New 'Justice League' Trailer Answers Major DCEU Timeline Question

The Ancient War

In the opening of this Chinese trailer, we get an important piece of exposition from Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman:

"Long before I was born, he came as the spearhead of an alien invasion."

That quote refers to Justice League villain Steppenwolf, the intergalactic conqueror who leads the Parademon armies of Darkseid, ruler of the hellish planet known as Apokolips.

The confirmation that Steppenwolf has invaded earth before actually speaks to some of the biggest and most epic battle sequences we've seen teased in Justice League promos: a battle in ancient times between the forces of Apokolips and the three major races of Earth: humans, Amazons, and Atlanteans.

It was this same battle that ended with Steppenwolf fleeing Earth, while leaving behind three important artifacts called Mother Boxes, which are living computers capable of unimaginable power. After this ancient battle, a Mother Box was kept for safe keeping by each of the three races of Earth, which is the framework in which the story of helped shape the future of the entire DCEU. Justice League begins.

There was recently a big point of discussion about whether the footage of the armies of Earth battling Steppenwolf was an event that took place in the past or present, as one sequence depicted some uniquely powerful warriors on the battlefield, whose identities were a big topic of fan debate.

Third World Gods vs. Fourth World Gods

Given what Wonder Woman reveals, it's more than likely that the warriors who came to aid the races of Ancient Earth were none other than the Greek gods, led by Zeus. A close look it the image above shows a red-clad figure who is presumably Zeus hurling a lighting bolt at his enemies, while another warrior wielding a trident fights alongside him. As we speculated, this is probably Poseidon, Zeus' brother and lord of the seas.

If you were a DC fan who was hoping that Justice League had a secret cameo from DC's Shazam, don't get too upset; if anything, these Greek god characters fighting in the between ancient Earth and Apokolips seem to be foreshadows of what will eventually evolve into the Justice League. The metaphor is clear to see, as the great king of mankind would be the predecessor of Batman; the Amazon Queen Hippolyta is a predecessor to Wonder Woman; Poseidon is a predecessor to Aquaman; while Zeus could be the predecessor tease for what will eventually be the DCEU version of Shazam.

Even more exciting may be the doors in the DC Film Universe this battle sequence opens; the story of GodWorld's destruction creating the "Third World" gods of Earth and the "Fourth World" gods of Apokolips and New Genesis is a famous piece of DC Comics lore that could lead to a much bigger DC cosmic saga to come.

Justice League will be in theaters on November 17th.