Was Superman At the End of the Justice League Trailer?

A new trailer for DC Films’ Justice League was released at Comic-Con 2017, and while the footage was awesome in general, it ended on a particularly juicy note:

As the Justice League attempts to battle the otherworldly threat of Steppenwolf and Apokolips, the battle threatens to consume them; however, as the League battle, Batman’s longtime ally Alfred is greeted by a powerful visitor – and there’s some big speculation as to who it is.

Most fans have already decided on one likely candidate – but could it be misdirection?

Return of the Superman

The most prevelant, likely, and obvious guess is that the ending of the Justice League trailer teases the return of Henry Cavill’s Superman!

There is the clear line of sight measure that shows Alfred is looking at someone who is hovering above the ground; there’s also the look of familiarity in Alfred’s eye that says he’s met this person before. If you look closely as the shot closes in, it even looks like there’s a flicker of something over the mysterious stranger’s shoulder – something that looks (for a second), like a familiar crimson object. Finally, there’s Alfred’s conspicuous use of the word “hope,” which every DCEU fan knows is a word connected to a very specific character. 

We can all probably call this one a closed case: we all expect Henry Cavill’s Superman to make a big return from the dead in Justice League – and this looks like it will be a fittingly epic entrance. 

However, it also could be a bit of purposeful misdirection, as there are a few other possibilities for who this mystery character could be. 

Such as..

Green Lantern

The Green Lantern Corps is teased in this Justice League trailer, when the villain Steppenwolf comes to Earth, proclaiming that the Earth is a perfect target, since there are “no Lanterns,” and “no Kryptonians.” Odds are, old Steppenwolf is going to be wrong about one of those statements, and it would be a great bit of misdirection of it turned out to be the latter. 

With the Green Lanterns obviously a known entity in the DCEU when Justice League takes place, it’s not inconceivable that Batman or Cyborg could put out a call to intergalatic police force to aid Earth in the battle against Apokolips. Alfred could’ve been informed that Lanterns might show up, and his comment that “he said you’d come” could be referring to the collective “you” of the Green Lantern Corps. 

This would be cool in that it would great an epic final battle for the film; it would be a big twist that even hardcore fans wouldn’t see coming; and it be very interesting to see which Green Lattern Corps member led the charge, as there are seemingly no human GLs at this point (Sinestro FTW). 

Bizarro Superman

One small hole in the Superman theory described above is that Alfred tells the mystery person that “he said you’d come,” presumably referring to Bruce Wayne/Batman. If that person is Superman, it’ll be interesting to see how Batman knew The Man of Steel was back from the dead, prior to this moment. 

An easy way to explain it would be that Batman and Co. have already encountered Superman by that point in the film; just not the heroic Superman they used to know and hoped to get back. 

Batman v Superman already foreshadowed a dark and evil “Knightmare” Superman, who is seemingly in league with the Parademon forces of Apokolips; and some fans believe that the final shot of that film (the specks of dirt rising off of Superman’s casket), came from a Mother Box device that was used to teleport his body away. Combined with this new trailer evidence, there is a big twist possibly coming in Justice League, where the Man of Steel is resurrected as a servant of Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips. Hence, the DCEU version of “Bizarro Superman.”

Naturally, Superman being the embodiment of all things good, he would break free of Darkseid by the end – just in time to save his new super team, and the world.

More Justice League News

In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, and features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Ezra Miller (The Flash), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Ciarán Hinds (Steppenwolf), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth), J.K. Simmons (Commissioner Gordon), Amber Heard (Mera), Kiersey Clemons (Iris West) and Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor).

Wonder Woman is in theaters now, and will be followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash, The Batman, Dark Universe and Man of Steel 2 are currently without a release dates.

MORE JUSTICE LEAGUE:

• New Justice League Trailer Released
• Ben Affleck Comments on Batman Departure Rumors
• Justice League SDCC Trailer Teases Green Lantern
• First Aquaman Movie Footage Premieres at SDCC
• Wonder Woman 2 Announced at SDCC
• Flash Movie Titled Flashpoint
• Batman Movie Universe Plans Revealed
• New Justice League Poster Revealed
• Which DCEU Films Could Take WB’s 2020 Release Dates?