Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally arrived. It’s been a long road and you can check out a spoiler-free review here. However, fans of the director still want more. It’s not hard to see why after everything that’s happened.
But there’s more to it. Zack Snyder’s Justice League isn’t just a cul-de-sac. It’s a whole avenue with roads leading to spin-offs and sequels that will never come to fruition.
Here are the following movies that could have come out of the movie had it released in 2017.
Batfleck Solo Movie
Once upon a time, Ben Affleck was directing as well as starring in a Batman movie. This is set-up in Justice League by Lex Luthor telling Deathstroke Batman’s real identity.
In an interview with Yahoo, Joe Manganiello recalls the original idea for the movie.
“It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out.
It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him.”
Furthermore, it seems like another member of the Bat-Family was going to appear. Speaking on Comicbook Nation, he parts with new information.
“There was like a big huge showdown. I think… Batgirl jumps in to try to help Bruce because Deathstroke is so fast that he can anticipate Bruce’s movements. And there was this huge fight in Gotham City where Batman is like, you know, completely afraid because he realizes he’s met someone who can take him. And that leads to this big climactic battle through the streets of Gotham City at the end.”
He even compares the idea to a David Fincher movie. There was also a rumor some of the movie takes place in Arkham Asylum. It sounds like Ben Affleck’s Batman could have been something special.
Deathstroke Spin-Off
Not only was Deathstroke supposed to be the villain of Batfleck’s movie, he was also having one of his own. The Raid director Gareth Evans was attached to helm it. However, that movie is another casualty of Warner Brothers’ restructuring.
Joe Manganiello says “When the dust settled, it was not seen as a priority to make a 40 million movie about a villain origin story in which you show the backstory.” (Via The Hollywood Reporter)
After Joker’s success, I wonder if Warner Brothers might reverse their decision at some point. To add to the sting, Deathstroke was nearly part of the original Suicide Squad 2.
That’s three times he’s had projects taken away as the character. That’s why it was more important for him when Zack Snyder came calling for the Snyder Cut.
The Atom
Zheng Kai plays Ryan Choi in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Comic book fans know him as the second iteration of the Atom. We’ve already seen Ryan in the CW’s universe, but this marks the first time on the big screen.
According to Zack Snyder, he had a reason for including the character:
“Yeah. I had been pitching Warners to do an Atom movie with him in China, like a Chinese-cast superhero movie. That was my goal.”
Hopefully, the Atom gets his own movie soon. If he does, it’d be nice to see Ray Palmer too, but the focus should be on Ryan.
Justice League 2
This one goes without saying. It’s no secret Zack Snyder planned a five movie arc. That includes Justice League 2 and 3. The sequel would see Batman having to keep Lois safe while Superman takes the fight to Darkseid.
“Lex tells Darkseid that the key to Superman’s weaknesses is killing Lois Lane. “For whatever reason, Batman fails. Darkseid comes back and kills Lois. Batman fails, he hesitates. They were in an argument.”
Zack Snyder (Variety interview)
This makes Superman succumb to the Anti-Life equation and connects to the Knightmare sequence.
Justice League 3
The threequel focuses on the Knightmare sequences seen at the end of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
“What happens in the post-apocalyptic world is, Cyborg works on an equation to use a Mother Box to jump Flash back in time to warn Bruce about this moment, where he didn’t have the courage to sacrifice himself to save Lois,
Zack Snyder (Variety interview)
The Flash running back in time alludes to the scene we saw in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. With this, Batman saves Lois and Superman doesn’t succumb to the Anti-Life equation.
It seems Zack’s idea for the third act was to have a modern day version of the history lesson.
“Then the final movie has Aquaman leading the forces of Atlantis, Diana leading forces of Themyscira, and Superman and Flash leading the forces of humans against Darkseid in a giant war.”
Zack Snyder (Variety interview)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League sets-up a universe we’ll never see. Maybe somewhere in the Multiverse there’s an Earth who gets to experience it.
The next entry from the DC Universe is The Suicide Squad. The first trailer was officially released recently. It comes to HBO Max and theatres on 6th August 2021.
