Even now fans are still finding new references in Batman v. Superman, and the latest harkens back to one of the movie’s biggest inspirations.
Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice features plenty of homages to DC comics source material, including rather extensive arcs from classics like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman. The latter informs the whole third act of the movie, and someone located a previously unknown easter egg that references the issue that storyline started (via Aaron Slightly).
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“Found a Death of Superman Easter Egg whilst watching BvS when the president is talking to Calvin. ‘Line 1 – 9375’ January, 1993 was issue #75 of Superman which was his death.”
Found a Death of Superman Easter Egg whilst watching BvS when the president is talking to Calvin. ‘Line 1 – 9375’ January, 1993 was issue #75 of Superman which was his death. pic.twitter.com/HSO6P7TZ7H
— Jon Arryn Garza (@Aaron_Slightly) April 3, 2018
The issue was written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Jurgens and Brett Breeding, and kicked off one of the biggest DC Comics events ever. The storyline brought the then Justice League face to face with a rampaging threat nicknamed Doomsday, who would eventually face down Superman after going through the entire League and other heroes who came to fight him. Doomsday would go punch for punch with Superman, and the bone spurs all over his body could cut Superman’s skin, unlike other foes.
With one last punch Superman would ultimately claim victory, but he would lose his life in the process. That storyline can very much be seen in Batman v. Superman’s third act, though it is quite condensed. The Reign of the Supermen would follow in the comics, bringing four people to the forefront, all of which claimed to be Superman. That story wasn’t used for Superman’s next appearance in the DCEU, which was last year’s Justice League, but he is now back amongst the living regardless, just like in the comics.
As to where he’ll appear next though is anyone’es gues. A Justice League sequel seems to be in limbo, and no word has been released on a possible Man of Steel sequel either. It’s unlikely he’ll appear in cameos in either Aquaman or Shazam!, though you never really know.
In the meantime, fans can check out Aquaman when it sails into theaters on December 21.
