Zack Snyder's Justice League delivers Snyder's original vision for the DCEU to HBO Max, including multiple endings, bringing a close to some storylines and teasing plans for others that have long since been abandoned. While the basic plot concepts are similar to the 2017 theatrical cut of Justice League, a different opening, multiple different endings, and loads of additional character development make it a distinctly different experience than Joss Whedon's version.
The four-hour movie is twice as long as the 2017 theatrical cut and features an aesthetic overhaul, a new Junkie XL score, restored character arcs, an alternate design for Steppenwolf, and the restoration of multiple characters, including villains like Darkseid and DeSaad, plus the addition of Jared Leto's Joker.
These new additions all add up to a brand new experience, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, all while setting up a number of long-since canceled projects from Snyder's original DCEU plan. Here's what it all means.
Justice League is About Family Lost and Found
Family has been a major theme through all the DC movies, but especially Snyder's films. Man of Steel was about fathers, with Clark torn between two worlds and two fathers, while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is about mothers, culminating in Batman's realizing Superman's humanity upon hearing Clark call out for Martha, starting his own path to redemption, so it's only fitting that Zack Snyder's Justice League would bring the team together with themes of family lost and family found.
Batman lost his parents and his adopted son, Flash lost his mother and his father is unjustly imprisoned, Diana is separated from her mother and sisters, Aquaman is split between two peoples and resents his mother, and Cyborg's arc brings it all home with the prominent story of the loss of his mother and father. Of course, while Superman is missing from the first half of the movie, but when he returns he's reunited with Lois, who's going to be his wife (and is potentially pregnant with his child), and we get dialogue of Jonathan Kent and Jor-El telling him to love the world as his parents loved him.
Cyborg's rejection of the temptations of the Mother Box is a major step in recovering from the grief of his losses. He knows his parents and his body are gone and he can't have them back. But that doesn't mean he's broken or alone. All the League learns this in one way or another, but it's Victor's story that provides this throughline for the movie as he comes to forgive and accept Silas, his father twice over as both his biological father and the creator of Cyborg. Likewise, Bruce, the most troubled of all the heroes may have found some semblance of peace. He forms the Justice League, then gets to hear Martian Manhunter tell him his parents would be proud.
Of course, these themes are sharply contrasted against Steppenwolf, Darkseid, and the other New Gods. While the Justice League needs to overcome their differences and personal issues, the "unity" under Darkseid via that anti-life equation comes by involuntary servitude and the removal of free will.
How Flash's Time Travel Helps Defeat Steppenwolf
One of the greatest strengths of Zack Snyder's Justice League is the way it gives a purpose to each character and their skill set, tying their character arcs directly into the way the team wins in the end, and this is especially true of Cyborg and Flash. Cyborg needs to disrupt the Unity from the inside, but he can't do it without a supercharge from Flash. Wonder Woman and Aquaman keep Steppenwolf away from Cyborg, and Batman provides cover outside the tower, keeping the parademons busy.
Obviously, Superman is instrumental in beating down Steppenwolf, but also once Cyborg breaks up the Unity, his strength is also essential in separating the Mother Boxes for good. And, of course, none of this is even possible if it weren't for Flash's rule-breaking lightspeed run to turn back the clock and literally bring the whole League back from the dead.
Darkseid is Coming
Thanks to this valiant teamwork, Steppenwolf is dispatched, and Darkseid's invasion is stopped for now, but his hunt for Anti-Life is far from over. After the Boom Tube closes he tells Desaad to ready his armada so they can "use the old ways." So, while the Earth is temporarily secure, Darkseid is bringing the full wrath of the New Gods down on Earth and the newly formed Justice League.
Without the use of Boom Tubes, it could take some time for Darkseid to arrive, but when he does, the wrath of multiple New Gods, each more powerful than Steppenwolf, along with far more parademons, large war machines, and a powered-up Darkseid who's gained the Omega Sanction since he last faced Earth's defenders, will be a tall order for the nascent Justice League. Whether or not that story ever gets told is another matter entirely.
Future Justice Leaguers: Martian Manhunter, Atom, Green Lantern, and More
Zack Snyder's Justice League brings together Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg to form the first iteration of the Justice League, but the team is already growing and additional have been teased. Wayne Manor is being restored to serve as the Hall of Justice, where Bruce says there's "room for more."
One of the biggest surprises of the Snyder Cut was the significance of Ryan Choi's role as Star Labs' Director of Nanotechnology. Serving as Silas Stone's right-hand man throughout, he even gets his own conclusion scene, teasing his future as head of STAR Labs, and potentially a future with the Justice League where Ryan Choi can become The Atom.
Martian Manhunter also approaches Bruce to offer his services when it's time to defend the Earth, and the Knightmare even teases Killowag, meaning at least one Green Lantern could them in the future. The ever-present teases from Snyder about the empty creche on the Scout Ship,, starting way back in Man of Steel, seemingly teasing Supergirl, also can't be ignored.
Where Each Justice League Character Is Left At The End Of The Movie
While Zack Snyder's Justice League brings the team together and resolves the immediate threat of Steppenwolf, it's just as much a setup for the next stage of the DC Universe for each of its characters, or at least what would have been the next stage in 2017. While these exact character continuations may never happen, the set-up is still core to the character arcs in the movie.
For Wonder Woman 3.
Flash's quest to reunite with his father by clearing his name, takes a major step forward when he gets his foot in the door with a job at a crime lab. We know the solo Flash movie will be influenced by Flashpoint, where Barry actually goes back in time to save his mother. While the movie seems to be drastically different than the one originally planned by Rick Famuyiwa while Justice League was in production back in 2017, but the plot could still connect to Flash's arc coming out of Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Aquaman doesn't have any personal connections, he rejects his Atlantean heritage, and he's been roaming the world alone for some time, but the Snyder Cut sees him picking up his mother's trident to fulfill her responsibility to recover the Atlantean Mother Box, and ends with him heading off to see his dad. While Aquaman's continuity diverges from the Snyder Cut in a number minor ways, such as Mera's accent and the fate of her parents, and some Atlantean aesthetics and language, the story was somewhat intended to pick up Arthur's story after this point.
Batman has come a long way from trying to kill Superman, and making it his mission to form Justice League and the way he starts acting on his faith in Superman's return is evidence of this. The movie shows him on his War Machine tank after apparently rounding up and tying up a gang of criminals - a noted departure from his more brutal approach in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Superman's ending shows him returned to the Clark Kent persona including a classic shirt rip to reveal he's still wearing the black suit. While he's clearly embraced his role as Superman, the black suit shows he may not yet fully accept his role as a symbol for the world, as Snyder has previously specified the black suit was a more casual or personal suit for Kryptonians while the colorful suit was ceremonial or public-facing. Superman's arc in Snyder's movies was to be fully actualized at a later point, at which time he'd return to the blue and red version.
Cyborg was long heralded as the heart of the movie, and it really shows. The entire closing voiceover from Silas Stone is a message to Cyborg about embracing his role as a hero, although it clearly applies to the rest of the league as well, encouraging him to stand, fight, discover, heal, love, and win. Cyborg also reassembled the tape recorder with Silas' message, displaying a new level of control over his powers that we know was set to eventually evolve him into DC's most powerful hero behind only Doctor Manhattan if Snyder's arc were fully realized.
The Legacy of Superman is Restored
Henry Cavill's Superman has had a troubled arc in the DCEU, both in the in-universe story arc and in the real world. While Man of Steel was mostly positively received, criticism of Snyder's tone and deconstructionist approach to Superman followed the movie for years, and with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doubling down on those issues, Henry Cavill had a lot of baggage going into Justice League. So, naturally, when the Joss Whedon reshoots stripped away his character development and gave him a highly memed CGI upper lip and the movie bombed, his future as Superman was on the ropes. It's still not clear what's in store for him next, if anything, but Zack Snyder's Justice League leaves him in a much better place, continuing his growth into the version of Superman audiences have been begging to see.
Snyder's Superman was always conflicted and unsure of how to use his powers or what role he played in the world. As Jonathan Kent told him, he was sent for a reason, he just needed to find what that reason was. After falling prey to Lex Luthor's machinations in Batman v Superman and facing off with a fallen Dark Knight, the Last Son of Krypton embraced the world as his own and gave himself up to defeat Doomsday. While he's not in the first half of the Snyder Cut, his presence (or lack thereof) is foundational to the story.
Zack Snyder always said the Justice League is a top-down affair and he had to get Superman's house in order first for it to work. This is shown through Jor-El's famous speech "will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders." Superman's sacrifice had on him.
Cyborg's Superman influence was less overt, but the alternating parallels and contrasting plot beats between Victor and Silas Stone and Clark and Jonathan Kent can't be ignored. Cyborg most of all stands as a testament to the kind of superhero that will follow in Superman's footsteps.
Knowing the impact Superman's loss has on these characters makes his return all the more satisfying, especially when Jor-El and Jonathan Kent deliver voiceover lines telling him it's time to embrace his role as a hero. While not all viewers were on-board with Snyder's interpretation of Superman to this point, this new step in his journey brings him even more in-line with a more classic characterization as the next step on his journey to the ideal hero.
Lex Luthor and Deathstroke share a short scene that had been repurposed and used as a post-credits scene in the theatrical cut of Justice League, but here it bears a very different context. Lex Luthor is revealed to have escaped Arkham and meets Deathstroke on a yacht where he hires Deathstroke to kill Batman, but the assassin is willing to do it for free to settle a score.
After his humiliation at the hands of Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Lex also holds a grudge and wants to destroy Batman's, so he tells Deathstroke Batman's biggest secret: his real name is Bruce Wayne. We know Ben Affleck's now-canceled Batman solo movie was supposed to show Deathstroke systematically dismantling Bruce Wayne's life, and knowing his secret identity would be a clear first step to accomplishing that.
The Knightmare Is Still Coming: Batman's Team Vs. Superman
While Batman v Superman's Knightmare was an experience from Batman's perspective, Zack Snyder's Justice League gives Cyborg a Knightmare vision before he resurrects Superman. The Scout Ship's Carla Gugino voiced computer expresses fear over waking the Mother Box and warns him not to proceed. After the box is activated, he sees an image of the Mother Boxes scorching the Earth followed by an image of Superman holding the charred body of Lois Lane as Darkseid stands over him followed by glimpses of a future where Darkseid rules the world, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are dead, and the Hall of Justice is destroyed. When the vision is over, the scout ship's computer utters an ominous homage to Excalibur: "the future has taken root in the present."
The movie ends with another Knightmare scene, only this one appears to take place prior to the events of the first Knightmare scene from Batman v Superman. Batman's team in this scenario includes Cyborg, Flash, and Mera, along with a questionable alliance from Joker. Joker gives Batman a joker card as a sign of a truce, and since that card is seen taped to the butt of Batman's gun in the Batman v Superman Knightmare, we can assume this scene is from earlier in the timeline. We know from other comments from Snyder that Joker may help steal a Mother Box to help build Flash's Cosmic Treill, which is used to time travel to try and prevent the death of Lois Lane. However, things clearly go wrong in this version of events, and the torn Joker card that drifts past the screen in Cyborg's Knightmare indicates the truce has come to an end. In this particular moment, Superman drops down to face the League, but just as his eyes glow red, Bruce Wayne wakes up in his lakehouse, indicating it may have been a dream.
However, just like with Batman v Superman's Knightmare and visit from Flash, it's not clear how much of this dream is a vision, a full glimpse into the future, or something else entirely. The full nature of the Knightmare future is still being reveald. That being said, The fact that Martian Manhunter has telepathic abilities and we also saw red eyes when he transformed out of Martha Ken will surely spark additional theories and speculation around the nature of Superman's glowing red eyes at the end of this scene before Bruce jerks awake.
What the Snyder Cut's Ending Really Means
The Snyder Cut, at its core, is justice for Zack Snyder and his cast and crew who didn't get to see their vision released to the screen back in 2017. However, the common thread in the many endings in Zack Snyder's Justice League is that they're almost all teasing the beginning of something new. While that may have been more of a thrill in 2017, in 2021 some of it feels like a memorial to DC's cinematic plans of the past. Aquaman and Wonder Woman 1984 are already at odds with the Snyder Cut's continuity. The Flash is the only film on the schedule from the original DCEU plan, although it's undergone numerous delays and countless rewrites and Ray Fisher's conflict with Warner Bros. and Warner Media lead to him being removed.
DC executives reportedly say the Snyder Cut is a dead-end story and Snyder himself says WB doesn't want any sequels and prefers to keep Whedo's 2017 Justice League as canon, so it may seem odd to end the movie with so many teases for long-canceled projects, but considering the fundamental nature of the Snyder Cut, altering the story to give more finality would be contrary to the principle of restoring Snyder's original vision for the movie.
The movie's positive reception and budding campaign to #RestoreTheSnyderverse are certainly a sign that there's some level of demand just as there was for the Snyder Cut, and the mere existence of Zack Snyder's Justice League is evidence enough to never say never, however, too many stars need to align to even get Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 or other projects into consideration to consider it anything other than a long shot. Then again, we live in a society where the Snyder Cut was just released.
