Who Are The Parademons Working For In Dawn Of Justice?

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

During a key scene in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, it's no surprise to anyone who's been watching the promotional run-up to last weekend's blockbuster that fans got a glimpse of the Parademons of Apokolips.

The winged, green-skinned creatures are essentially cannon fodder for Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips and the most evil and powerful of Jack Kirby's New Gods.

In Batman V Superman, though, they appear to be working...for Superman?

There are warring factions on a burned-out landscape that looks like it could be Apokolips...or Earth, years into an occupation. Firepits can be seen blasting from the ground into the sky, a shattered cityscape plays out behind a field with Darkseid's omega symbol burned into the ground.

And there's Superman, looking angry and not speaking, burning dissidents, and unmasking Batman before murdering him as well...and then Batman wakes up from his nightmare.

So...why would Superman be working with Darkseid and the Parademons?

There's a hint some people are reading into, in the form of The Flash seeming to indicate that Lois Lane is "the key." Superman, in this dark world, asks why Batman "took her from me," leading many to assume that this is a world like the one from Injustice: Gods Among Us, where Superman goes evil after the death of Lois Lane.

That seems like a stretch, though; in Injustice, and some similar alternate-universe stories where Superman loses faith in the fundamental good of humanity, he's inclined to take charge himself, given that he understands better than anyone how to have power and still be good. Throwing in his lot with an overtly evil despot like Darkseid would seem counter-intuitive, because it would be pretty close to evil for evil's sake, with no real logic behind Superman's actions.

Of course, a lot of the Man of Steel and Batman V Superman universe has been inspired by ideas explored in the controversial 1986-1999 publishing period for the Superman books, which included John Byrne's rebooted origin story The Man of Steel, the mega-event The Death of Superman, and more. Two of Superman's earliest encounters with Fourth World characters during that publishing era involved him being either an amnesiac, or under some form of mind control...and while I can't remember whether he killed for Darkseid during his amnesiac period, he certainly helped suppress dissidents with a good deal of force.

All of this certainly evokes the look and feel of Injustice, but from a story point of view, it seems more likely to be akin to those John Byrne stories of Apokolips...which would explain better than anything else why Parademons are part of the story.

What do you think? Put your theories in the comments below!

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Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is now playing in theaters.