Justice League Snyder Cut Trailer Breakdown: 30 Story Reveals & Secrets
The official trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League has now been revealed thanks to DC FanDome and reveals new scenes, secrets, and confirmation of the director's differences. Discover it all in our trailer breakdown for The Snyder Cut. Thanks in part to one of the most tumultuous production periods of all time, Snyder's take on the DCEU ensemble is now easily billed as the ultimate director's cut movie.
With the recut Justice League landing on HBO Max in 2021, Zack Snyder appeared at DC's digital event with a handful of familiar faces to showcase the first full teaser for his vision. And it's fair to say that the trailer was packed with heavily spoilerific footage, including never-before-seen teases of scenes that didn't make it into Joss Whedon's controversial theatrical cut of the movie. Somewhat atypically, Snyder can spoil as much of the upcoming release as he likes, safe in the knowledge that the leaks will actually advance the impact of the marketing. He is, after all, not only selling a new movie, he's selling the idea of it not being Whedon's version. More revelations in there mean more emphasis on that crucial difference.
With interest in Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League at peak levels right now, and its format for 2021's release confirmed, the trailer - which comes with a typically Snyder-like musical accompaniment - represents the perfect opportunity to pour over the new footage over and over. Because given how little focus there is on old footage, there is a lot in there that deserves further analysis and which will no doubt dial the Justice League hype up even further.
While the theatrical cut established Ciaran Hinds' Steppenwolf as the main villain, Zack Snyder has long teased that Darkseid would have been pulling the strings behind his uncle. That added importance of the character (played by Ray Porter) is front and center here as the first shot of the trailer acts as Snyder's statement of intent. This is also a shot that has already been heavily teased in the past thanks to Snyder's drip-feed marketing campaign (even before the project was officially announced) and replaces the history lesson sequence showing Steppenwolf's backstory in Diana's history lesson in the theatrical cut.
Most importantly, the sequence shows Darkseid activating the Anti-Matter Equation, which would have set up the events of Justice League 2. The Equation is fundamentally Darkseid's reason for wanting to invade Earth and the reason he would be compelled to come to Earth in the wake of Steppenwolf's defeat. When the plan for sequels was dropped, the Anti-Matter Equation ended up meaning very little.
Just as Batman v Superman opened with a flashback (of the funeral of Bruce Wayne's murdered parents), Zack Snyder's Justice League will open with a look back to Superman's death at the end of Batman v Superman. That's not only to tie the narratives together with a handy reminder, but it's also key to establishing how the Mother Boxes awaken. Zack Snyder revealed on Vero that Superman's sacrifice in the battle with Doomsday - and specifically his ferocious scream (as shown here) - is what activates them.
As with the early reveal of Darkseid, the trailer returns to the Knightmare sequence shown in Batman v Superman, which was made mostly irrelevant by Warner Bros. manifesto to cut off the Justice League sequel and Snyder's plan for the DCEU's future. The shots here, showing a damaged Justice League sign denoting the destroyed Hall Of Justice that would have stood in the grounds of Wayne Manor (or what's left of it). The big hint in this footage, thanks to the presence of Aquaman's abandoned trident and Wonder Woman's shield in the rubble is that the League itself is destroyed as well. Inevitably, the Knightmare sequence is set to play a bigger role in Snyder's cut of Justice League.
While it's hardly going to have an impact on the plot of Justice League in any substantial way, there's a big reminder in the Knightmare sequence of the trailer of how committed Snyder is to filling his comic book movies with comics references. As the camera pans across the rubble, a playing card floats by on a breeze. Which card? The joker, of course. It's the same card Batman carries on the butt of his gun in the Knightmare sequence.
Again, this isn't a point that will have huge ramifications on the story content of Justice League, but the title screens reiterating that this Justice League is a WarnerMax and HBOMax original and not a Warner Bros. movie is an important thing to note. The big take-away is to remember that Zack Snyder will not be subject to the same executive influence as he was when he made Justice League first time out, nor that which the other DCEU film-makers are still subject to.
The trailer does a good job of keeping the story on track for anyone who might not have seen Justice League (an allowance Snyder's editing team will have had to keep at the front of their minds, given the circumstances). The shot of Diana Prince shows her investigating an ancient Amazonian temple where Queen Hippolyta issued her warning that the Amazons' Mother Box has been stolen by Steppenwolf. The sub-plot, which directly sets up Diana warning Bruce Wayne about Steppenwolf's arrival, will be beefed up in the Snyder Cut, with the director previously revealing an image that confirmed that Diana would investigate the warning in person.
Joss Whedon's introduction to Batman saw him in full detective mode (or an approximation of it) as he sought the secret of the parademons and how to take them down. That sequence won't be included, with a big hint here that Bruce's arc will be more defined by the aftermath of Superman's death. The shot of him looking at a hologram of the slain hero was partly shown in the trailers for the theatrical cut (though it hid what Bruce was actually looking at) and reinforces that his primary drive is honoring Superman's legacy.
Aquaman doesn't feel like as strong a presence in the Snyder Cut trailer as some of the other heroes (he does, however, feel more present than Wonder Woman), but the tone of the shots of him leaving Amnesty Bay after saving the doomed fisherman are dramatically different to the theatrical cut. In that, Whedon shot for badass, with Jason Momoa's rugged hero necking bourbon in slow-motion with The White Stripes' "Icky Thump" playing loudly over the footage. Snyder's shot choices here are much tighter on Momoa and seem less focused on showing him stumbling drunk towards the seas as in the theatrical cut.
Snyder's take on Justice League will reinstate more of Victor Stone's and Cyborg's backstory prior to the car accident that almost kills him. The football sequence, which sees Victor's mother - but not his father - cheering from the bleachers, will play a significant part in adding some more emotion to his story. It's part of the backstory that Ray Fisher said was "really special to shoot" and will presumably add more weight to his origin, giving more insight into precisely what his father was trying to rebuild. The fact that his mother is in attendance suggests this comes directly before the car accident that kills her and seriously maims him - and which is partly due to Victor's anger at his father missing the game.
In a nice call back to Man of Steel, the trailer shows Superman in his new, cooler black suit, which he has just retrieved from the Kryptonian ship. Notably, other than the shot of Superman's hologram, the black suit is the only one shown throughout the entire trailer.
If you're concerned - as Warner Bros. was, clearly - that Zack Snyder's unimpeded control of Justice League will mean an endlessly bleak movie with no moments of levity, have no fear, because there is some suggestion in here that it's not all dark. Despite the darker tone being appropriate for a world on the brink of annihilation, Snyder retains this moment of heart in the wake of Wonder Woman saving the hostages in London. It's not a huge deal, narratively speaking, but its inclusion in the trailer is definitely pointed and no doubt for that reason.
The new Justice League trailer confirms that Barry Allen's backstory, in which he would have saved Iris West from a car accident. will be saved from the cutting room floor, as widely expected. The sequence, which will properly show off The Flash's powers for the first time and restore Keirsey Clemons' cameo as Iris West, which was cut entirely. Obviously, that will lead to more of their relationship in the future The Flash movie, but it's no less important in establishing that Barry's character goes beyond cocky kid turned superhero. It also ties in with his later acts of altruism in Snyder's cut.
Joss Whedon's cut of Justice League let Ray Fisher's Victor Stone down by not giving enough of an insight into his humanity, but Snyder's trailer has already gone some way to changing that. The shots of him broken, digging up a grave are not - as some might expect - showing him digging up Superman, they're him visiting his mother's grave. In fact, though only two gravestones appear to be visible, there could be monuments to all three of the Stone family's deaths, including his own. Seeing him literally digging up his traumatic past with his bare hands will definitely add emotional heft to his backstory.
The brief flash of Amy Adams' Lois Lane and Diane Lane's Martha Kent hugging in a doorway confirms that Snyder has brought back his version of their meeting, which will replace the version Joss Whedon reshot (with the awful "thirsty" line). Most intriguingly of all, this would also have been the scene that confirmed Martian Manhunter's role in Justice League as Martha would have turned into the alien after leaving the apartment, before transforming again into Harry Lennix's General Swanwick. The scene, which was revealed in a storyboard, was never completed, but its brief appearance in the trailer may hint that Snyder has found a way to complete it.
The trailer then heads underwater and teases a new scene that will see Arthur Curry meeting Willem Dafoe's Vulko (though he's not shown here) and receiving both his armor and the quindent he takes into the battle against Steppenwolf. The shot of him stepping back into the water presumably comes at the end of the meeting with Vulko in an air bubble, a version of which was shown in the theatrical cut, albeit with Mera in Vulko's place. A brief shot of Amber Heard's character confirms she too will return. Both appearances will be minor, but it's all necessary bridging work.
Steppenwolf and Darkseid aren't the only Apokoliptian villains in Snyder's cut of Justice League. The third prong of their triumvirate comes in the shape of Desaad, played by Peter Guinness, who appears for a brief reveal in the wake of another shot of Darkseid on Earth. Desaad's appearance appears to take place on Apokolips, and according to previous leaks by Snyder is part of a scene in which Steppenwolf reports back to him about the vulnerability of Earth. It's the same scene from which the "no protectors here" line was taken for the theatrical cut's trailer. Strictly speaking, this isn't the first Desaad has been seen, as he (and others in his exact image) were included as part of Diana's history lesson in the theatrical cut. That made little sense, though, as it suggested that the Apokoliptian priests were loyal to Steppenwolf rather than his master, Darkseid.
After another brief shot of Cyborg - still visibly emotionally broken - the trailer shows Superman after his resurrection floating ominously in the sky above Metropolis with Lois Lane looking on. In the theatrical cut, Lois was taken to Heroes Park to stop Superman killing the other members of the Justice League by Alfred, but Snyder's original cut of Justice League had her brought to the park by a cop played former Jimmy Olsen actor Marc McClure. The shot of Lois looking up was partly included in the marketing for the theatrical cut, and while the difference in the dynamic of that scene is probably minor, it's definitely something to note.
Silas Stone's story in the theatrical cut was markedly different from what Zack Snyder had intended with his cut of Justice League. Cyborg's creator (played by Joe Morton) made it through to the end of Joss Whedon's cut, but as Snyder revealed on Vero with an image back in May 2019, Silas was supposed to die in S.T.A.R. Labs. The new trailer confirms as much, with Stone experimenting on the Mother Box and being vaporized in front of his devastated son. Presumably, this comes after the rescue when Steppenwolf kidnaps Silas and as the Justice League look for a means to resurrect Superman using the Mother Box. There's no escaping how much Silas' death looks to take a visual cue from the origin of Dr. Manhattan in Snyder's Watchmen.
Next up comes Steppenwolf’s arrival and confirmation that Snyder's design for the Apokoliptian villain was totally different from Whedon and Warner Bros.' more softened version that included a badly CGI-ed face and more human features. He arrives looking to retrieve the Mother Box protected by the Amazons and shows off his new design, which appears to be almost biomechanical and more in line with the nightmarish, HR Giger-like features.
In line with Barry Allen's rescue of Iris from the car crash, the trailer appears to show a sequence of The Flash saving the kidnapped S.T.A.R. Labs employees from the tunnel under Gotham Harbor. The moment was cut from the theatrical version of Justice League in favor of the more comedic scene in which Barry tells Batman that he's "never done battle."
A version of Batman's joy-ride in the Batmobile from the theatrical cut is clearly in Snyder's version, though whether it follows exactly the same grain is unclear. Whedon's version has Batman clearing the field as a distraction for the other Justice League heroes, though he does so with the help of the siren established in a reshoot, so that presumably won't happen. The color here is also completely different as Whedon's red dawn aesthetic is gone. Thankfully.
The next flash of a scene shows something of the final battle between Steppenwolf and the Justice League, with a far more epic Superman punch sending the Apokoliptian soaring through the air. In the theatrical cut, Superman is in his red and blue outfit, but here he's decked out in black. And there's just more of an epic feel to the clash, rather than the clunky humor of the theatrical cut that was heavily reshot here.
Like in the theatrical cut, Batman faces off against a number of parademons during the final battle, but there's no sign of him grabbing one of their guns in this trailer. His armor is doing a job in terms of defending himself, but the point here is that he's vulnerable and not on a par with the other heroes. Or so it feels.
There are a couple of shots of The Flash in the Speed Force that clearly come at the end of the movie as the League battle Steppenwolf. It's already been widely speculated (and indeed revealed before the Snyder Cut had an official release). In Snyder's version, Barry Allen travels back in time as part of the battle and these sequences clearly show that rather than him speeding around evacuating civilians as he did in the theatrical cut.
Martha actually appears twice in Snyder's trailer. Fittingly, when Superman is resurrected and heads back to the Kent farm, both Lois and Martha are there for an emotional reunion. Some of the scene was shown in the theatrical cut's trailers and a version of it made it into the final film, but it was dramatically changed and Martha was missing.
The reason Cyborg is the key to undoing Steppenwolf's invasion and stopping the unity of the Mother Boxes is that he is phenomenally powerful. The theatrical cut never really showed that enough, but there's a hint in this trailer of what he's capable of as he's shown controlling a vast array of nuclear weapons. As revealed in deleted scenes breakdowns, this is likely part of a virtual reality training sequence that also sees him fighting a Nazi base.
Diana's key history lesson from the beginning of the movie is clearly getting an upgrade, as the trailer reveals the king of Atlantis, Atlan wielding his trident in a battle against the parademons as part of Darkseid's initial invasion of Earth. Played by Graham McTavish in Aquaman, the Dead King - whose seen wearing Aquaman's golden armor, of course - is played in Justice League by Julian Lewis Jones.
The shot of Cyborg saving the cop in Heroes Park was originally included in the marketing for the theatrical cut but never made it in full in the final movie. The scene features the originally intended cameo by Marc McClure, who ended up in the theatrical cut as a prison officer. The shot of Cyborg stopping the flaming tank hitting him is part of the additional military scenes after Superman's revival.
Unsurprisingly, the Snyder trailer includes a hero shot for the Justice League. A similar version of this one was included in the theatrical cut, but the differences here are notable. The tone is way more reminiscent of Snyder's filmmaking approach, the color scheme has been changed back to his intended palette and Superman is wearing his black suit. It is immediately iconic and the kind of shot these trailers are built around.
The only bit of dialogue in the entire trailer comes right at the end as Barry Allen weighs up the threat of Steppenwolf, reiterating that he's already cut a bloody swathe through the universe. Batman's defiant slogan might as well be the synopsis for the entire movie. It is the message of hope on which the whole thing is based, and as something of a reward to fans, it also feels like a rallying cry for the Snyder Cut movement. It was, after all, included on the back of the “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” hoodie by Snyder himself.
More: How Superman vs. Justice League Is Different In The Snyder Cut