Justice League: All The New DC Films Projects The Snyder Cut Sets Up

There was a lot going on in Zack Snyder’s Justice League — obviously enough, since the movie ran for four hours. But the most interesting thing about the aborted “Snyderverse” may be how clearly Justice League was setting up the DC universe going forward. With the altered Justice League and numerous management changes, some of these movies are looking much different these days and some are unlikely to be made at all, but it’s certainly interesting to look back at the four hours we just spent in this world and look at which movies would have to have been made to pay off some of the dangling plot threads from Justice League.

You can see them below. OF the ones we list, only two are apparently cancelled at this point.

In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.

Aquaman

The events of Zack Snyder’s Justice League took place before Aquaman, which makes sense given that the release date for Justice League was before Aquaman‘s. There is a lot more setup in this version of the movie than made it into the theatrical cut, including characters and mythology never addressed in the other version. It doesn’t ultimately change the “canon” at all, but it does show that setting up the next film was on the filmmaker’s mind.

The Flash

The long-standing rumors that The Flash would riff on Flashpoint and introduce the multiverse are borne out in this movie. Aside from a number of casual references to a multiverse by the villains and Amazons, there’s time-travel as a key plot point — a power that’s key to how many fans now perceive The Flash but which wasn’t referenced at all in the theatrical cut of the movie.

It also gave us a sense for Henry Allen’s character arc, and introduced Iris West, giving her a reason to pursue The Flash as a story (assuming she’s still a reporter in this version).

Cyborg

Cyborg had a hell of an arc in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The character’s screentime was cut to nearly nothing for the theatrical cut, but the revitalized version of the movie sets up Cyborg with a new team, new friends, a new understanding of his powers, and dealing with the loss of his dad. That’s…a lot to start with.

Wonder Woman 3

While the movie came out before Wonder Woman 1984, Justice League never really engaged with that film (aside from a brief moment when you can see Hippolyta wearing a cloak with a design inspired by the Golden Eagle armor from the movie). Rather, we’re going to guess that the next Wonder Woman movie will be set in the current day, meaning that the events of Justice League will inform where Diana is at that point.

Ben Affleck’s The Batman

The events of the movie clearly set up the ill-fated Ben Affleck version of The Batman, which would have starred and been directed by the Academy Award-winning actor/director. That movie would have seen the Dark Knight square off against Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), who appears in the Justice League epilogue and learns the identity of Batman from Lex Luthor. That would be a hell of a starting point for a character who wants to kill Batman and apparently has a long, personal history with him in this continuity.

Man of Steel 2

With Superman back from the dead, the Kent Farm back in Martha’s hands, and Lex Luthor out of prison, the movie sets up a Superman movie — although it’s hard to say whether it would be a Man of Steel 2 or whether that’s the “very Superman-driven” Justice League 3.

Justice League 2

By the end of the movie, the team is officially together, and Martian Manhunter has kind of invited himself to the party. An enemy and the takes are already established, and a further partnership between prior foes like Lex and Deathstroke are starting to work together. The world is also going to be at least vaguely aware of the League, since the Gotham City PD has tabs on the group and there are a lot of survivors who saw them squaring off with Steppenwolf and the Parademons when they team went to rescue the STAR Labs employees.

The New Gods

Darkseid and DeSaad are heading for Earth in search of Anti-Life, but it’s hard to imagine that the death of Steppenwolf wouldn’t come to the attention of Highfather and the gods of New Genesis. Whehter, or how, these events might play into the planned Ava DuVernay version of The New Gods is anybody’s guess.

Green Lantern

With a Green Lantern seen in the flashback sequence and more aliens — both from Apokolips and Mars — coming together in this movie, it seems inevitable that there would have been some setup for the Green Lantern movie that was originally announced as part of the DC slate. Of course, by now it appears that movie is unlikely to happen, replaced by the planned TV series on HBO Max.