Zack Snyder planned to conclude his Justice League story with a Flashpoint movie, which would have fixed DC’s Snyderverse problem once and for all. After rebooting Superman with Man of Steel, Snyder was tasked with creating a DC cinematic universe inspired by the MCU, kicking off with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Snyder’s trajectory as the main creative force behind DC movies went on for several years and was seemly concluded with the release of his director's cut of Justice League in 2021, but what is now known as the "Snyderverse" still casts a large shadow over the franchise.
After Warner Bros. decided to use Man of Steel as the foundation for a DC shared universe, Zack Snyder’s highly divisive style resulted in a troubled start for what became known as the DCEU. The studio and the director were clearly not on the same page regarding what the Man of Steel sequel should be, and while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice did set up the Justice League as Warner Bros. wanted, it did so amid a very convoluted story and with controversial takes on Batman and Superman. After Snyder then left Justice League mid-production due to a family tragedy, the team-up movie went through extensive reshoots that essentially moved the franchise away from Snyder’s original plan.
As soon as Justice League hit theaters, fans began campaigning for the Snyder cut of the movie to be released. Those who had enjoyed Snyder’s work on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman wanted to see what the director would have done differently than Joss Whedon, who'd replaced him on Justice League. Surprisingly, after enough pressure, the four-hour cut titled Zack Snyder's Justice League was greenlit and eventually released by Warner Bros. on HBO Max in March 2021. During the long window between the Justice League theatrical release in 2017 and the streaming premiere of the "Snyder Cut" four years later, Snyder revealed a lot of what his plans were for two presumed Justice League sequels plus other DCEU movies, including Flashpoint. This sparked a new fan-driven campaign calling for Warner Bros. to restore the Snyderverse.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Story Would’ve Ended With A Flashpoint Movie
During a 2019 fan screening of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder revealed how his original Justice League story led to a Flashpoint movie, allowing the DCEU to reboot and start from scratch. This would have been an opportunity for the franchise to cleanly move on from the Snyderverse instead of being a mixture of both old and new ideas. Snyder shared that Justice League 2 and 3 would have dealt with Superman succumbing to the Anti-Life equation and becoming a general for Darkseid’s Earth invasion. Most of the Justice League would have been killed by Darkseid, and Batman would have put together a resistance to oppose Superman’s reign of terror. The scenario would then have been reversed at the end with Flash traveling back in time and Batman sacrificing himself to save the world. While that story already resembles the Flashpoint comic event, Snyder mentioned there was to be a proper Flashpoint movie afterward that would have rebooted the entire thing – allowing the studio to recast the Justice League and start a new series of movies.
How Batman v Superman & Justice League Set Up A Flashpoint Movie
The very first scene of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was already a massive Flashpoint tease. The high-profile actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan were cast as Thomas and Martha Wayne, a curious decision given how the characters would only appear in the very brief moment of their murder. However, considering how important both Thomas and Martha Wayne are for the Flashpoint event in the comics, Snyder seemed to be setting up an adaptation of that storyline. Morgan and Cohan very much resembled Thomas and Martha from the Flashpoint comic, too, and had the movie happened, they would have most likely played the Thomas and Martha Wayne versions of Batman and the Joker, respectively.
In addition to its Knightmare epilogue, Zack Snyder’s Justice League also had another small Flashpoint setup through the relationship between Amazons and Atlanteans. The movie establishes that both cultures had a connection and even features a brief interaction between Wonder Woman and Aquaman regarding their similarities. In Flashpoint, the Atlanteans and the Amazons are at war – a conflict that leads to the destruction of Earth.
DC Wants To Move Past The Snyderverse (So Why Isn’t It?)
It's been clear ever since Justice League that DC wants to move away from the Snyder movies. The Justice League theatrical cut is vastly different in terms of tone from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, and none of the storylines set up by the Snyder Cut have then been picked up by other movies. That said, the lack of a consistent plan for the DCEU, especially one that involves the Justice League, made it so that the campaigns for more Snyderverse gained even more track. The easiest way for DC to move on from the Snyderverse would have been to keep the elements that were better received, such as Henry Cavill’s Superman, now inserted into new stories under new creative teams. Instead, audiences are currently not sure of who the DCEU’s Batman is, if Henry Cavill is still Superman and if there will ever be another Justice League movie with the original cast. The DCEU seems to be stuck in a moment of transition, which is why it struggles in moving past the Zack Snyder DC movies.
Snyder’s Flashpoint Would’ve Rebooted The DCEU (& Fixed Snyderverse Issues)
Zack Snyder’s DC movies were highly divisive and might have become financially unsustainable in the long run. That said, two Justice League sequels with the same cast and a Flashpoint movie to wrap up the Snyderverse and give the DCEU a fresh start is a concept that could have worked under the right circumstances. This would have prevented the DCEU from being stuck in this mixture of old and new ideas, as it would give the Snyderverse full closure, and it would allow the studio to reshape the franchise for a new beginning. Curiously, that is exactly what the DCEU seems to be trying to do with The Flash, although the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the recently announced 10-year plan for DC movies suggest that the franchise will go through a similar course correction soon.Warner Bros. was reportedly also considering a Crisis On Infinite Earths movie before the Discovery merger, which proves how even the studio acknowledges the necessity of an in-universe reboot in order to reshape the future of the franchise. How Zack Snyder’s Justice League sequels would have been received by the general audience is difficult to say, but the planned Flashpoint movie would have at least granted the DCEU the chance of a fresh start.
