With only days to go before its long-awaited release, the Justice League Snyder Cut has dropped one final trailer.
This new video showcases the best look yet at the classic DC Comics villain Darkseid as he prepares to invade Earth with only the League to stop him.
‘So begins the end’
The trailer mixes elements of previous TV spots but some new footage as well. Notable is the amount of screen presence Darkseid has.
The iconic DC villain was hinted at in Batman v Superman and would have been set up in Snyder’s original cut before Joss Whedon whittled his appearance to nearly nothing.
As the trailer shows, Darkseid figures a world without Superman is perfect for attacking and sends son Steppenwolf to pave the wave for him.
“So begins the end,” Darkseid intones as Batman muses on how it will take the League to stop him.
Darkseid is shown landing on what may be Themyscira, relating he has turned scores of planets into dust and “all existence shall be mine.”
The spot also shows Darkseid underwater unleashing his “Omega Beams,” the crisscrossing eye beams that never fail to hit their target.
Another notable spot is what looks like Cyborg being hit by energy that seemingly vaporizes him, but then it “rewinds” for him to reform with the Flash running behind him. This may indicate the Flash is touching into the time travel powers of the Speed Force.
There is also a brief shot of Martha Kent (Diane Lane) with glowing red eyes. This sets up the reveal that the Martian Manhunter aka General Swanwick (Harry Lennix), was briefly posing as Martha to speak to Lois.
Following that is a very brief shot of Jared Leto’s Joker making an odd “kiss-off” motion with his hands and Superman (Henry Cavill) in an all-black suit.
The non-sequel
Snyder has confirmed the movie will end on a cliffhanger despite knowing his sequel plans will never come to be.
They would have involved the League defeated by Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom which allows Darkseid to conquer Earth before the Flash goes back in time to stop it.
When asked why he chose to end on a cliffhanger, Snyder replied, “The ask was for my version of the movie.”
Snyder did elaborate more on his sequel plans.
It’s the fall of Earth, when Superman succumbs to anti-life. And then sending Flash back in time to change one element so that doesn’t happen. And then the big battle where we beat him. When [the villain] Darkseid comes to Earth, in the movie that you’ll never see, the armies of Earth all unite again, as they did before. This time there would be aircraft carriers and Special Forces guys, all the armies of the world would come together, as well as [Aquaman’s fellow] Atlanteans rising out of the ocean and the Themyscirans [Wonder Woman’s compatriots] coming off their island. That was our big finale. But it’s a long drum roll and guitar solo to get there.
While some Snyder cut elements may affect DCEU movies (such as Kiersey Clemons playing Iris West in The Flash movie), the director has stated that there are no official plans for any future DC films.
This trailer shows how Snyder’s vision of the DCEU could have been a daring one for fans.
Justice League the Snyder Cut premieres on HBO Max on March 18.