Justice League: Snyder Cut Easter Egg Honors Original Justice League Creator

The Snyder Cut of Justice League officially became a reality on Thursday, making its HBO Max [...]

By Jenna Anderson

The Snyder Cut of Justice League officially became a reality on Thursday, making its HBO Max premiere to great fanfare. The film, which brings to life Zack Snyder's intended vision for the DC Comics superteam, is chock full of homages to the franchise's larger canon. In addition to introducing some major heroes and villains to mainstream audiences, the four-hour film included its fair share of DC Comics Easter eggs — including a nod to the original creator of the Justice League itself. Spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League below! Only look if you want to know!

Midway through the film, audiences are properly introduced to Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller), who is trying to work every part-time job he can find in order to pay for his criminal science degree. While applying to be a dog walker in Central City, Barry is distracted by the appearance of Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), who gets in her car to drive away. Just as she does, a truck nearly crashes into her — until Barry uses his largely-secret powers of super speed to save the day.

The truck in question is advertising a business called "Gard'ner Fox' — a clear homage to the one and only Gardner Fox, who had an instrumental role in making the Justice League as we know it today. Initially a lawyer, Fox began writing for DC Comics during the Great Depression, and went on to have a profound impact on the company's fictional universe in the decades that followed. This included creating the Golden Age incarnations of The Flash and Hawkman, writing some of the very first appearances of Batman, and creating the Justice Society of America, the first crossover superteam of its kind. Fox's tenure at DC stretched into what would later be known as the Silver Age, as he created the Barry Allen incarnation of The Flash, reimagined Batman for a new era, and even introduced the concept of a fictional multiverse between Earth-1 and Earth-2.

And of course, Fox helped reinvent the concept of the Justice Society of America as the Justice League of America, taking the various Silver Age concepts of heroes and teaming them up in a single book. Fox would go on to write a slew of notable JLA issues, including the first crossovers with the JSA, which would help enter the term "Crisis" into the DC mythos.

Fox's impact on the DC canon cannot be overstated, which makes the direct reference to him in the film — as well as the special thanks he later gets in the film's credits — all the more fitting.

Zack Snyder's Justice League is now available to stream exclusively on HBO Max.

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