Could Lex Luthor's Inclusion in the Justice League Movie Mean Something Bigger Than You Think?

11/03/2017 08:54 pm EDT

Earlier today, the press kit for Justice League confirmed what fans had assumed for months: Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor will return to reprise his role from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The details aren't clear yet, and it's distinctly possible that Lex's appearance is little more than a cameo appearance...but there's also a chance there's something more to his role in Justice League.

Hear us out, becuase this gets a little weird.

Ezra Miller's take on Barry Allen appeared twice in Batman V Superman -- once when Wonder Woman was looking through some decrypted files that Batman had sent her from Lex Luthor's server, and once in a vision, warning Batman about a coming danger.

Popping seemingly out thin air, The Flash addressed Bruce Wayne by name, saying among other things that "Lois Lane is the key," "you were always right about him," and "You have to find us."

"Us," in this case, is taken to be the metahumans Lex Luthor had been tracking -- all four of whom will be a part of the Justice League when the team's movie comes out next year.

We had some thoughts on what the other bits meant -- Lois being the key and "you were always right about him," along with the idea that he'd come "too soon" -- and it mostly centers on the idea of Batman's "Knightmare" fantasy sequence from Batman V Superman and the idea of Superman being a threat.

What if it's not Superman, but Lex Luthor, who The Flash was talking about?

A lot of this comes out of the fact that, as a Superman supporting character, anything you could say about Superman and his relationships could be said (or at least mirrored) about Lex. He, too, has ties to Lois, and the "too soon" thing could easily just refer to Barry having traveled back to before the creation of the League.

But in the comics right now -- and let's not downplay this, since the post-Rebirth status quo at DC Comics seems to be geared at syncing up as much as it can with the TV shows and movies -- Lex Luthor owns a Mother Box, has strong ties to Apokolips, and is in fact the current successor to Darkseid.

Given the importance of the Mother Boxes to the Justice League story -- we don't know exactly what it's about, but we saw one being buried on Earth in the trailer and we know that one of them was used to create Cyborg in Batman v Superman -- it doesn't seem entirely farfetched to think that Lex angling to get his hands on one could drive some story.

The notion of Lex -- a world-renowned genius and the best-known "alien killer" on the planet, having engineered the death of Superman -- could find a way to turn that reputation to his advantage and possibly get himself out of jail in the face of an invasion from Apokolips doesn't seem unreasonable. Once he did, it would be totally in Lex's character to screw over the League in order to gain more individual power and influence -- leaving us with a situation where Barry tries to warn Bruce that Lex isn't to be trusted.

"You were always right about him."

We also know from set interviews that at least Batman -- and likely The Flash -- will get more than one costume in Justice League as Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth tinker with what works and what doesn't. That could even explain Barry's appearance when he shows up in the Batcave in Batman v Superman.

This is all just speculation, but it's rooted in what we know from the movie and what's been going on in the comics for a while now. And, as always, it's fun to take a look at something like that bizarre Flash cameo from a different angle.

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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, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons and Jesse Eisenberg.

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