus, Artemis, and Aries (before his betrayal as detailed in Wonder Woman) appear in the battle against Darkseid.
Robin Wright
Robin Wright briefly reprises her Wonder Woman role as Antipoe in the flashback to the battle against Darkseid. In an interview with Collider, Wright admitted she’d never seen Justice League and had no idea if she’d even been cut out of the theatrical release, but she was happy that Snyder was able to finish his version of the film regardless.
King Arthur and Sir Bors
The two humans who bury their Mother Box appear to be King Arthur and Sir Bors — figures of myth who have also played various roles in DC Comics canon throughout the years.
Iris West, Played by Kiersey Clemons (NEW)
Kiersey Clemons plays Iris West, Barry Allen’s eventual love interest and wife. In the comics, Iris is also the aunt of Wally West, the hero who operated as the Flash for a while when Barry Allen was dead and now currently exists in a bit of a limbo-like state because DC doesn’t really know what to do with him (comics!). Iris was, like so many comic characters, originally white, but newer iterations and the Flash TV show on the CW, where she’s played by Candice Patton, have gone a long way in making the DC Universe more diverse. Clemons’s appearance was cut from the theatrical release but blessedly restored for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Gard’ner Fox(NEW)
The truck that almost kills Iris says “Gard’ner Fox” on the side, an homage to DC Comics writer Gardner Fox, the co-creator of both the original Flash and the Justice League, among others.
Victor Stone’s Number 7 (NEW)
The flashback to Cyborg’s life-changing football game reveals that Victor Stone’s jersey number was seven. While it could be arbitrary, the number seven is associated with the Justice League, as many iconic versions of the team have had seven members. This movie only has six, though, which might explain why a confusing promotional campaign ahead of the original theatrical release that read “unite the seven” was quietly abandoned and then later retconned to have been about Aquaman uniting the seven seas, as one does.
GCU Football’s Scoreboard, Sponsored by Wayne Enterprises (NEW)
Gotham City University’s scoreboard appears to have been sponsored by Wayne Enterprises. Nice, subtle little bit of world-building there.
Metamorphosis
As Cyborg sulks in his house, he stands next to a poster or print of The Metamorphosis, presumably because the Stones are into Kafka. It’s an appropriate bit of décor since he thinks he’s basically been transformed into a monster.
Linda J. Reed (NEW)
One of the first things Cyborg does with his mastery over technology is help out a struggling mother named Linda J. Reed by putting $100,000 in her bank account. There’s an old Golden Age comics character named Linda Reed, but there doesn’t really seem to be a connection here, so this could just be a coincidence.
Iron Heights Penitentiary
The Flash goes to visit his father inside Iron Heights Penitentiary, which is basically the Flash’s equivalent of Batman’s Arkham Asylum in the comics.
“Very Attractive Jewish Boy”
When Batman confronts Barry with a photo of himself in an attempt to prove that he’s the Flash, Barry describes the person in the picture as “a very attractive Jewish boy.” Actor Ezra Miller is Jewish, but Barry Allen has occasionally been written as Jewish in the comics, though that traditionally hasn’t been hugely important to his characterization.
Gorilla Sign Language
During his initial meeting with Batman, the Flash explains that he knows “gorilla sign language,” which is a fun little joke and also a potential nod to Gorilla Grodd, a super-intelligent ape who is one of the Flash’s most infamous villains.
The Speed Force
The Flash mentions “the Speed Force” a couple of times throughout the film. In the comics, the Speed Force is a mystical, velocity-based entity that speedsters like the Flash can tap into. It conveniently protects the Flash from any negative consequences of the physics of near-light speed travel and allows for the manipulation of time.
Officer Crispus Allen
In addition to Commissioner Gordon (played by an especially swole J.K. Simmons), we get a brief mention of Crispus Allen, another member of the Gotham Police Department in the comics. Crispus eventually dies and becomes the host for Spectre, the embodiment of God’s vengeance. Comics!
Stryker’s Island
The Justice League’s first encounter takes place in underwater tunnels near Metropolis and Stryker’s Island, a reference to Metropolis’s Alcatraz-like supervillain prison from the comics.
Nazis Found the Mother Box
While discussing the history of the Mother Box entrusted to mankind, we learn that Adolf Hitler nearly got his hands on it. This is very much in the spirit of comics — both DC and Marvel — where Hitler’s interest in the occult has been a big storytelling boon. (See: Captain America: The First Avenger.) The closest comics parallel to Hitler’s possession of the Mother Box is probably the Spear of Destiny, the mythic spear that pierced Jesus’ side while he was on the cross that Hitler used to stop superheroes from simply ending World War II. Comics!
Martian Manhunter (NEW)
One of the biggest changes (if ultimately not that important to the plot) in Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the reveal that General Swanwick, a character who appeared in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman as played by Harry Lennix, was actually the shapeshifting alien hero Martian Manhunter this whole time. He first appears after pretending to be Martha Kent for a visit/pep talk with Lois Lane, and then appears again at the very end of the film when he introduces himself to Batman.
In the comics, Martian Manhunter is J’onn J’onzz, the last survivor of a Martian race. He lives on Earth and was, in the original continuity, one of the seven founding members of the Justice League. His alter ego as General Swanwick is a movie invention.
Atlantean-Amazon Beef (NEW-ish)
Throughout Justice League — and even more so in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, when they’re digging up Superman’s corpse — there’s talk of historical animosity between the Atlanteans and Amazonians. In the comics, the two nations have gone to war before, most notably in the alternate-reality storyline Flashpoint, where the war between them left most of Europe a flooded, blighted hellscape.
Wesley Rowe’s Fixed Birthday (NEW)
Barry Allen pretends to be a S.T.A.R. Labs employee by the name of Wesley Rowe to gain access to Superman’s ship. While Wesley Rowe is not a comics reference, in the theatrical release, Wesley’s birthday was listed as November 6, 2010, making him roughly 7 years old. In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, his date of birth has been changed to a more reasonable September 30, 1997.
Force Majeure pregnancy test (NEW)
After a visit from her in-law, Martha Kent (who was, as we noted, actually a shape-shifted Martian Manhunter), Lois Lane feels nostalgic and opens a drawer containing, among other things, a box for a pregnancy test. The implication is that Lois and Clark were going to try to have kids, something the pair have done in various comic continuities over the decades. Curiously, the test is “Force Majeure” brand, which appears to be a fictional one. The idea of Superman’s … “super-swimmers” possibly being an unstoppable force seems like it could be a sly allusion to “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex,” an infamous essay from the late ’60s about how having sex with Superman would almost certainly be fatal to the woman.
Coins to Cross the River Styx (NEW)
In Cyborg’s vision of a dark future, we see that Wonder Woman, having died, sports two coins over her eyes on a funeral pyre. In Greek myth, coins on the eyes were a ceremonial offering so that the dead would have money to pay Charon, Hades’ ferryman, for passage across the River Styx into the afterlife.
Darkseid’s Eye-Beams (NEW)
We also see Darkseid in action in Cyborg’s grim vision as he kills Aquaman. He also uses his laser eyes — Omega Beams, technically — which have an impractical yet visually neat effect of jumping around with a lot of hard angles on their circuitous route toward their target.
Kilowog, the Dead Green Lantern (NEW)
In Cyborg’s vision, we also see Superman, apparently evil now (more on that later), holding Batman’s cowl over the wreckage of the Hall of Justice. The camera pans over the body of another Green Lantern. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like it could be Kilowog, an alien Lantern and arguably the most famous non-human member of the Corps. He’s worked alongside the heroes of Earth many times in other media.
Jimmy Olsen cameo (NEW-ish)
The movie version of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen might’ve been unceremoniously killed via a shot to the head in Batman v Superman, but he’s in Justice League, in a way. Actor Marc McClure, who played Jimmy in the Christopher Reeve Superman films and the 1984 Supergirl spinoff, appears in Justice League as the Metropolis cop who Cyborg saves from a flying car after Superman’s botched revival. This cameo is new to Zack Snyder’s Justice League as, despite having been featured in original trailers, the scene was cut from the theatrical release. Instead, McClure appeared in a different cameo, playing a guard at the prison where the Flash was visiting his dad. That scene isn’t in the Snyder Cut, and McClure’s original cameo has been restored instead.
Black Suit Superman (NEW)
After being resurrected, Superman dons a black and silver version of his costume, as the hero is wont to do after coming back to life. DC Comics killed Superman in the 1992 Death of Superman storyline, but he returned in 1993, emerging from a Kryptonian birthing matrix sporting a noir version of his classic outfit. The dark color helped the recovering hero absorb more of the sun’s rays. It’s unclear if the Snyder Cut’s Superman is wearing black for the same reason. More likely it’s just an homage to comics history and a chance to bring a fan-favorite alternate costume to the big screen.
Granny Goodness appears (NEW)
When the three united Mother Boxes open up a portal to Apokolips, Darkseid’s homeworld, we see the supervillain in the flesh, with his lackey Desaad flanking him. On his other side, though, is an imposing older woman with white hair. This is Granny Goodness, another servant of Darkseid who trains elite soldiers for her lord using a combination of sadism, torture, and brainwashing.
Flashpoint (NEW-ish)
To prevent Steppenwolf from ushering in Darkseid’s reign of terror, the Flash taps into the Speed Force and alludes to a “Flashpoint.” This is the name of an influential comic series starring the Flash, one that changed the DC comics universe irreversibly. In the series, Barry travels back in time to prevent his mother’s death, but in doing so creates a dystopian alternate reality — which might be why Barry was worried in the movie. The upcoming solo Flash movie will reportedly be some sort of adaptation of the Flashpoint storyline.
Big Round table, six chairs, right there, but room for more
The end of the movie sees Batman and Wonder Woman planning to create a headquarters for the League, traditionally known as the Hall of Justice.
Arkham Asylum: Built in 1974 (NEW)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League adds a couple of shots to what had previously been one of Justice League’s post-credits scenes, including a shot of the sign outside of Arkham Asylum that states that the institution was “built in 1974,” a nod to the iconic prison’s first comics appearance in Batman #258, which came out in October of 1974.
Knightmare (NEW-ish)
The theatrical Justice League release featured Batman’s dark vision of a possible future, one where Darkseid had won and Superman was evil, but the Snyder Cut has a very different, much-expanded “Knightmare.” This scene, according to reports, is the only newly shot part of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and it features Batman (Ben Affleck), Mera (Amber Heard), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), and the Joker (Jared Leto, reprising his Suicide Squad role). Despite what the trailers implied, Joker does not say “we live in a society,” but he does talk about giving Batman a reach-around. C’est la vie.
This Knightmare sequence appears to be a vestige of a time when Justice League was going to be a two-parter, but now it’s setting up a sequel that likely won’t ever get made. In conversations, we learn that Lois Lane — who, earlier, Batman had been warned was the key to everything — is dead, and Superman has turned evil as a result. This storyline is similar to Injustice, a storyline that originated in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us and spun off to become a comic series set in this alternate reality. In that setting, Superman turns evil after the Joker tricks him into killing Lois Lane, and it’s up to Batman, Deathstroke, and a couple of others to stand up the newly fascist Man of Steel. Given that Batman appears to be begrudgingly working with the Joker, things probably went down a little differently. The vision also has shades of a big storyline from Superman: The Animated Series where Darkseid brainwashes Superman into serving him.
The Knightmare sequence features a couple of allusions to other characters, too. Joker asks why Batman sent “a Boy Wonder to do a man’s job,” a reference to the comic A Death in the Family, which saw Joker beat Robin (at this point a kid named Jason Todd) to death. This event was already canon in the movies, as evidenced by Robin’s costume hanging in a memorial inside the Batcave in Batman v Superman. Batman also says that Harley Quinn, of Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey fame, is dead and that she made Batman promise to “kill Joker slow.”
“Hallelujah” (NEW)
As the end credits roll (there’s no post-credits scene, FYI,) Allison Crowe’s cover of “Hallelujah,” originally sung by Leonard Cohen, plays. Snyder’s used the song before, playing the original in Watchmen during an over-the-top sex scene, but he’s returning to it again for the Snyder Cut because the song is important and meaningful to him and his daughter Autumn, whose death during the initial making of Justice League is what prompted Snyder to step away.
By James Grebey
Photo: HBO Max
We’re now living in a post-Snyder Cut — known properly on HBO Max as Zack Snyder’s Justice League — world, a development in film that is no doubt still surprising to some fans. That the four-hour film is actually pretty entertaining (if flawed) might be even more surprising still. What shouldn’t come as a surprise is that Zack Snyder’s Justice League is stuffed with plenty of fun, geeky Easter eggs for fans willing to embark on this behemoth of a movie.
Seeing as Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an alternate, expanded version of the original (critically panned) Justice League that premiered in theaters four years ago — albeit one that’s literally twice as long — there are many Easter eggs and references that fans already spotted when the movie first came out. We’re including those returning instances in this roundup and identifying anything that’s exclusive to Zack Snyder’s Justice League with a “new” label to help you distinguish. Some of the following Easter eggs are subtle allusions to deep cuts of comic lore, while others are fairly major characters or obvious plot points. We’re including pretty much everything and providing background context to boot, because that feels very true to the spirit of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
(Just as Batman alone wasn’t enough to stop Steppenwolf, finding every single Easter egg is too much of a task for any one person to do by themselves. We’ll update this list to include Easter eggs that other outlets or eagle-eyed fans on Reddit spotted that we might have overlooked the first time around.)
One Great Story
The one story you shouldn’t miss, selected by New York editors
Superman’s Black-and-White S on the Tower Bridge
At the end of Batman v Superman, the world mourns the loss of Superman following his gruesome death at Doomsday’s hands (seen in glorious slow motion at the start of Zack Snyder’s Justice League). A banner with a white Superman S on a black background hangs on London’s Tower Bridge, a nod to Superman’s famous black suit that he wore after he came back to life in the comics. (The black suit itself appears later in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, as Superman wears it upon his resurrection.)
Statue of Themis
Before stopping the terrorist attack on the bank (comic fans, don’t fret: The Black Clad are DCEU-exclusive and not a group from the comics), Wonder Woman briefly rests on a statue of Themis, a Titan from Greek mythology who represents order and justice. How fitting.
“Daughters of Themyscira … We have no fear!” (NEW)
Before engaging with the movie’s main villain, Steppenwolf, Queen Hippolyta commands her warriors to “show him your fear,” and they chant back “we have no fear!” in unison. Maybe this isn’t quite an Easter egg, but it’s got big 300 vibes, a movie Snyder directed back in 2007 that’s about boasting, badass Greek warriors as well.
Central City
Many of the scenes involving the Flash are set in Central City, the speedster’s comic-book hometown. If Metropolis and Gotham are different flavors of the DC Universe’s New York, then Central City is its Midwestern counterpart, a St. Louis of sorts. A later scene reveals that the town’s paper is the Central City Tribune, the same as in the comics.
Amazonian Formalwear Echoes Diana’s Eagle Armor
The outfit Queen Hippolyta wears while firing the Arrow of Artemis echoes Wonder Woman’s golden-eagle armor, which first appeared in the 1996 comic Kingdom Come and eventually became the outfit Diana wears when things are really getting intense. Wonder Woman 1984 would eventually reveal that, in this canon, the armor belonged to the legendary Amazon Asteria (played by Lynda Carter in 1984’s end-credits scene).
Arrow of Artemis
Artemis was the Greek goddess of the hunt, but there’s another reason why it’s fitting that it’s her arrow that will alert Diana to the coming threat: In Roman mythology, Artemis’s name is Diana.
Ryan Choi, the Atom, Appears (NEW)
Chinese actor Zheng Kai plays Ryan Choi in scenes that were cut from the theatrical release but restored for the Snyder Cut. In the comics, Choi becomes the shrinking superhero known as the Atom. Choi, who first appeared in DCU: Brave New World #1 in 2006, is the fourth person to take on the mantle in the main comics canon (Ray Palmer, the second, is by far the most prominent). Later in the movie, Choi reveals he’s the director of nanotechnology, so while there’s no evidence that he’s currently a superhero in the DCEU, the groundwork has certainly been laid.
The Mother Box Is “Object 6-1982”
The Mother Box that created Cyborg is labeled “Object 6-1982,” which is likely a reference to June 1982, the month that the comic that first revealed his origin story, Tales of the New Teen Titans #1, hit shelves. This Easter egg first appeared at the end of Batman v Superman.
The Cortlandt Sinks
Aquaman rescues a sailor from a sinking boat, named the Cortlandt — possibly a reference to the Cortlandt housing project from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. Snyder has wanted to make a film adaptation of the controversial novel for a while, though development is currently on hold.
Vulko Appears, Played by Willem Dafoe (NEW)
Willem Dafoe’s character from Aquaman, Vulko, appears in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Had his scenes not been cut, this would have been his film debut rather than his initial appearance in Aquaman, which came out the year after Justice League’s theatrical release. Vulko, the chief counselor to the throne of Atlantis and Arthur’s childhood teacher, mentions King Orm and Arthur’s “mother’s trident,” both of which are major parts of Aquaman.
Desaad (NEW)
At several points in the movie, Steppenwolf conferences with a molten visage of a being named Desaad. In the comics, Desaad is a master torturer serving his lord Darkseid (more on him in a second). As played by English actor Peter Guinness, Desaad appears in the Snyder Cut largely as Steppenwolf’s main point of contact with his home world as he attempts to conquer Earth and redeem himself.
“I Once Knew a Man Who Would’ve Loved to Fly It”
While looking at Batman’s experimental plane the Flying Fox, Diana makes an allusion to Steve Trevor, Chris Pine’s character who died in Wonder Woman, and then died again (sort of) in Wonder Woman 1984.
Darkseid appears (NEW)
One of the biggest differences in Zack Snyder’s Justice League is that there’s a new villain, and he’s perhaps the biggest, baddest villain DC has to offer: Darkseid, a creation of the legendary Jack Kirby as part of his Fourth World saga. In the theatrical version, Steppenwolf was essentially the only villain, as there were only oblique mentions that he was working on behalf of a larger, more powerful being. The Snyder Cut makes it clear that Darkseid (played by Ray Porter) is the real power, and Steppenwolf is only his disgraced lackey — his uncle, in fact. It’s Darkseid himself who tried to conquer Earth 2,000 years ago in this version, rather than Steppenwolf as in the theatrical release, and he appears additional times in visions, when Steppenwolf is communicating with him, and briefly in the flesh through the Mother Box portal during the climax.
Darkseid — who, it should be noted, predates Marvel’s Thanos by three years — is a “New God” from the hellish world of Apokolips. His goal is to conquer worlds in search of the Anti-Life equation, a transcendental mathematical formula that allows the being who knows it to utterly dominate any other life-form. The Snyder Cut reveals that the Anti-Life Equation is hidden on Earth. Presumably, the seemingly scrapped Justice League sequel would have followed up on this more.
Green Lantern
During a flashback, we see a member of the Green Lantern Corp — the DC Universe’s “space cops” who wield magical rings as weapons. Traditionally, there’s a Green Lantern on the Justice League (human Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart among them). However, there isn’t a Lantern on the team in the current day in either the theatrical or Snyder versions of the film. Instead, in this flashback from thousands of years beforehand, we see an alien Lantern — possibly Yalan Gur, a Lantern who protected Space Sector 2814 (which includes Earth) some 2,000 years ago.
Greek Gods
Zeus, Artemis, and Aries (before his betrayal as detailed in Wonder Woman) appear in the battle against Darkseid.
Robin Wright
Robin Wright briefly reprises her Wonder Woman role as Antipoe in the flashback to the battle against Darkseid. In an interview with Collider, Wright admitted she’d never seen Justice League and had no idea if she’d even been cut out of the theatrical release, but she was happy that Snyder was able to finish his version of the film regardless.
King Arthur and Sir Bors
The two humans who bury their Mother Box appear to be King Arthur and Sir Bors — figures of myth who have also played various roles in DC Comics canon throughout the years.
Iris West, Played by Kiersey Clemons (NEW)
Kiersey Clemons plays Iris West, Barry Allen’s eventual love interest and wife. In the comics, Iris is also the aunt of Wally West, the hero who operated as the Flash for a while when Barry Allen was dead and now currently exists in a bit of a limbo-like state because DC doesn’t really know what to do with him (comics!). Iris was, like so many comic characters, originally white, but newer iterations and the Flash TV show on the CW, where she’s played by Candice Patton, have gone a long way in making the DC Universe more diverse. Clemons’s appearance was cut from the theatrical release but blessedly restored for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Gard’ner Fox(NEW)
The truck that almost kills Iris says “Gard’ner Fox” on the side, an homage to DC Comics writer Gardner Fox, the co-creator of both the original Flash and the Justice League, among others.
Victor Stone’s Number 7 (NEW)
The flashback to Cyborg’s life-changing football game reveals that Victor Stone’s jersey number was seven. While it could be arbitrary, the number seven is associated with the Justice League, as many iconic versions of the team have had seven members. This movie only has six, though, which might explain why a confusing promotional campaign ahead of the original theatrical release that read “unite the seven” was quietly abandoned and then later retconned to have been about Aquaman uniting the seven seas, as one does.
GCU Football’s Scoreboard, Sponsored by Wayne Enterprises (NEW)
Gotham City University’s scoreboard appears to have been sponsored by Wayne Enterprises. Nice, subtle little bit of world-building there.
Metamorphosis
As Cyborg sulks in his house, he stands next to a poster or print of The Metamorphosis, presumably because the Stones are into Kafka. It’s an appropriate bit of décor since he thinks he’s basically been transformed into a monster.
Linda J. Reed (NEW)
One of the first things Cyborg does with his mastery over technology is help out a struggling mother named Linda J. Reed by putting $100,000 in her bank account. There’s an old Golden Age comics character named Linda Reed, but there doesn’t really seem to be a connection here, so this could just be a coincidence.
Iron Heights Penitentiary
The Flash goes to visit his father inside Iron Heights Penitentiary, which is basically the Flash’s equivalent of Batman’s Arkham Asylum in the comics.
“Very Attractive Jewish Boy”
When Batman confronts Barry with a photo of himself in an attempt to prove that he’s the Flash, Barry describes the person in the picture as “a very attractive Jewish boy.” Actor Ezra Miller is Jewish, but Barry Allen has occasionally been written as Jewish in the comics, though that traditionally hasn’t been hugely important to his characterization.
Gorilla Sign Language
During his initial meeting with Batman, the Flash explains that he knows “gorilla sign language,” which is a fun little joke and also a potential nod to Gorilla Grodd, a super-intelligent ape who is one of the Flash’s most infamous villains.
The Speed Force
The Flash mentions “the Speed Force” a couple of times throughout the film. In the comics, the Speed Force is a mystical, velocity-based entity that speedsters like the Flash can tap into. It conveniently protects the Flash from any negative consequences of the physics of near-light speed travel and allows for the manipulation of time.
Officer Crispus Allen
In addition to Commissioner Gordon (played by an especially swole J.K. Simmons), we get a brief mention of Crispus Allen, another member of the Gotham Police Department in the comics. Crispus eventually dies and becomes the host for Spectre, the embodiment of God’s vengeance. Comics!
Stryker’s Island
The Justice League’s first encounter takes place in underwater tunnels near Metropolis and Stryker’s Island, a reference to Metropolis’s Alcatraz-like supervillain prison from the comics.
Nazis Found the Mother Box
While discussing the history of the Mother Box entrusted to mankind, we learn that Adolf Hitler nearly got his hands on it. This is very much in the spirit of comics — both DC and Marvel — where Hitler’s interest in the occult has been a big storytelling boon. (See: Captain America: The First Avenger.) The closest comics parallel to Hitler’s possession of the Mother Box is probably the Spear of Destiny, the mythic spear that pierced Jesus’ side while he was on the cross that Hitler used to stop superheroes from simply ending World War II. Comics!
Martian Manhunter (NEW)
One of the biggest changes (if ultimately not that important to the plot) in Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the reveal that General Swanwick, a character who appeared in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman as played by Harry Lennix, was actually the shapeshifting alien hero Martian Manhunter this whole time. He first appears after pretending to be Martha Kent for a visit/pep talk with Lois Lane, and then appears again at the very end of the film when he introduces himself to Batman.
In the comics, Martian Manhunter is J’onn J’onzz, the last survivor of a Martian race. He lives on Earth and was, in the original continuity, one of the seven founding members of the Justice League. His alter ego as General Swanwick is a movie invention.
Atlantean-Amazon Beef (NEW-ish)
Throughout Justice League — and even more so in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, when they’re digging up Superman’s corpse — there’s talk of historical animosity between the Atlanteans and Amazonians. In the comics, the two nations have gone to war before, most notably in the alternate-reality storyline Flashpoint, where the war between them left most of Europe a flooded, blighted hellscape.
Wesley Rowe’s Fixed Birthday (NEW)
Barry Allen pretends to be a S.T.A.R. Labs employee by the name of Wesley Rowe to gain access to Superman’s ship. While Wesley Rowe is not a comics reference, in the theatrical release, Wesley’s birthday was listed as November 6, 2010, making him roughly 7 years old. In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, his date of birth has been changed to a more reasonable September 30, 1997.
Force Majeure pregnancy test (NEW)
After a visit from her in-law, Martha Kent (who was, as we noted, actually a shape-shifted Martian Manhunter), Lois Lane feels nostalgic and opens a drawer containing, among other things, a box for a pregnancy test. The implication is that Lois and Clark were going to try to have kids, something the pair have done in various comic continuities over the decades. Curiously, the test is “Force Majeure” brand, which appears to be a fictional one. The idea of Superman’s … “super-swimmers” possibly being an unstoppable force seems like it could be a sly allusion to “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex,” an infamous essay from the late ’60s about how having sex with Superman would almost certainly be fatal to the woman.
Coins to Cross the River Styx (NEW)
In Cyborg’s vision of a dark future, we see that Wonder Woman, having died, sports two coins over her eyes on a funeral pyre. In Greek myth, coins on the eyes were a ceremonial offering so that the dead would have money to pay Charon, Hades’ ferryman, for passage across the River Styx into the afterlife.
Darkseid’s Eye-Beams (NEW)
We also see Darkseid in action in Cyborg’s grim vision as he kills Aquaman. He also uses his laser eyes — Omega Beams, technically — which have an impractical yet visually neat effect of jumping around with a lot of hard angles on their circuitous route toward their target.
Kilowog, the Dead Green Lantern (NEW)
In Cyborg’s vision, we also see Superman, apparently evil now (more on that later), holding Batman’s cowl over the wreckage of the Hall of Justice. The camera pans over the body of another Green Lantern. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like it could be Kilowog, an alien Lantern and arguably the most famous non-human member of the Corps. He’s worked alongside the heroes of Earth many times in other media.
Jimmy Olsen cameo (NEW-ish)
The movie version of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen might’ve been unceremoniously killed via a shot to the head in Batman v Superman, but he’s in Justice League, in a way. Actor Marc McClure, who played Jimmy in the Christopher Reeve Superman films and the 1984 Supergirl spinoff, appears in Justice League as the Metropolis cop who Cyborg saves from a flying car after Superman’s botched revival. This cameo is new to Zack Snyder’s Justice League as, despite having been featured in original trailers, the scene was cut from the theatrical release. Instead, McClure appeared in a different cameo, playing a guard at the prison where the Flash was visiting his dad. That scene isn’t in the Snyder Cut, and McClure’s original cameo has been restored instead.
Black Suit Superman (NEW)
After being resurrected, Superman dons a black and silver version of his costume, as the hero is wont to do after coming back to life. DC Comics killed Superman in the 1992 Death of Superman storyline, but he returned in 1993, emerging from a Kryptonian birthing matrix sporting a noir version of his classic outfit. The dark color helped the recovering hero absorb more of the sun’s rays. It’s unclear if the Snyder Cut’s Superman is wearing black for the same reason. More likely it’s just an homage to comics history and a chance to bring a fan-favorite alternate costume to the big screen.
Granny Goodness appears (NEW)
When the three united Mother Boxes open up a portal to Apokolips, Darkseid’s homeworld, we see the supervillain in the flesh, with his lackey Desaad flanking him. On his other side, though, is an imposing older woman with white hair. This is Granny Goodness, another servant of Darkseid who trains elite soldiers for her lord using a combination of sadism, torture, and brainwashing.
Flashpoint (NEW-ish)
To prevent Steppenwolf from ushering in Darkseid’s reign of terror, the Flash taps into the Speed Force and alludes to a “Flashpoint.” This is the name of an influential comic series starring the Flash, one that changed the DC comics universe irreversibly. In the series, Barry travels back in time to prevent his mother’s death, but in doing so creates a dystopian alternate reality — which might be why Barry was worried in the movie. The upcoming solo Flash movie will reportedly be some sort of adaptation of the Flashpoint storyline.
Big Round table, six chairs, right there, but room for more
The end of the movie sees Batman and Wonder Woman planning to create a headquarters for the League, traditionally known as the Hall of Justice.
Arkham Asylum: Built in 1974 (NEW)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League adds a couple of shots to what had previously been one of Justice League’s post-credits scenes, including a shot of the sign outside of Arkham Asylum that states that the institution was “built in 1974,” a nod to the iconic prison’s first comics appearance in Batman #258, which came out in October of 1974.
Knightmare (NEW-ish)
The theatrical Justice League release featured Batman’s dark vision of a possible future, one where Darkseid had won and Superman was evil, but the Snyder Cut has a very different, much-expanded “Knightmare.” This scene, according to reports, is the only newly shot part of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and it features Batman (Ben Affleck), Mera (Amber Heard), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), and the Joker (Jared Leto, reprising his Suicide Squad role). Despite what the trailers implied, Joker does not say “we live in a society,” but he does talk about giving Batman a reach-around. C’est la vie.
This Knightmare sequence appears to be a vestige of a time when Justice League was going to be a two-parter, but now it’s setting up a sequel that likely won’t ever get made. In conversations, we learn that Lois Lane — who, earlier, Batman had been warned was the key to everything — is dead, and Superman has turned evil as a result. This storyline is similar to Injustice, a storyline that originated in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us and spun off to become a comic series set in this alternate reality. In that setting, Superman turns evil after the Joker tricks him into killing Lois Lane, and it’s up to Batman, Deathstroke, and a couple of others to stand up the newly fascist Man of Steel. Given that Batman appears to be begrudgingly working with the Joker, things probably went down a little differently. The vision also has shades of a big storyline from Superman: The Animated Series where Darkseid brainwashes Superman into serving him.
The Knightmare sequence features a couple of allusions to other characters, too. Joker asks why Batman sent “a Boy Wonder to do a man’s job,” a reference to the comic A Death in the Family, which saw Joker beat Robin (at this point a kid named Jason Todd) to death. This event was already canon in the movies, as evidenced by Robin’s costume hanging in a memorial inside the Batcave in Batman v Superman. Batman also says that Harley Quinn, of Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey fame, is dead and that she made Batman promise to “kill Joker slow.”
“Hallelujah” (NEW)
As the end credits roll (there’s no post-credits scene, FYI,) Allison Crowe’s cover of “Hallelujah,” originally sung by Leonard Cohen, plays. Snyder’s used the song before, playing the original in Watchmen during an over-the-top sex scene, but he’s returning to it again for the Snyder Cut because the song is important and meaningful to him and his daughter Autumn, whose death during the initial making of Justice League is what prompted Snyder to step away.
So the issue was that WB told Snyder the movie was not going to be any longer than 2 hours. What you end up seeing is that Snyder wanted the majority of the background origin story to be from Cyborg. So when they had to cut it most of the background stuff got the boot. The problem is that Cyborgs background was compelling and well done and what they left behind didn't really make much sense.
back to watching...
This is fucking way better...
I'm tripping at how this feels like new movie.... I was not expecting this..
This is fucking way better...
I'm tripping at how this feels like new movie.... I was not expecting this..
there are still Cyborg beats that they could have left in...
Like all that time spent on that russian family could have been used for Barry and Cyborg...
When I finish this... Im going to rewatch the other version... this shit is wild....
I'm just at the 2hr 28 minute mark...
Yeah Barry and Cyborg got fucked over a lot.
this is straight up a new movie.
I really want to know if WB did a similar thing to Man of Steel... like how much footage is out there..
Like the resurrection scene feels completely different..... There is a real reason to bring him back here..... It doesnt feel like.... So last minute
Honestly, this cut makes me wonder if Joss Whedon is on some racist shit. No way you have all that great Cyborg footage and shelve it for that original bullshit unless there's some sort of agenda. No way.
I'm half way thru part 3 and I was coming in here to say the same thing. Whedon cut so much material from Cyborg and the Amazons it's crazy.
Whedon is always celebrated for his female characters, but his version did them dirty.
More so than that. They had a guy who probably didn't even read the comics and therefore had no real clue of the almost infinite capabilities of Cyborg. Not to mention his story is so different. A jock that absolutely did not want to be a hero, he just wanted his dad's attention. Geesh!! That's a movie right there.
Some white people can not fathom a black son and father relationship. Let alone a father and son who are geniuses.
For those who seen this...
I just noticed its rated R
Can kids under 16 see this?
Just how graphic is this?
I just noticed its rated R
Can kids under 16 see this?
Just how graphic is this?
They're more together in this version when it comes to resurrecting Superman. In the original version if felt more like they were quite all on the same page. With this one they're all on the same page just some of little more nervous about it than others.
not graphic at all, typical fighting, beams, lasers, etc.
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