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Justice League 2 could’ve featured the New Gods as director Zack Snyder revealed he had plans for them. In fact, they could’ve appeared beyond Justice League 2. Furthermore, Snyder didn’t want to use just one or two of them.
Before Warner Bros. dropped the axe, Snyder had big plans for his Justice League sequels. As we saw in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Darkseid (Ray Porter) was ready to wage war on Earth and its protectors. Following Steppenwolf’s crushing defeat, the ruler of Apokolips ordered his vast forces to prepare themselves.
Unfortunately, we’ll likely never see just how dangerous Darkseid and his armada really was against DC’s biggest heroes. Well, at least not through James Gunn’s DC Studios. Nonetheless, the SnyderVerse fanbase will continue to fight for the director and the completion of his original vision. The #SellZSJLToNetflix campaign provides its best hope.
We still get the occasional behind-the-scenes looks at Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and ZSJL. Recently, unused promotional pictures for certain characters from the SnyderVerse trilogy have made their way online.
In addition, Snyder continues to share details about his plans for the DCEU after his first Justice League movie. In the past, Snyder has revealed storyboards teasing the plot and characters from his cancelled sequels.
Teased in ZSJL, Harry Lennix would’ve fully embraced the role as the Martian Manhunter. In addition, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor would’ve also returned and was set to play a significant role in Darkseid’s defeat. The Knightmare world that Batman had previously seen in premonitions would finally become reality and serve as the setting.
Justice League 2: Zack Snyder’s Secret Plans For The New Gods
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
ZSJL showed some of the events that would’ve eventually lead to this dystopian future. Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Wonder Woman are murdered; Lois Lane (Amy Adams); and her unborn child are killed, causing Superman (Henry Cavill) to be corrupted by Darkseid.
Batman leads a small group of survivors who hope that sending the Flash back through time prevent this horrific future. Furthermore, Synder has now confirmed that more members of DC’s New Gods would’ve have also played a role.
The New Gods were a team of god-like heroes and villains created by comic-book legend, writer/artist Jack Kirby. They first appeared in The New Gods No. 1 back in 1971 and have become integral to DC’s expansive lore.
We only saw four members of this ultra-powerful group of characters in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, these were:
Darkseid, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), DeSaad (Peter Guinness), and Granny Goodness.
Other more heroic members have gone on to star in their own solo DC comic-book series.
First up is Mister Miracle.
Justice League 2: Zack Snyder’s Secret Plans For The New Gods
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
He is the universe’s greatest escape artist who was raised and trained by Darkseid since birth.
Next is the ultimate powerhouse Big Barda. Apokolips’ most fearsome warrior would later fall in love with and later marry Mister Miracle.
Finally we have Orion, also known as the Dog of War. He is the biological son of Darkseid, who traded him with Mr. Miracle not long after birth in a twisted peace agreement.
All of whom turned their backs on Apokolips and Darkseid and would eventually join forces with the Justice League.
Recently, Zack Snyder was asked at SnyderCon if we would’ve seen more members of the New Gods in his original DCEU plan.
His response was:
“Yeah, for sure, all of them. I mean, Darkseid had to really get an invasion force together and I think he was going to, you know, get his own.”
With that being said, it sounds like we could’ve seen the Justice League battle it out against the New Gods.
A huge missed opportunity on Warner Bros.’ part. Exactly which members that could’ve had a role is anyone’s guess. Most likely we would’ve seen both Orion and Big Barda show up.
Hopefully, we’ll get more details on this abandoned story from Snyder in the future.