The Ra's al Gul Easter egg in Zack Snyder's Justice League is actually an accidental copy of a Halo emblem. After years of fighting and campaigning, fans are just days away from the infamous Snyder Cut of Justice League. This 4-hour film, which will be released on HBO Max on Thursday, looks to complete director Zack Snyder's original vision for the iconic DC team. The new Justice League will be vastly different than the version seen in theaters in 2017, with new characters and storylines filling out the lengthy cut. For example, the Snyder Cut now contains the Joker (Jared Leto), the full origin story of Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and a role for overarching villain Darkseid (Ray Porter).
Another major addition to Justice League is Deathstroke, the assassin played by Joe Manganiello in the DCEU. Previously, Manganiello simply appeared in the Justice League end-credits scene, which aimed to set up his future appearances in the franchise. However, when the theatrical cut crashed and burned, those future plans were put on hold. Luckily, Snyder has brought back Manganiello's Deathstroke for his Justice League; he'll play a part in the long-awaited Knightmare sequence.
It was recently confirmed that Deathstroke's Justice League costume contained a subtle reference to Ra's al Ghul, the head of the League of Assassins. It's a cool symbol, but not one that is particularly original. Christopher Barrett, a game director at Bungie, reveals the Easter egg actually resembles a Halo emblem he created years ago. "Resembles" might even be a stretch, because they look basically the same. You can compare the two down below.
To give the benefit of the doubt, this is likely an honest mistake on the part of Snyder and his team. The symbol, while looking very cool and fitting for Ra's al Ghul, is relatively simple and could've been recreated without even realizing it's already been done. Whether or not Barrett will be compensated somehow (or if he is even entitled to it) remains to be seen, but now that he's drawn attention to it, it feels like it should be investigated somehow.
This won't do much to impact excitement for the Snyder Cut, which is reaching an all time high as the premiere gets closer. In fact, all this talk of Deathstroke's original DCEU story has helped reignite interest in what Snyder had envisioned for the franchise. Right now, there aren't any Justice League follow-ups planned, but fan enthusiasm will not be dimmed. Regardless of what comes in the future, though, Deathstroke will get a new story in Justice League, and he'll inadvertently be repping Halo during it.
Source: Christopher Barrett/Twitter
