Zack Snyder’s DCEU finally came to an end with the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The franchise was marred by controversy, mismanagement, and a messy plan that in the end fizzled out, making way for a full-fledged reboot by James Gunn. While the resulting franchise became a huge mess, it never started that way.
Zack Snyder reportedly had a five-movie plan for the DCEU, which would encompass the journey of Superman from being an unsure alien with powers to a full-fledged superhero who does good. While audiences only got glimpses of this arc in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the original two-part Justice League film explored this arc in even more detail. A fan on Reddit also theorized how Justice League Part 2 would build on this story arc.
Zack Snyder Had A Five Movie Plan For The DCEU
In an interview with Inverse, storyboard artist Jay Oliva, who worked on the initial version of The Flash, mentioned that the universe was initially supposed to focus on five films based on Superman’s character arc, with one film standing apart from the main continuity. However, WB reportedly began commissioning more films after the success of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.
Jay Olive said that the original The Flash film was not supposed to adapt the Flashpoint Paradox storyline that ended up in the 2023 film but actually introduced the main DCEU villain, Eobard Thawne a.k.a Professor Zoom a.k.a Reverse Flash. He said,
“Originally, there was supposed to be just Zack’s five films and one side movie, which ended up being Suicide Squad. Rick [Famuyiwa’s Flash]’s movie was going to be a series of films, just like Aquaman. I think all of those films, they were planning to be trilogies…In the Flash movies, Zoom would be the villain in the background. But also in the ancillary other films, you would see some of the influences of Zoom on the rest of the Justice League.”
Snyder’s plan reportedly included Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League Part 1 and 2, and an unknown fifth film that would explore the Flashpoint storyline, end the arc of Superman and serve as a reboot for the franchise. While Justice League Part 1 would be similar to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, JL Part 2 would reportedly lean into Knightmare sequences teased in previous films and show Superman’s dark side.
Fan Theory For Justice League 2 Makes Darkseid A Scarier Villain
In the Justice League film and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Darkseid is teased as the big baddie of the DCEU, much like Thanos. While the franchise never got to explore the villainy of Darkseid in subsequent films, Snyder reportedly had a full-fledged plan that showed the League banding together to defeat him.
Though fans never got to see Zack Snyder’s complete vision for a Justice League Part 2, a Reddit user named ‘renk1737’ put forth a theory that involves Superman finally breaking down and turning to the dark side, as shown in the Knightmare sequences in ZSJL. The theory mentioned how Zack Snyder had confirmed that JL 2 would take inspiration from the Injustice storyline that showed Superman go rogue to avenge the death of Lois Lane.
The theory mentioned that Superman would turn evil due to Darkseid’s influence and then proceed to kill members of the Justice League, making the Knightmare sequences come true. The theory also mentioned that each member of the Justice League would be in a different Nightmare due to Darkseid’s influence, much like what audiences saw for Batman in BvS. The user said,
“These nightmares would be fueled by Darkseid himself to weaken the League mentally and emotionally. Batman’s nightmare would be related to the death of Dick Grayson and the impact The Joker had left on him, which is why Knightmare Batman is seen with a Joker card on his gun. Wonder Woman’s nightmare would be losing Steve Trevor, evil Superman would recall Lois’ death, The Flash would remember the death of his mother, etc.”
The user also theorized that Batman would be threatened in the film by Superman, which would act as a distraction for the Justice League to figure out a way to stop Darkseid. The user mentioned that this would be where the Flash would travel to the past to communicate with Bruce Wayne, a scene that was shown in BvS. The end of the film would then lead to Flashpoint.
