Had Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 happened, what would have been in store for Amy Adams' Lois Lane, and how would her story have ended? HBO Max became the platform to release Zack Snyder's Justice League after years of fans campaigning to see the filmmaker's original vision restored. After Snyder had to step away from the DCEU film back in 2017, Joss Whedon came on board and significantly retooled the Justice League's first cinematic adventure. After its release in November 2017, it had become clear that this was not Snyder's actual product that he had shot. Multiple characters and arcs got removed while other plots got rewritten, leading to reshoots for most of the cast.
Lois was one of the many characters that had their storyline changed, including specific dialogue. Since Zack Snyder's Justice League got released, the HBO Max project has garnered mostly positive reception as the 4-hour story explored what the director had planned from the start. Before the Snyder Cut came out, story ideas and concept art made their way online, where fans got a bigger picture of how the Justice League trilogy would have ended. Some things would have changed due to how the Snyder Cut played out. Despite having ideas to round out a trilogy, Warner Bros. is officially not continuing the Snyderverse with any Justice League sequels from the director.
While the DCEU will continue, Zack Snyder's Justice League will not get its conclusion, leaving the Snyder Cut franchise unfinished. It is always possible that Warner Bros. reconsiders in the future and perhaps tackles Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 through other mediums. Whether that is live-action, animation, or as a graphic novel, they may at least find a way to give Snyder's story a conclusion. For the foreseeable future, however, the Snyderverse is over. But if those Justice League sequels had happened, this was the filmmaker's plan for Lois's story.
Lois Lane's Story in Zack Snyder's Justice League
While Lois is not in Zack Snyder's Justice League as much as the heroes were, the story explores her emotional state after losing Superman. When the story picks up with her, Lois is still grieving after Clark's death in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. After his passing, Lois stopped writing and kept to herself for a long time. Martian Manhunter visits Lois as Martha Kent to check up on her and tries to encourage the Daily Planet reporter to get back in the world. Eventually, Lois decides to resume her life and gets ready to return to the Daily Planet. But that same day, Lois witnesses Superman coming back from the dead. An amnesiac Clark fights the Justice League until Lois stops him from almost killing Batman.
Lois helps Clark slowly regain his memories as they return to the Kent Farm. As Superman's memories return to him, thanks to Lois, Clark has a beautiful reunion with Martha before he has to temporarily leave them to find out why the team needed him back. Toward the end of Zack Snyder's Justice League, Martha gets back the farm, thanks to Bruce's help. But as Lois and Clark help Martha move her stuff back into the house, Lois is seen holding a wicker baby basket - telling as, earlier in the film, Lois takes a pregnancy test. Snyder later confirmed that Lois was pregnant. While Lois has a happy ending with Clark back in her life, the follow up to the Snyder Cut would get darker for her.
Lois Lane's Story in Snyder's Original Justice League 2 Plans
Initially, the Snyder Cut had a Lois/Bruce romance set up that would have affected Zack Snyder's Justice League 2. But due to Warner Bros. rejecting that plotline, Snyder had to take it out. However, had it not been written out, their relationship would have been crucial to the follow-ups. In the second installment, Lois and Bruce look for Lex Luthor while also dealing with tension in their relationship, since she got back together with Superman. Lois helped Clark trying to get settled again in the world after his resurrection. While Lois is pregnant, she did not tell Bruce that he was the father. Clark, however, found out by hearing the baby's heartbeat inside of Lois. During their search for Lex Luthor, Lois discovers that Dr. Maru was still alive and begins to piece together what Luthor was planning.
With the help of General Swanwick (Martian Manhunter), Lois learns that Lex had collected the three Mother Boxes, which terrifies her. While Lex manages to find the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid ends up stealing it for himself. However, Darkseid gets the idea from Lex to murder Lois, thus making Superman succumb to the Anti-Life Equation. Before her death, Bruce confronts Lois about the pregnancy and knows that he is the father, while she denies it. Because of their argument, Lois could not inform Bruce about what Lex was planning. Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 ends with Darkseid Boom Tubing into the Batcave and murders Lois with his Omega Beam. Not long after, Superman gets corrupted by the Anti-Life Equation as Lois's death makes the Knightmare reality come to life.
Lois Lane's Story in Snyder's Original Justice League 3 Plans
Due to Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 taking place primarily in the Knightmare timeline, Lois is not a big part of the trilogy's finale until much later. However, Knightmare Batman tells Flash something that becomes instrumental in helping undo this future, as he instructs Barry to tell Bruce of the past, "Lois lied to you. You're the father." Flash successfully travels to the moment in Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 after Lois and Bruce had their dispute. By informing Batman that he is the father, Bruce ends up listening to Lois as she tells him what Lex was planning to do. They figure out together what the Injustice League was up to before Darkseid invades the Bat Cave. This time, Darkseid fails in killing Lois when Bruce takes the Omega Beam hit for her.
While Darkseid has to pull back, Lois tells Superman about Lex and the Injustice League, preventing the other heroes from being attacked. Bruce and Lois do have a tragic conclusion as Batman was slowly dying from the Omega Beam hit. That is why Batman sacrifices himself in the showdown against Darkseid as Bruce takes down the New God once and for all. While mourning the loss of Bruce, Lois tells Superman that she is carrying Batman's child, which Clark already knew. Instead of being discouraged by it, Superman finds a purpose again to be Clark as he gets closer with Lois and the unborn baby. Zack Snyder's Justice League 3 ends with a time jump as the final scene takes place 20 years later. Due to crime rising once again in Gotham City, Lois tells her son who his birth father was by taking him to the Bat Cave. After learning about Bruce's legacy, the film ends with the Dark Knight's son becoming the new Batman.
Lois Lane's DCEU Future Explained
While that would have been Lois's arc in Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3, those ideas will only exist on paper, at least for now. Outside of the Snyder trilogy, it is currently unclear what the DCEU will do with Lois. Since the Snyder Cut is not canon to the DCEU, there is no specific direction for Lois in the other franchises. With Warner Bros. currently developing a Superman reboot with a black version of the Man of Steel, there does not seem to be any plans for Henry Cavill's franchise, which is where Adams's Lois began her DCEU arc.
Warner Bros. has not clarified what Cavill's future with Superman is, and that is also the case for Adams in terms of reprising her role as Lois. Since the DCEU is going forward with other ideas, primarily about the DC Multiverse, it is fair to assume that Snyder's Lois and Superman have completed their run. Adams and Cavill may reprise their characters in the future, depending on where the DCEU is going in the next coming years.
If Adams has finished playing Lois in the DCEU, it is certainly a big disappointment. Her Lois was one of the best versions of the character in live-action, from Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, to Zack Snyder's Justice League. For every movie Adams's Lois was in, it always made one want to see more of the DCEU's incarnation of the iconic DC journalist. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will find ways to continue her take on Lois along with Henry Cavill's Superman, even if it won't be in Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 and Zack Snyder's Justice League 3.
