Just what would Zack Snyder’s Justice League 2 have been like? Seeing as the shape of the DC Extended Universe was completely changed when the franchise’s architect was ousted by Warner Bros. and replaced with Joss Whedon on Justice League, it’s pretty much confirmed that we won’t see the storyline kick-started in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice play out as intended.
That being said, we do know a bit about what it would’ve included. Our biggest clue comes from the infamous “Knightmare” sequence from BvS, which sees Bruce Wayne receive a vision of a dystopian future in which Earth has been subjugated by the forces of Apokolips. In the scene, Batman’s captured by a militarized Superman who blames him for taking away someone precious to him. “She was my world,” the angry Man of Steel tells the vigilante.
It’s long been believed that this “she” is Lois Lane, who’s apparently died in this version of the timeline. It seems that her death would be impactful enough to make the Kryptonian turn to the dark side (or rather, Darkseid), and now, Snyder’s given us our best hint yet at what’s going on here, replying with the following to a fan on Vero:
“If someone lost someone close to them they might be susceptible to a certain Equation and might blame a certain Bat for events that a too soon Bruce would know nothing about.”
Though the director doesn’t name names, it’s all too clear what he’s saying here. As he colorfully puts it, yes, Lois Lane’s death was the reason for Supes’ darker turn in the “Knightmare” sequence. DC fans will also know that “a certain equation” refers to the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid’s secret weapon that allows him to control the minds of others. So, the intention was clearly that, even if he was grieving, Supes wasn’t entirely working of his own free will in this future.
No doubt this would have been fascinating to see explored in Justice League 2, which likely would have dug deeper into the timeline where our heroes didn’t defeat General Steppenwolf in Justice League. Snyder has also previously teased that the Trinity – Supes, Bats and Wonder Woman – would have died in the sequel. In fact, the past few weeks have seen the director dropping a ton of interesting bits of trivia and if you’re eager for more, we recommend keeping an eye on his very active Vero account.