Zack Snyder's vision for the unofficially titled DC Extended Universe (DCEU) was cut short with Justice League. Although the film's cast and crew repeatedly said that the blockbuster was indeed Snyder's movie, the final product proved that that sentiment was the furthest thing from the truth. Sure, Justice League still contained many of Snyder's originally shot scenes and still followed a general path that the filmmaker laid out long beforehand, but there wasn't a worthwhile pay off from all the events teased in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, such as the infamous Knightmare scene.The Knightmare scene felt out of place for many viewers in Batman V Superman, but it was specifically used to set up the future of the DCEU, especially Ben Affleck's multi-film story arc as Batman. That changed with Justice League. And now, Warner Bros.' post-Snyder Justice League 2 is looking to take the shared DC universe in a different direction, one that strays away from Snyder's initial vision. But looking at all the evidence, we're able to piece together what Snyder's full plan was for the DCEU's Knightmare scenes.

  • This Page: What Happened In Batman V Superman & What It Meant

What Was Shown In Batman V Superman

One of the many issues people had with Batman V Superman was that it spent too much time building up the DCEU. The Knightmare sequence and the subsequent Flash introduction were among the various things that the film used to lay the foundation for the then-burgeoning shared universe. In the film, after re-obtaining Lex Luthor's files from Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne opens them onto his computer and then seemingly falls asleep while they load - but it's unclear how long that next scene lasts for him. While sleeping, Bruce has a dream of a future, post-apocalyptic world in which Superman reigns supreme: the Knightmare.

In the Knightmare sequence, Batman walks out onto a desert landscape of what appears to have been Gotham Harbor. Audiences get the full extent of the situation as Batman looks out into the distance, seeing a Gotham City that has been razed to the ground. And judging by the enormous Omega symbol, as well as all the raging firepits off to the side, it's clear that Gotham - and, presumably, the world - had been terraformed into New Apokolips. All of this was meant to tease the supervillain Darkseid along with Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Throughout the rest of the sequence, Batman and his ragtag group of rebels attempt to procure Kryptonite to defeat the Man of Steel, but they are, then, betrayed by Superman loyalists, who resemble the Regime Soldiers from the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game.

After fending off several Regime Soldiers, Batman is eventually captured by the loyalists who are aided by alien Apokoliptian soldiers known as Parademons. Then, when Superman arrives, the Kryptonian kills the two other captured rebels before apparently collapsing Batman's lungs with his hand. That's when Bruce wakes up and sees... The Flash. Barry Allen delivers a message to Bruce as he's being pulled back into the time stream: "Bruce, listen to me now. It's Lois. It's Lois Lane. She's the key. Am I too soon? Ah... I'm too soon! You're right about him. You've always been right about him. Fear him. Find us, Bruce! You have to find us." Then, Bruce actually wakes up... or does he? The papers flying in the background indicate that he was really awake.

What Batman V Superman's Knightmare Scene Meant

Ezra Miller in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The scene was rather jarring, especially for general audiences who've never read the comics or played the Injustice video game. But for those who have, it was a moment that not only introduced The Flash but also teased an epic story arc that would've unfolded over the course of several years and multiple films. There's a reason it became one of the movie's most talked about scenes. While the general concepts regarding the Knightmare scene and the subsequent Flash introduction were relatively easy to deduce - that The Flash travels back in time to warn Batman about a future in which Superman is evil and effectively rules the world - Zack Snyder has confirmed the suspicions as well as provided additional context.

Flash's message convinced Batman that he was right about Superman all along, but really, the message was, again, hinting at a future in which Superman had become evil under the control of Darkseid. It's believed that Lois Lane was inevitably supposed to die in Justice League or a future film, which Snyder says would've made Superman susceptible to "a certain equation," such as the Anti-Life Equation (more on this later) - an equation or formula that gives the user complete control over a sentient being, like Superman. The equation is closely associated with Darkseid and the New Gods, which means that Darkseid could've used it to turn Superman evil.

And because Superman became an overlord (after blaming Batman for Lois' death), The Flash traveled back in time (from the Knightmare timeline) to warn Bruce about fearing Superman and to essentially tell him to prevent Lois' death. After all, time isn't set in stone for The Flash. Based on various Batman V Superman dialogue (such as "She was my world" and the "God is dead") as well as Snyder's own quotes from the Vero app, it's clear that there was a grand plan in place for the DCEU; Snyder just didn't get to tell it the way he wanted - and all of that is evident in Justice League.

Justice League final battle Russia

What Actually Happened In Justice League

Justice League was originally envisioned as a two-part film, but that changed shortly after Batman V Superman released in 2016. Instead of Part One coming in 2017 and Part Two hitting theaters in 2019, Warner Bros. moved forward with only Justice League - one movie, one story. And much of that story, which was planned beforehand, was removed in favor of a more streamlined narrative involving the Mother Boxes, as well as Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons.

What happened was, once Lex Luthor contacted the New Gods in Batman V Superman's Ultimate Cut, Steppenwolf returned to Earth to reacquire the Apokoliptians' three lost Mother Boxes. The three tribes/peoples - the Humans, the Amazons, and the Atlanteans - each took one Mother Box to safeguard after they initially defeated Steppenwolf thousands of years earlier. This time, however, neither tribe was able to protect their Mother Box. So, Steppenwolf took hold of all of them and attempted to terraform Earth into New Apokolips and turn every being into a Parademon. It's a simple story, but there was originally much more to it.

What We Were Supposed To See In Justice League

According to several details that have come out following Justice League's release, it's evident that the final cut was a shadow of its original self. In February, Screen Rant obtained a storyboard from Zack Snyder's Justice League cut that showed a scene involving Darkseid which was similar to the Knightmare sequence from BvS. In it, Darkseid activates one of the Mother Boxes and devastates the planet - or, at least, Gotham City - thus terraforming it into New Apokolips (a similar plot to the video game Justice League Heroes), complete with the Omega symbol and all. But one thing that stood out even more from the storyboard was that the Mother Box also destroyed the Hall of Justice, which resided inside Wayne Manor.

While all of this was part of another Knightmare-type sequence, it didn't actually happen to Batman. This time, it happened to Cyborg (via ForSnyderCut). That's why Cyborg's weapons system quickly turned on Superman in Heroes Park shortly after the Man of Steel's resurrection. Cyborg even says, "It's my armor's defense system. It's stronger since the interface; I can't control it." After Cyborg interfaced with the Kryptonian ship, his Apokoliptian-based armor saw a future in which Superman ruled over Earth and the armor activated to prevent that. As previously mentioned, the Knightmare sequence from Batman V Superman showed an alternate future in which most of the League are presumed dead and Darkseid and Superman ruled the world, but Cyborg's premonition would've elaborated on that - and it wasn't the only thing that was supposed to bring Snyder's vision to life.

One of the most noticeable changes from Snyder's original cut (as evidenced in the film's first trailers) to Whedon's version was the final act. Not only was Steppenwolf's downfall altered (and the infamous family added in) but so was the general landscape. Sure, it's easy to tell that the original design was less reddish, but recently unveiled Justice League concept art shows off a much more Hellish final battle that would've been like seeing the Apokolips on Earth. Among the various reasons the designs were changed in post-production, one of them must've been because the studio wanted to move away from Snyder's vision, which effectively meant abandoning the Knightmare-type landscape.

There was also a moment in which Bruce tells the Justice League of his dream (the Knightmare), saying that it was "the end of the world." Then, at the last minute, the editing team cut the sequence. It was even teased in Justice League's final trailer and shown in a handful of still images ahead of the film's release. But the sequence no longer had any implications for the overarching story arc that Warner Bros. wanted to tell since they were effectively abandoning Snyder's vision for the DCEU, including that of Justice League 2.

What Justice League's Scenes Would've Meant

Anti-Life Equation In Justice League Flashback History Lesson

Everything that was meant to set up the future of the DCEU and the New Gods was essentially thrown out the door, with the only lingering connections to the Fourth World being Steppenwolf and the Mother Boxes, which themselves weren't properly utilized in the film. And now, Warner Bros. is looking to fill that gap with an actual New Gods movie from filmmaker Ava DuVernay. If things had gone according to plan, though, Batman V Superman's Knightmare sequence would've been the ultimate teaser for a multi-film story arc that could've encompassed all corners of the shared universe - and that's clear by what was and wasn't shown (yet otherwise revealed) in the movie, such as Bruce's dialogue and Cyborg's vision.

Another thing that was recently (somewhat) confirmed by Zack Snyder was exactly how Darkseid came to control Superman in the Knightmare timeline. Again, following Lois Lane's death, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation, but what's interesting is that the Anti-Life Equation was also teased in Justice League's history lesson. In that flashback sequence, the Apokoliptian ships are seen landing on Earth, with a group of symbols appearing under them. While those symbols were thought to have been added for taste, it turns out they were actually part of the Anti-Life Equation. It makes sense since Earth plays an integral role in completing the equation, which is one of the reasons Darkseid has always been obsessed with conquering the planet.

Related: Justice League's Original Zeus & Ares Art Tells An EPIC Story

Furthermore, Snyder made similar comments about Darkseid's purpose in the DCEU shortly after Batman V Superman released, saying that the supervillain could be out there somewhere in the universe, "just looking for something, something that's against life." All of this was meant to be teased and set up in Justice League in various ways so that Snyder's Justice League 2 could focus on the newly-formed superhero team defeating Darkseid and preventing the Knightmare timeline from coming to fruition.

What Justice League 2 Would've Been About

Zack Snyder's Justice League 2 clearly isn't happening the way that he had envisioned it. And since much of what he set up was removed or otherwise altered in Justice League, it's difficult to tell exactly what his then-planned 2019 sequel would've been like. Still, there are certain plot threads that are easily decipherable, such as Darkseid potentially being the main villain and coming to conquer Earth. Darkseid's original appearance in Cyborg's Knightmare premonition was meant to tease his arrival in Justice League 2. Moreover, Darkseid's entire presence in the sequel logically would've been heavily inspired by Grant Morrison's Final Crisis comic book event series in which he gains control of the Anti-Life Equation and takes charge over Earth and virtually its entire human population.

Based on all the evidence, the bulk of Justice League 2 would've been dedicated to preventing the Knightmare timeline from happening, thus meaning that Batman needed to thwart whatever event lead to Lois Lane's death as well as help the League in defeating Darkseid so that he can't obtain the Anti-Life Equation and lure Superman to his side. Since the team was down one character in the first movie, it makes sense for the Green Lantern Corps to also have been introduced - or, at least, teased - in Justice League 2. And putting together everything, the sequel could've given fans an ideal conclusion to a story arc that started with 2013's Man of Steel.

What Justice League 2's Story Would've Meant

Wonder Woman with Lois as they are next to Superman's dead body in Batman V Superman

Sure, the Justice League stopped Steppenwolf without much difficulty, especially since Superman joined in on the fun, but that wouldn't have been the case for Justice League 2. With one of DC's biggest bads coming to town, there were bound to be some casualties in the sequel. One of the most recent revelations from Zack Snyder is that Superman's death in Batman V Superman actually teased even more deaths in Justice League sequel. If audiences look closely in that scene, they can see three crosses in the background. Snyder explicitly confirmed that those crosses were a tease for Justice League 2... #untilitwasnt.

Considering Snyder's overuse of religious themes and references, it's presumable that the crosses referenced the potential deaths of the Trinity - both physically and ideally. As previously mentioned, Knightmare Superman, though alive, was ideally dead (e.g. "God is dead"); the same applies to Batman. In BvS' Knightmare sequence, Batman is seen blatantly killing his enemies, perhaps because he had abandoned his ideals by that point. As for Wonder Woman, it's possible that she was dead since she wasn't seen or referenced in the sequence at all. Even if the Knightmare sequence was prevented, though, that doesn't mean at least one of the Leaguers still wouldn't have died in the final battle against the Apokoliptian overlord.

How Justice League 2 Could've Ended

What's interesting about the potential Final Crisis story arc, Darkseid, and the Anti-Life Equation is that Batman eventually sacrifices himself to save the day in that crossover event. Considering that Ben Affleck has been looking for a way to segue out of his Batman role, it's possible that Batman would've died to defeat Darkseid in Justice League 2, thus saving the day and effectively preventing the Knightmare timeline from taking effect. After all, Superman blamed Batman for Lois' death and he was alive in Batman V Superman's sequence. So, by sacrificing himself and beating the Apokoliptian tyrant, Batman could've broken the timeline that lead to the Knightmare sequence in BvS. But that idea seemed to also change since Affleck was later set to write, direct, and star in The Batman solo movie.

Overall, this outline would've concluded Zack Snyder's planned DCEU story arc as well as Affleck's tenure as the Caped Crusader (and given Superman a true story arc from beginning to end), since he didn't want to play Batman for as many years as his fellow superhero actors played their roles. But now, it seems that the villain(s) of the inevitable Justice League sequel will actually be the Legion of Doom, which is intriguing in and of itself, but still not what Snyder seems to have envisioned for Justice League 2... or the DCEU.

More: What Will WB's Post-Snyder Justice League 2 Be About?

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