Small Details You Missed In The Justice League Snyder Cut Trailer
The Snyder Cut of Justice League has been a part of superhero conversation since the Joss Whedon theatrical cut of the film was released back in 2017. In May 2020, we found out the Snyder Cut was real — in the works under Zack Snyder's keen eye and headed to HBO Max for exclusive streaming. Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter at the time it would "be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that movie."
With a rumored $20 to $30 million in additional funding from Warner Bros. (but apparently with no profit being pocketed off that by Snyder), the director set to work piecing together the approximately 214 minutes worth of footage he had on hand — only about one-fourth of which we haven't seen, according to Snyder — with some scrubbed-up CGI to make it really shine.
The director's cut is rumored to feature a number of key changes: Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) having more scenes, Martian Manhunter showing up, other members of the Justice League simply having more screen time (thus allowing audiences to get to know them more), and time travel taking place. Plus, Henry Cavill's Superman in his black suit and Darkseid rocking up in the film's climax as another big bad.
So much hype has backed Zack Snyder's Justice League, but so little concrete information was known about the movie. That changed during DC FanDome on Saturday, August 22, 2020, when Snyder unveiled the flick's first trailer. What made it into the hotly anticipated footage? What might you have missed even on your fifth rewatch of it? Let's break down the full-length trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Cyborg and the Flash and Iris West, too!
We knew from the start that Zack Snyder's Justice League would include more of the heroes we already saw in the theatrical cut, but this trailer gives us a taste of just how much more. Two of the characters we'd hope we'd see elaborated on are Ray Fisher's Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, and Ezra Miller's Barry Allen, aka the Flash.The two represent a relatively minor part of the Justice League crew, especially when compared with the powerhouse vigilantes Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), but that's looking to change in a big way with Zack Snyder's Justice League.
First up: Cyborg. In the new trailer, we get quick clips of Vic prior to his transformative accident, showing him playing football at Gotham City University. That moment is contrasted shortly after with a scene of Vic as Cyborg tearing up a grave — which is apparently his own, given that Snyder previously confirmed a Snyder Cut scene would show Vic digging up his own grave at the Stone family plot in a misty graveyard. But there's also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment featuring Vic from behind, wearing his varsity sports jacket and moving an onslaught of missiles with a wave of his hand. Most shocking of all, we see a shot of Silas Stone (Joe Morton), Vic's father, seemingly disintegrating while working on a Mother Box.
The Flash is looking to get a massive upgrade in the Snyder Cut, too. Within moments of seeing Barry in the trailer, we watch him save Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), who was completely cut from the theatrical version of Justice League. There are also shots of the Flash running through the Speed Force — the movement- and velocity-based cosmic force that grants Barry his powers. At one moment, Barry is standing in a desolate wasteland as energy waves wash over him. We've heard time travel will be involved in the Snyder Cut — is this moment related? Looks like the possibility is pretty high.
Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Superman's black suit!
Even though Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) were already a major part of the theatrical cut of Justice League, that doesn't mean there isn't more to see from them. The trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League gives us all the hinting we need to know that's true.
First, for Batman, there are quick scenes featuring him fighting off Parademons (the extraterrestrial beings that Ciarán Hinds' Steppenwolf uses as his troop-like lackeys) — and there are others where the Parademons are even attacking the Batmobile. For Wonder Woman, one of her quietly big moments in the Snyder Cut trailer is her finding a mysterious arrow smoldering in the ground. You could mistake it for the spear Superman used to kill Doomsday in the DC comics, but it actually looks similar to the arrow used by Diana's aunt, Antiope (Robin Wright) ... which is surprising, since Antiope is supposed to be dead! (Remember what we said about time travel in Zack Snyder's Justice League? Those odds just doubled.)
As for Aquaman, it's looking an awful lot like he's abandoning his post as the leader of Atlantis. There are a few shots of him drinking and angrily tearing off his shirt, but the most important moment is when we see his Atlantean armor on the floor of the ocean as he backs away from Mera (Amber Heard). If your eyes are very fast, though, you'll also clock what appears to be an Atlantean king in full royal regalia, including a trident and a crown. Is that a new version of the flashback sequence from the theatrical cut?
Let's talk Superman, though, because this trailer shows him in his black suit, walking through what appears to be the Kryptonian vessel that we first saw back in Man of Steel. Superman appears in the black suit yet again while fighting what appears to be Steppenwolf. And, perhaps most importantly, the trailer shows what looks a lot like an alternate version of Clark's reunion with his love Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and his mother Martha (Diane Lane) after his resurrection.
Darkseid and Desaad, and who we're still waiting on in Zack Snyder's Justice League
If there's one thing that Snyder Cut fans have been absolutely frothing over, it's the reinsertion of Justice League big bad Darkseid — and he's not the only villain wee see in this trailer.
Yes, yes, to get it out of the way, the very first face we see in the trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League is indeed Darkseid's. We've heard a lot about time travel being a part of this new cut of the story, and it looks like we'll be seeing one future where Darkseid destroys the Earth. Within the first 15 seconds of the trailer, we get a glimpse of what appears to be a destroyed Justice League Hall of Justice. Parademons swarm towards what remains of an obliterated city as spaceships rain fire down on the last of what was human civilization.
Later on in the trailer, we also see something else Darkseid-related that's pretty major: a glimpse at DeSaad, one of Darkseid's followers who's known for being a sick, twisted sadist who revels in torturing others. Not exactly the kind of creature the Justice League would want to run into, let alone an innocent civilian, but the heroes won't ever go down without a fight.
That's everything we have seen so far. We have not, sadly, seen any sign of Martian Manhunter, Lex Luthor, or the Green Lantern Corps in Zack Snyder's Justice League — but you wouldn't want everything given away in a single trailer, would you?
Zack Snyder's Justice League will hit HBO Max sometime in 2021.