Did the Joker Kill Heath Ledger? Submitted For Your Perusal

EPISODE 1 - DEEP BREATH - 9/10
What an introduction to Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. The TARDIS is coughed up by a gigantic dinosaur in Victorian London and the newly regenerated Doctor comes crashing out. Also, I LOVE the new design of the titles. Peter Capaldi’s Doctor already feels so distinguished from the others, that bubbling anger mixed with the struggle to understand human emotion that was touched upon at times by Matt Smith’s Doctor (particularly during “The Beast Below” or “Flesh and Stone”). The whole interaction between the Doctor and the homeless man was brilliant, especially when you see him wearing the coat.
The restaurant scene with the Doctor and Clara develops both of their characters so beautifully, the relationship between them feels so different from any other Doctocompanion relationship we’ve had so far and the chemistry flows wonderfully. The half-face man villain is a terrifying concept and the design is great, I love the practical effect of the moving eyeball and ticking robot - it reminded me a little of the clockwork robots from “The Girl in the Fireplace”. We get another great restaurant conversation between the Doctor and the half-face man. I adore the little moment when the Doctor holds up the plate as a mirror but is also looking at himself on the other side whilst explaining his changing face. The ambiguity of whether the Doctor pushed him was so unnerving, particularly that shot of the Doctor looking straight to camera.
Clara’s phone call with Matt Smith’s Doctor was a very sweet and quiet moment that wrapped up her relationship with Smith’s Doctor beautifully. I like the idea of this Doctor needing a companion as a bridge between human emotion and his cocktail of confusing feelings, instead of the usual Doctor heralding his superior intellect over an unimportant human person that is in awe of him. Both Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman (no Louise now?) give fantastic performances, and Clara’s character feels different but so much better in this episode than all of Series 7.
EPISODE 2 - INTO THE DALEK - 8/10
We’re finally getting another Dalek story that isn’t just them cropping up randomly. Even the opening moment with Peter Capaldi making Blue ask him politely instead of threatening him, already such a great little insight into his character. Then we get the main premise being shrinking a team of people to go inside a patient and cure them from inside our. It’s a concept that’s been used many times but I like the twist of the “patient” being the Doctor’s greatest enemy; a Dalek.
The Doctor and Clara’s relationship continues to develop and I like that they’re still figuring each other out, not just jumping straight into being super close like Tennant and Rose when he last regenerated with a companion. It’s an interesting contrast with Danny Pink and the Doctor and the idea of soldiers that’s cropped up a few times over the series. The Doctor and Clara, inevitably, join the team entering the Dalek and the effects of them entering in that void space was beautiful. I don’t know if the show suddenly got a higher budget but the show is already so much more cinematic and beautifully shot.
Capaldi’s Doctor is already more ruthless, giving that soldier a false sense of hope before he dies and basically all his interactions with the soldiers. The slime made of dead people was disgusting and made me think of the tongue from “The Beast Below”. Clara calling out the Doctor for being pleased that he was right was a very valid point. I feel like that whole point has been better explored in this episode than the whole of “Victory of the Daleks”. The Doctor meeting the big goopy Dalek thing was another great design and I actually quite liked the CGI heavy design of the Doctor projecting himself inside the mind of the Dalek. The idea of the Doctor being a “good Dalek” is such a nuanced line given the show’s history. And then the moment of Blue wanting to travel with the Doctor compared to Clara’s budding relationship with Pink isn’t very subtle but I still found it quite interesting.
EPISODE 3 - ROBOT OF SHERWOOD - 8/10
I must confess that I LOVE Robin Hood so when I saw the beginning and title of this episode I was already excited. Clara looks adorable in her costume, I also really like that Robin Hood and the merry men are wearing the fun campy outfits. The cheesiness of old Robin Hood films and shows is honoured wonderfully and I could understand if someone didn’t like or wasn’t familiar with them and disliked this episode but, as I said, this is right up my street. I like the Doctor’s obsession with proving Robin Hood isn’t real, it reminds me a bit of Ross from Friends trying to convince Phoebe about evolution but less annoying. I liked how they filmed the arrows being shot, this series definitely feels really well crafted.
Clara continues to be developed brilliantly, I like the touches of her being a natural teacher telling off the Doctor and Robin like naught schoolboys. The Doctor being petty was very silly but Peter Capaldi does snarky so well. I wasn’t sure about Tom Riley as Robin Hood at first but I warmed up to him as the episode went on. The conclusion of the episode was a little silly firing the golden arrow but it fitted in with the overall campy feeling of the episode. The setting of the episode was done brilliantly, the castle and the forest and the contrast with the metallic-looking spaceship was gorgeous. My favourite Mark Gatiss episode since “The Unquiet Dead” and, weirdly, the weakest of his titles.
EPISODE 4 - LISTEN - 10/10
I love the idea of exploring what the Doctor does when he’s alone. It’s like the other end of what David Tennant did in his sort of “victory tour” episodes and what could’ve happened in between. I love the small episodes of character exploration, and this episode explored both the Doctor and Clara as people so beautifully. The concept of someone hiding under the bed is so simple but so scary and, like a lot of the ideas in this series so far, a concept that is so simple but surprising it hasn’t been done before. I feel like this series has done a great job of not overdoing ideas like it has in the past, and this episode feels like a fantastic example of exploring one idea in depth.
The episode is shot beautifully, I particularly loved the shot of Peter Capaldi sat on top of the TARDIS. This episode felt like it was shot like an old school horror film. We get a sort of side-by-side exploration of the Doctor and then Clara’s character through her disastrous date with Danny. I’m already liking Danny. Mickey and Rory felt like they were cut from the same cloth at times and Danny definitely feels like his own person when Rory at times wasn’t given much of a character and was treated as just Amy’s boyfriend. We even get a very sweet exploration into Danny’s character through his childhood. Actually I think we get more insight into Danny in this episode than we got in 3 series worth of Rory in my opinion. The child actor playing Rupert is great, especially when good child actors feel quite rare on Doctor Who. The idea or Rupert changing his name to Danny felt similar to Amy changing her name from Amelia - letting go of a sad childhood.
I really felt for Clara this episode, having to deal with the young Rupert then contrasting him with present day Danny and then her future ancestor that looks like him. Jenna Coleman does a great job of conveying all that panic and emotion without going over the top. She and Capaldi are both spectacular this episode, both apart and together. I loved the little moments of the Doctor being pessimistic and Clara telling him off like the schoolteacher she is.
The spaceship was very simple and not particularly different but it worked really well in the dark colour palette and feel of the episode. I really loved the red lighting in the parts they travel to the future as well, such a beautifully designed episode. The whole episode links the whole show together with that moment with Clara and the very young Doctor. I loved the little nod with John Hurt and how it answers so many questions with nuance and elegance. I loved everything about this episode, I like the idea of being a sort of companion piece to “Midnight” as it explores similar ideas.
EPISODE 5 - TIME HEIST - 8/10
The memory worm is back and in spectacular fashion. I really enjoyed the domestic opening with the Doctor and Clara and the hints of them just trying to figure out each other and what their relationship is. Another great episode concept with the memory wipe, and the “monster” of the Teller that can detect guilt is fascinating. The design of the bank is also great, it reminded me of Gringotts from Harry Potter.
The spoonhead people are just creepy enough without being too graphic. I’m glad they didn’t go too graphic because it wouldn’t have fit the fun action movie feel of the episode. The supporting characters or Psy and Saibra were fun, maybe a little underused, but the camaraderie between the four of them felt earned by the end. I liked the moment of the Doctor refusing to allow himself to feel guilt when Psy gets cross at him because of the Teller.
I loved Keeley Hawes as Mrs Delphox, another in a long line of respected British actresses guest starring in Doctor Who. The reveal of the Teller felt very reminiscent of the monsters in “Hide” but I think worked a bit better, the Teller always felt like a prisoner itself similar to the Star Whale from “The Beast Below”. The reveal of Mrs Delphox being two people was a little bit of a cop out but Keeley Hawes pulled it off very well. I liked the moment of the older Mrs Delphox calling the Doctor on her deathbed, a bit of a call back to Matt Smith’s phone call in “Deep Breath”. The ending was very “The Wizard of Oz'' but it was the sort of episode that had to have a happy ending.
EPISODE 6 - THE CARETAKER - 7/10
This is the sort of episode that we used to get when Russell T. Davies wrote the show where the companion would have an adventure on Earth that would lead to their family discovering the world of time travel. We got a kind of version of this with Rory’s dad but it took 3 series, and whilst Amy was said to have parents the show seemed to have completely forgot they even existed after that one episode. Clara’s family isn’t touched upon this episode, her ties to Earth seems to only be Danny and her job as a schoolteacher despite some mentions of her dad. Angie and Artie seem to have disappeared entirely. I like Capaldi’s version of the Doctor’s childish traits being straight-up obliviousness like the coat being a disguise or Clara’s boyfriend must be the man with the bow tie and suspenders.
The idea of Clara being stuck in the middle of the Doctor and Danny was explored in a way they never did with Rose and Mickey or Amy and Rory. I like that it explored just how emotionally tolling it is on Clara to balance a life with two different men she has different relationships with where both men don’t quite understand the importance of her relationship with the other. I do like that Danny has a whole other reaction to the TARDIS and the Doctor’s world to other people, he doesn’t just accept it straight away and join them happily (that was always something that bothered me about Rory).
The monster of the week is a bit of a weak point. I get the idea of a character study being not very Doctor Who but for an episode set in a school it was a bit of a weak villain that didn’t quite fit with the rest of the premise. I thought “School Reunion” did a better job at using the school premise. I didn’t like the addition of Courtney being a bigger character, the small moments of the annoying schoolgirl worked at times but she was a little overused - her seeing inside the TARDIS felt a little annoying.
EPISODE 7 - KILL THE MOON - 9/10
This episode felt very reminiscent of “The Waters of Mars” to me, I think just the space station setting and eerie atmosphere. The tone of it felt quite familiar. I LOVED the aesthetic of the moon’s surface and they found a way to make the design of the space station a little different, as I’ve noticed there’s been a few space stations this series already. I really didn’t like Courtney as a companion this episode, she brought absolutely nothing to the story and was just a pointless pain. It would have worked so much better had it been a way of doing the trope I explained in the last episode of introducing the companion’s family to the Doctor’s world. If the show remembered Clara had a dad and used him in Courtney’s place it could have been an interesting insight into Clara and who she was before the Doctor.
The design of the spider is very clever in that we never see it in perfect lighting. As someone with a fear of spiders I found this episode very creepy, the whole feeling of this episode was incredibly creepy. The moon being an egg is such a Doctor Who idea (like Queen Victoria being a werewolf or Stonehenge being made by aliens).
Another deep insight into character, leaving Clara alone to become the Doctor. It’s sort of an interesting parallel to “The Beast Below” in the decision to save one creatures at the expense of another. We get such an interesting development of the Doctor’s character in the section that he’s absent from the story, exploring the effect of the aftermath of his interference through Clara’s eyes. Her angry reaction is very earned and brilliantly executed by Jenna Coleman. The writers have done a fabulous job, as has Coleman, of adding so much depth to Clara and developing her as a character that feels so different to other companions. I love that Clara is not blindly in awe of the Doctor the way people like Rose and Amy and even Donna were.
EPISODE 8 - MUMMY ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS - 10/10
Clara wants to have one last adventure with the Doctor before they part ways. I like the idea of travelling with the Doctor being like an addiction and with all we’ve learnt about Clara through Series 8 it feels right that she’s one of the companions that dips in and out of the Doctor’s adventures. It’s sort of like how Jack pops in and out but then he always seemed like he wanted to stay.
The design of the Orient Express is gorgeous, this series has had spectacular production design. The shot of the train floating through space was also gorgeous. The mummy is a fantastic design and a great use of the mummy concept, using the best parts of mummy mythology (probably the best use after the way the show used vampires and werewolves). I loved the idea of the passengers being gathered as experts in their fields to solve the mystery of the mummy - and the Doctor being the smartest and yet only there by chance. The small insights into the supporting characters through their interactions with the mummy, like the Captain who uses all reason but in his last moments tries to bargain in a fit of fear. So beautifully done.
Perkins was a great supporting character, his journey from awe to anger to distrust of the Doctor was interesting and just subtle enough to fit with an already packed episode. Gus was a great villain, a great little bit of voice acting from the legendary John Sessions. It’s an interesting conclusion that we don’t get some big reveal about who Gus is and I really like that. Also such a great way to explore the idea that the Doctor is heartless, what’s felt like an underlying theme of Capaldi’s Doctor ever since “Deep Breath”. Their conversation on the beach in which it’s left somewhat ambiguous is a lovely touch. Again, similar to the ambiguity of the Doctor pushing the Half-Face man in “Deep Breath”. Fabulous episode. Gorgeous costumes and production design, and continued fantastic performances. The best acted series so far.
EPISODE 9 - FLATLINE - 9/10
In a series in which I’ve noted the stories have used quite simple somewhat obvious ideas but executed them well, this episode used a whole new concept but executed it with just as much skill. The TARDIS is shrinking, with the Doctor stuck inside, leaving Clara to play Doctor whilst carrying around the small TARDIS in her handbag. It’s so silly but just works. It’s amazing that Coleman and Capaldi can have such great chemistry and banter without even being in the same room, sort of similar to Oswin and the Doctor in “Asylum of the Daleks”.
The story feels sort of like let’s do a better version of “Fear Her” with the idea of drawings whilst at the same time feeling completely separate. Clara recruiting Biggsy as her own companion was a really fun idea, and he’s a great companion. I like the moments of her dismissing him asking if she liked his graffiti being similar to the Doctor’s dismissal of people.
I wasn’t sure about the graffiti then coming to life out of the walls but then I did really like the effect of them being static-like instead of fully formed. The moment where the Doctor uses his hand to crawl along the train tracks was the silliest thing ever and I LOVED it! The Doctor spends the whole episode stuck inside the TARDIS instructing Clara and in a way is sort of a no-Doctor episode like “Love and Monsters” and “Blink” but with an already established character taking the lead. I like the idea that Clara is trying too hard to be like the Doctor. Missy crops up again, she’s been collecting all the dead people throughout the series and it’s definitely leading up to her being the villain in the finale which I’m excited about because I adore Michelle Gomez.
EPISODE 10 - IN THE FOREST OF THE NIGHT - 4/10
This episode brings back one of my least favourite Doctor Who tropes of annoying children played by bad child actors. It’s a sweet idea to make Maeve a primary character to the story but it doesn’t really work as she’s not very interesting or important to the story overall, a bit like the child Queen from “The Rings of Akhaten”. Again, it does the Clara being tied to Earth but, again, not by her family who she doesn’t seem to ever see.
It’s an interesting concept for an episode, and the comparison between the ice age just happening was interesting. The conclusion of Maeve’s sister hiding in a bush the whole time makes no sense and is one of the stupidest things the show has done. Another episode in a long line of great titles of not great episodes. The forest looked really great, all the green was really beautiful, and it was an interesting concept that I just don’t think explored the full potential of what the story could have been.
It’s another episode that is really exploring Clara’s dynamic with the Doctor and Danny but it doesn’t really add anything new to the dynamic as all it really does is re-iterate what previous episodes have stated as if we haven’t understood, the only thing it adds is Danny finding out Clara is still travelling with the Doctor. The Doctor and Clara have a similar, but less effective, argument as they did in “Kill the Moon” but here it just feels like a rehash.
EPISODE 11 - DARK WATER - 9/10
It’s the first two-parter of the series. I like the idea of a series of single adventures leading up to a bit two-part finale. The Cybermen are back and FINALLY a good villain again. The main premise of the episode is Danny dying a human death in a car accident, and Clara trying to use the Doctor to bring him back. It’s an interesting comment on Clara that her first thought is to threaten the Doctor beside a volcano instead of just simply asking him. Peter Capaldi does a fantastic job of conveying silent anger and his line about Clara betraying him not changing how he cares for her is fantastic. Actually the whole conversation between them in the TARDIS is beautifully written dialogue.
Danny has been sent to “heaven” but we soon learn it’s a ruse and the dead bodies are being turned into Cybermen by Missy. The moment it’s revealed to the audience through the doors closing is brilliantly done, and then the dark water thinning to reveal the skeletons as Cybermen is equally chilling. Clara, again, is playing Doctor and it’s interesting how her conversation with Danny the Cybermen says so much about how dangerous it is for her and those around her. THEN we get a second big reveal that puts the Cybermen to shame. Missy is really the Master. It’s a great reveal, in fact much better than both River Song and the Impossible Girl because it actually makes sense and is very satisfying. Michelle Gomez is deliciously camp and has hints of both Mary Poppins and the Joker but makes it work so seamlessly.
EPISODE 12 - DEATH IN HEAVEN - 9/10
The series finale (only 12 episodes, I don’t know if this was done on purpose because Peter Capaldi is the 12th Doctor but I like it as a theory). I love the reintroduction of Osgood and Kate, they were both fabulous in “The Day of the Doctor”. I liked the little bit with the Doctor and Kate asking about the payroll. The Doctor being the President of Earth is a little silly but I like how it ties into River name dropping it in a past episode (I don’t remember which).
Again, Clara is trying to be the Doctor and her conversation with the Cybermen Danny shows why that’s so bad and so dangerous for both her and everyone around her. The Doctor and Missy work brilliantly together, I loved the bit of the Doctor gloating over Missy how he’s got all the power she wanted. And the little moments with Osgood were very sad but so well done, Missy going from singing “Oh Missy” to shooting her then dancing around was fantastic and I can’t imagine anyone but Michelle Gomez doing it with such conviction. And then she reveals herself as the woman in the shop that brought the Doctor and Clara together in the first place was a great little tidbit.
I find graveyards incredibly creepy anyway, and they utilised the creepiness in this episode to the full. The comparison of the soldier storyline between the Doctor and Danny finally comes to a conclusion, and Danny’s point about the Doctor keeping his hands clean hit hard. Jenna Coleman broke my heart when she deactivated Danny then wouldn’t let him go, she did a fantastic job playing the human part next to Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez giving brilliantly big performances. Capaldi just fabulously delivers a cocktail of emotions with great conviction, and the moments of Mission: Impossible action scenes were cheesy but brilliant.
This has definitely been my favourite series of the show so far. Capaldi had been excellent, already my favourite Doctor. Jenna Coleman upped her game and Clara is fast becoming my favourite companion, maybe tying with Donna for that top spot at the moment. Michelle Gomez was also fabulously mad, and Samuel Anderson also gave a great nuanced but quiet performance as Danny. Steven Moffat really upped his game in writing, there were some incredible episodes this series. The only dud for me was “In the Forest of the Night”.
EDIT: Somehow managed to miss out my review for “In the Forest of the Night”. I like the idea someone said that I hated it so much I didn’t even review it!

Like the title suggest playing Arkham City in 2021 is like looking in an open world time capsule. The map is small, there is a minimum of twelve side quest, one real major collectible, and one short DLC story with no season pass. It’s pretty refreshing to play an open world game that isn’t trying to be “bigger and better” than the one that came out two months ago. What is “bigger and better” about Arkham City compared to its predecessor is the story. Instead of being isolated on a prison island you are now trapped in a walled off city filled with even more dangerous thugs and deranged criminals. To make matters worse Batman and along with several patients of Gothams hospitals have been infected with Jokers poisoned Titan blood and unless a cure is found within hours everyone infected will die. And just to add onto Bruce’s streak of shitty luck he must also uncover what this mysterious “Protocol 10” is that warden Hugo Strange is plan on initiating the very same night. I applaud the plot which embraces the comic book roots, if this wasn’t a game I could see this being a story line in the comics (probably from Scott Snyder or James Tynion IV).
As you traverse and explore Arkham City you get to see just how ugly it looks and I mean that in the best way. It looks broken down, the highways have been destroyed (if I remember correctly this section of Gotham was ravaged by an Earthquake), trash is everywhere, and some buildings have succumbed to the rising sea water. In fact you constantly hear about how much life sucks within the walls due to eavesdropping on their conversations and some of them are pretty amusing to listen to. The cast members for the new villains are excellent, Nolan North is unrecognizable as Penguin with his cockney (I believe it was a cockney accident). Troy Baker is exactly what I imagine Two-Face and Harvey to sound like, while he would not get more dialogue until Arkham Knight (conversation for another time), he was perfect with what little screen time he was given. And Kevin Conroy was absolutely chilling as Hush, it’s nice to see Kevin show his range as an actor and that he is just as good as playing the villain. Corey Burton is the definitive Hugo Strange (not that Strange gets to be in many games or shows) with his monotone and authoritative delivery. You always feel Strange is a step ahead of you and the more confident he gets the more satisfying it is when you finally punch him in the face. There was some casting I wasn’t 100% sold on. Tara Strong as Harley Quinn is so so. On paper this should have worked, hell I wanted it to work, but she is always using a high pitched voiced and it can get very irritating. Dee Bradly Baker portrays an intelligent and sophisticated Ra’s Al Ghul, but I always imagine Ra’s having a more deeper voice, but still Baker does a good job. And Troy pulls double duty by voicing Robin which is another odd choice. Maybe it’s because Tim is a teenager in the comics and in a lot of cartoons so seeing him as an adult is an interesting, but weird take.
The combat has, maybe improved is not the best word to use, but more like expanded, as the old saying goes “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and Rocksteady kept the combat mechanics unchanged and instead added more takedown variations and gadgets. What is improved on is the predator combat segments. In Arkham Asylum after a while those stealth missions didn’t have any variety, but in here you will face enemies that can spot you on the gargoyles with thermal goggles and some will have jammers that interfere with Detective Mode rendering it useless until you take out that particular thug. Boss battles have more variety to them now. You fight Ra’s on another worldly plane, you have to stand toe to toe with Solomon Grundy, you slash up Clayface with a sword, and when up against Mr. Freeze you have to think of new strategies on the fly. Once you finish up the story and side missions it is time to take on “Riddler’s Revenge” aka the combat and predator trials. If you’re to use to playing as Batman why not try out some new skins? My personal favorites were Dark Knight Returns, Batman Beyond, Batman Inc., and Sinestro Corp (disappointed we didn’t get Red Son). You can also switch skins in the campaign, but it’s really weird as you have to enter a cheat code on the main menu. Could there really not be a “select skin” choice in the options menu? If you are tired of playing as Batman then why not play as Catwoman, Robin or Nightwing each with their own play styles. Catwoman had her own story missions, but they were rather short. Which makes sense as her means of travel are complicated because you have to climb onto buildings. She feels much more suited for these combat trials. Robin is also fun to play as, but my personal favorite is Nightwing who plays like a dream. He wasn’t even in the story and doesn’t have any win quotes, but I am just happy he is here at all.
My one complaint I have are the Riddler trophies. What were once the fun collectibles have become more trouble then they are worth was you have to solve puzzles, the more you solve you will get the location of one of Riddler’s hostages. The trophies and riddles were fun in Asylum because 90% would lead you to a fun little easter egg. Some of them do that here as well, but there are a lot more and now they just feel like a chore instead of being fun, kind of big misfire when you are making a game isn’t it.
Is Arkham City better than Asylum? In my opinion yes and it is still my favorite of the Arkham franchise. The fact that it isn’t as overwhelming compared to todays open world games will make for a more welcoming experience.

Not content with making the Snyder Cut a reality, fans are now campaigning for the SnyderVerse to be completed by Zack Snyder, the original Justice League director. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Trends As Fans Campaign For Zack Snyder To Finish His DCEU Plan. So, in this post, we will explore what is the Snyderverse, and what was the original plan for Zack Snyder’s DC Superhero Universe. Please be sure to check out this post till the end to find out the latest updates and our speculations for the Snyderverse!
I know this is a long post, and it took me a lot of time to write, so I hope you will show this some love. If you are not a fan of reading this much, you can watch it in video format on our YouTube channel: The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/7-oOcroRfEI If you decide to watch this, please do not forget to like the video and subscribe to our channel for more such content! We are looking for some love and support from fellow comics lovers to grow. Let's start!
Zack Snyder rebooted the DC superhero universe with 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill as Superman. He followed this up with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Both films suffered from mixed reviews, with many saying they were too dark, while others enjoyed the director's trademark take on the material.
Snyder was working on his third movie in the franchise, Justice League when he suffered a family tragedy and was forced to quit. As a result, that movie was completed by Joss Whedon and suffered from even worse reviews than the previous two efforts. That led to the Snyder Cut campaign, which bore fruit when Warner Bros announced in May that Snyder's cut of the movie would release on HBO Max in March 2021. Despite this, DC Films head Walter Hamada says the studio sees the Snyder Cut as a dead-end and won't be exploring the director's vision for the characters following its release.
In response, fans are taking to Twitter to once again campaign for Snyder. The hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending. The hashtag features fans imploring DC to let Snyder complete his vision for the so-called SnyderVerse, and make his films canon again. Others were tweeting about the characters they'd like to see more of in any future movies.
While fans are optimistic they'll be able to change the minds of DC and Warner Bros. with a new campaign, it's unlikely this one will be as successful as the original Snyder Cut campaign was. Studio executives saw the potential in releasing the Snyder Cut to promote their new streaming service, HBO Max. However, with a release plan, which includes introducing the DC Multiverse in The Flash, as well as The Batman and a new version of The Suicide Squad incoming in 2021 and 2022, it's clear DC has a plan in place for the DCEU.
And, sadly for fans, that’s a pretty clear sign DC has moved on from the so-called SnyderVerse. The director, too, seems to have accepted that the Snyder Cut will be his final film with DC for a while, as he's already moving ahead with several projects, including a host with streaming service Netflix. So, despite the popularity of the hashtag on social media, it's most likely that the Justice League director's cut will the last fans will see of the SnyderVerse.
As most would know at this point, Zack Snyder did not intend for his DC universe to compete with the MCU, but as 5 films with a beginning and end, that would take inspiration from various comic series to form his own Justice League storyline. Zack’s original idea was to have a 5-film, Elseworlds-style, Superman-driven, Justice League film series, and we know what four of these films would be. This is where we guess and offer our ideas on the potential storyline of DC’s former Snyderverse, as well as some ideas on what the fifth film would have been. Some of these ideas are official or confirmed by Zack Snyder himself, while others are pure guesses.

1. Man of Steel

The first installment in the Snyderverse is pretty much the same as the one released in 2013: a grounded take on Superman and his birth with small teases to the larger world Zack had in mind.

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)

It is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman comics. And the Ultimate Edition, a 3-hour epic that was never meant to give us classic takes on characters or follow a light tone as audiences expected. Just as it is now, the film teases the Justice League, the Knightmare world, time-traveling, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf. We are given a look at Batman’s past and the death of his sidekick, Robin, who Zack has confirmed was originally intended to be Dick Grayson. And towards the end, Superman dies, but his revival is hinted at.

1. Justice League Part 1

The plot would be similar to the film released in 2017, but with a few key differences. It would follow Batman and Wonder Woman recruiting Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash to defeat Steppenwolf and stop him from retrieving the three Mother Boxes on Earth. And Steppenwolf wants the mother boxes because his mother’s spirit is literally inside those boxes, it would’ve helped him to get even more powerful than Darkseid himself!
Superman would be resurrected with his infamous black suit, but it is unclear whether he is resurrected by the League, or by Steppenwolf himself as a supporter of Darkseid. There’s also a possibility that the Green Lantern Corps would appear in a small role, teasing them for Justice League Part 2.
Zack has also confirmed that when Lois is killed in the original Snyderverse, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation and turns evil under Darkseid’s influence. I think that this would have played into this film, and it would end with Superman taking down the League.
And The final scene would be the storyboard revealed by Zack Snyder: we see Darkseid opening a Mother Box, an explosion takes place that encompasses the entire planet, and we soon find Earth reflecting the Knightmare sequence from Batman v Superman.

1. Justice League Part 2

This sequel would have been inspired by the Injustice comics, as confirmed by Zack. This film would basically be the entire Knightmare sequence in-depth: a Mad Max: Fury Road-styled event involving the League trying to break Superman away from Darkseid’s influence and defeat the ruler of Apokolips. And a Green Lantern, probably Hal Jordan, would be the 7th member of the League in this film.
It is possible that the death of Batman in that chamber seen in Batman v Superman would be a purposeful diversion to distract Superman, whose main goal would be to avenge Lois. This would buy enough time for the League to defeat Darkseid somehow. My guess is that this would be where The Flash goes back in time to warn Bruce, save Lois, and end Darkseid’s reign. This, of course, would have major repercussions.
In the end, all we see is that the Knightmare is over and The Flash has returned to the current timeline, and we are left unaware of the League’s status, or Darkseid’s whereabouts. Regardless, it would likely be made clear that something isn’t right, and a major issue remains. I’m not sure what this issue would be, unfortunately, but it is my belief that this would have to do with either the Flashpoint storyline.

1. ??? (Maybe Flashpoint or Justice League Part 3)

This project was one of the most mysterious aspects of the Snyderverse, we were continually told about the films from Man of Steel to Justice League Part 2, but we were never told what exactly the final film was called or was about, aside from it supposedly tying together the entire Snyderverse.
And our guess is that after The Flash went back in time, we would see a Flashpoint-like situation where everything has changed, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan being Batman, but it would not follow the comics. Instead, Zack would create an alternate universe with the New Gods as villains that some form of the League must defeat. The film would end with characters like Batman coming to terms with their career and the losses they have faced, and Superman becoming the hero we all know and love. It remains to be revealed what Zack’s plans were, and we can only hope that Zack does inform fans at some point.
In a recent conversation on the ComicBook Debate YouTube show, Zack Snyder talked about his future in the DCEU. In the midst of 'restore the Snyderverse' fans campaign, he was asked if he would do more projects ahead. He said that he never thought he would be finishing his version of Justice League. The filmmaker stated that he has no issues with his project being an old movie on which he is working for years. Snyder mentioned that the DC Universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing which is fine for him. As far as what he did and his vision for what he wanted to do with these characters and the journey he wanted them to go on.
Zack Snyder asserted that it is well known that he planned on more movies, around five films or something (including Justice League 2), but he is busy now and has a lot going on. He admitted that it is cool and amazing that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory. The filmmaker expressed that he could not be happier and is excited for the fans to see Justice League so they can "really drink the entire elixir" of JL. He stated that he has no plan to continue in the DCEU. But noted that, 'who knows'' if his cut can see the light of the day and more things could take place.
Zack Snyder originally had big plans in the DCEU. He would have reportedly done a Man of Steel 2 with Henry Cavill, followed by Justice League 2 and 3, with a few more projects. However, the failure of the theatrical version of JL and the creative conflict led to his departure from Warner Bros Studios for quite a long time. Now as Zack Snyder's Justice League will be arriving soon, fans are eagerly waiting for what it has to offer. The project will be a four-hour-long miniseries consisting of never seen before footage.
With the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie coming to HBO Max, many fans and even Zack Snyder himself hoped for the "Snyder Verse" to continue on the streaming service. However, now that may not be happening.
Following the Snyder Cut getting announced, all kinds of rumors and speculation hit the net regarding a "Snyder Verse" getting created on HBO Max that would involve Zack Snyder creating additional Justice League movies, with projects involving Ben Affleck back as Batman, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Jared Leto as Joker, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and more potentially in the works.
ZACK EXCITED FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUELS
Zack has enthusiastically and excitably gone on record that he has ideas for a Justice League sequel involving Darkseid on Earth, and Zack even discussed how his Snyder Verse is part of the DC Multiverse, part of an Elseworld Multiverse.
The Hollywood trade sites even reported that if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves to be successful for HBO Max that it seems likely Zack Snyder would be able to two sequels to Justice League that would complete his five-film arc.
Ben Affleck is also being brought back as Batman for The Flash movie, which at first was thought to be building anticipation and hype for Affleck to do his own version of The Batman on HBO Max, but now it is being said the appearance is to just give the character a proper send-off. Two additional factors why the Snyder Verse might not be moving forward on HBO Max could be Wonder Woman 1984 and Ray fisher.
The Hollywood trades also reported that if Wonder Woman 1984 was a success on HBO Max it would help lead to other projects. Well, WW84 is downright awful and hasn't been received well by the critics and fans alike, and it doesn't seem as if the HBO Max release led to a heap of new subscribers (where's the big announcement from WB?), so WarnerMedia could be rethinking its strategy of what to release on HBO Max, which may include rethinking the release of its 17-movie slate in 2021 (producers, directors, actors are not happy at all).
Regarding Ray Fisher, Fisher recently blasted Walter Hamada following the NY Times interview and said he will never work on another film Hamada is involved with. Shortly after, WB extended Hamada's DC films deal, and now it's said Ray Fisher is not appearing in The Flash and that Cyborg has been completely written out of The Flash. Obviously, doing the math, WB went with Hamada over Fisher, which is a no brainer.
We can assume that if Zack Snyder was going to complete his two Justice League films for HBO Max that he would have wanted Fisher back as Cyborg - who Zack says is the heart of the Justice League - but it's likely WarnerMedia probably said Fisher can hit the high road, so as Zack wouldn't recast Cyborg, he is probably finally done with all the BS at WB and is done with DC.
Another issue could be Geoff Johns who has been said to have stabbed Snyder in the back and is responsible for Ben Affleck leaving the Batman role. Then again, if the Snyder Cut turns out to be a huge success in terms of new subscribers for HBO Max, anything could happen.
Please let me know your thoughts on these plot points and my speculation, if I missed anything, or if you have ideas you’d like to add (especially for the final movie). Thank you if you managed to get this far. And be sure to check our Instagram page for additional information and updates on the Snyderverse, as well as hilarious memes related to comics.
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When I was a kid, I was on this show called Jerry's Place. The show has basically been erased from the public consciousness, so don't wrack your brain if you can't remember it. We were working for a small Canadian studio hoping to market the show to an American audience, but half of season one never even aired.
The show followed a fairly typical formula. There was a father and a mother character, wise yet silly parents who dispensed advise and hugs in equal parts, an older teenage sibling who was aloof and angsty but also brought friends over to add color to a small cast, and two younger siblings, one of them very young and the other of around nine or ten, who are there to make hijinks and generally move the story along. The latter was my niche, I was the middle child, and I was usually responsible for comic relief or having some part in the problem of the week's story.
The two adult characters were Linda and Mike, and they were actually pretty cool too. Mike was a lifelong actor that always had a word of advice or a smile if you were feeling scared. As someone who grew up without a father, Mike was the person I used as a model for what a man should be, though it's probably become intertwined with his character on the show to a certain degree. Linda was great too, a mom with kids of her own who was always looking after us when we weren't shooting on set and making sure that we got enough to eat. My own mother was working two jobs to keep the lights on at home, so there were evenings when I would join Linda and her family for dinner until my mom could pick me up. Linda and Mike were almost like surrogate parents for me during that year of my life, and Rachel and Mark became almost like adopted siblings. Rachel was the older sister, angsty and above it all on camera, but she was always very nice off-screen. Rachel would run lines with me when I was scared and always helped me when I needed something. She was actually nineteen, though she played a sixteen-year-old, and on the nights when Linda couldn't take me, I would hang out with Rachel until mom came to pick me up. Mark, the younger brother, was six, and we weren't too far off in age, really. We had similar interests. We would sit around between scenes and talk about Ninja Turtles or Power Rangers or play Gameboy together.
In many ways, those five people became family to me for that year, and a half of my life.
It makes the rest of this story all the harder to tell.
It was a typical day of shooting. We had finished what would have been season 1 and were shooting some scenes for season 2. The network had been pleased with our viewership so far, so a second season seemed to be in the cards. With the second season, though, came a live studio audience. This was the 90's, and live studio audiences were all the rage. The first season had been live a few times, for special episodes, but this season would have a live audience throughout. The presence of an audience was a bit distracting and often led to Mark and I playing it up a little to get their attention. We had been asked to ignore them, but we were young, and the laughter of adults meant a lot to us.
We were on episode six of season two when they brought in a very different audience.
I remember it perfectly, the event gouged into my mind surgically. We were setting up for the opening scene when the stage door opened, and a crowd of people filled in. There were about twenty of them, our audiences tended to be slow, and I can remember not seeing any children or strollers as they filled into the dark rows of seats. Usually, they brought the house lights up for this, allowing us to see the audience, but today the crowd sat in shadow. Mark whispered to me about it, saying they looked a little creepy all huddled up in the dark, but I told him it was probably just something new the director was doing to make us ignore them. We set up for the shot, and I felt myself looking out to the crowd out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't that dark out there, not really, but the whole audience sat in a small sea of darkness that seemed to crowd around them. They didn't talk, they didn't shuffle, they just hunched there and waited for us to begin.
We rolled the opening "Jerry's Place is Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience" and began.
As Mike came on stage, the titular Jerry, I had expected the crowd to clap as they usually did when a character came on scene. They didn't though they just sat there and waited. The director looked back at them but shrugged and whispered something to his assistant. Mike looked out at the audience strangely too, but he was a pro and didn't let it mess him up. Linda and Rachel, Megan and Bonnie on the show were watching TV as Mike walked in from the kitchen and delivered his lines. They cued Mark and I to run downstairs and begin the show's problem, a broken toy that was important to me. By the end of the show, Mark would have saved enough money to buy me a new one, and I would learn a lesson about sharing, and everyone at home would feel warm and fuzzy as my brother, and I hugged it out.
At least that's how it should have gone.
I came downstairs yelling about my toy, a model airplane, and Mark was right behind me in typical little brother fashion. Mike looked at the plane and asked if I couldn't just use it like this? I hit my mark and prepared to deliver my characters catchphrase. Catchphrases were prominent in the '90s. They were also very marketable, and my catchphrase was supposed to elicit laughs from the audience. Until then, they had just been sitting quietly.
I wish they had stayed quiet.
"Play with a broken toy? That's gonna be a deal-breaker for me, pops!" I said, looking at the audience as I did so.
That's when they started to laugh. I was expecting a chuckle, maybe even a full-fledged laugh or two, but the audience emitted that hearty, canned laughter that you hear on sitcoms when a real audience might be too much. Mike started to give his next line, but the audience just kept laughing. I looked at them, my face still holding that mischievous smile that it always did after my catchphrase, and saw that the shadowy crowd was laughing and heaving in unison. The shadowy mod was hitching and chuckling as one being, and as I watched, I felt my smile faltering. Mike tried to give his next line again, but the laughter overtopped him. The director said something to his assistant and the man brought out cardboard cards that read "Quiet Please". He held them high, right in front of the audience, but the audience just kept laughing.
Their laughter had begun to sound sick. The longer they laughed, the more painful and crazed it began to sound. Someone in the crowd was clearly choking, but they continued to laugh through it. The laughter never rose or fell in volume, just the mad canned laughter I would become so familiar with later in life. It was emotionless and inhuman, and it just continued to pour out of them as they sat huddled in the shadows.
The assistant shouted at the crowd then, the director calling for the cameras to be cut. One of the cameramen, I can't remember his name, but he was always kind of a joker, turned his camera to film the crowd. Maybe he thought it would be great for a gag real or something, perhaps he thought the studio was playing a joke on us, but whatever he was thinking, he had an excellent seat for what happened next. When the assistant's shouts failed to gain their attention, he walked into the seats and started yelling at the crowd.
That was when his angry shouts turned into underwhelmed laughs, and he too started chuckling.
The director turned and started shouting at the crowd to be quiet even as he shouted at his assistant to come down. By this point, we had all started milling about close to our marks so we could start again. I couldn't help but notice Rachel and Linda on the couch and how Linda had a protective arm around Rachel. They looked scared, and despite being trained to stay close to our marks, I went over and sat with them, wanting to be in that protective bubble. A stagehand had gone into the audience to get the assistant back, but now he was sitting and chuckling right along with the rest. It was that same canned laughter, but it sounded like lunatics now. They were consistent, unchanging in pitch or fervor, and it was all becoming too spooky for me. Mark came to sit beside me as well, and I wrapped a brotherly arm around him just as Linda had.
"I don't like this," Mark cried as big tears rolled down his cheeks, "they're scaring me."
I told him that I was pretty scared too, and when Mike came up to put his hands on the back of the couch, I felt safe knowing he was there.
As we sat, another stagehand went up. He grasped the first by the arm, pulling at him and trying to get him to leave, but soon he too was laughing and grinning as he took a seat net to him. The director forbade anyone else to go up after that. The crew sat huddled together on the edge of the set as they tried to figure out what this was. There seemed to be a barrier between them and us, none of them came into our little circle of protection on the couch, and none of us felt the need to go to them.
The director sent a stagehand to get security after the third member of the crew joined them. The stagehand found the doors to be locked, and none of his keys would open them. He came back white-faced, skirting the audience seats as though whatever they had might be airborne. The director sent someone to see if the roof access was open, but they discovered the same thing; keys didn't work, and the hatch was locked. Someone tried a landline in the back but found no dial tone. This was before cell phones had become the norm, but the director had a bag phone that he tried. Same thing, no dial tone, and no calls would go out.
And all the while, they laughed.
After an hour, they were still laughing.
The director and some of the crew had broken the distance and came to sit around our couch. They had brought items from the foodservice table over, and we all just kind of had a picnic. It would have been nice, had the creepy laughing shadow people not been staring at us the whole time. As we ate, I noticed that some of the crew had stayed away and seemed to be eating on the set's outskirts. They kept looking at the crowd, some of them were starring, and when I asked the director about them, he shook his head.
"One of them claims that his father is sitting in the audience."
"What?" Mike asked, his mouth full of sandwich.
"He says that the man in the front row near the middle is his father. He says it can't be him because he died of lung cancer last year, but that it definitely looks like him. He says that every now and again, the laughing man will look at him and try to wave him over. He knows he shouldn't go, but he says that every time the guy waves him over, it's hard not to go."
"That's nuts," Linda breathes.
"Each of them has a story like that," the director said, "for Carey," he pointed to the redhead with a ponytail, "it's her girlfriend who left for New Mexico and never came back. For Steve," he pointed to a man with a salt and pepper crew cut, "it's his sister who stopped talking to him after his parents left him everything in their will. They all have someone, and all of them think they might…" but as he spoke, we saw Carey get up and take a step towards the chuckling crowd.
One of the others grabbed at her, but she shrugged them off and walked towards the crowd like someone in a dream.
She embraced one of the shadow masses and then sat next to them, chuckling and smiling as his butt pressed the seat.
After Steve left too, the director decided to take action.
He told one of the hands near us to turn up the house light. He wanted lights on the crowd so we could see who they were. Maybe they would stop laughing if their cover was blown, and this could all be over, and we could all get back to work. He still seemed to think that this might be a prank, though not a very funny one, and wanted an end to it already.
Some of the stagehands went to get things set up, but we all kept looking at that quietly chuckling behemoth. Mark had fallen asleep somehow, and I kept my arm wrapped around him as though I might stand between him and the tide should they charge. I was still munching absentmindedly at fruit from the food table, and I didn't notice Rachel getting up until my bowl of honeydew almost tipped over. Linda grabbed her wrist, anchoring her to the couch, but when I looked up, I could see that her eyes were big and starry. Her blonde ponytail bobbed a little as she scanned the crowd, and Linda started asking her what she was looking for.
"I thought I saw someone up there, someone I haven't seen in a very long..." but she gasped harshly then, "It's him! Oh my God, it's him!"
She was pulling against Linda's hand, but Linda refused to let go.
"Who Rache, who is it?" Linda asked, trying to restrain the girl as Mike moved to help.
"It's my dad, my dads up there. He looks just like he did in the photo my mom has in her dresser drawer. He hasn't changed a bit."
I looked at the crowd, trying to see who she was looking at but failing.
"Rache, your dad died before you were born. You're mother told me about his accident. It can't be him."
"But it is," Rachel almost screamed, pitching her body from side to side as she tried to break free. Mike and Linda held her tightly, and I scooted closer to Mark so Mike could sit on the couch. The two of them sat there and held her as she sobbed for them to let her go. She used a lot of swear words as she thrashed about, but they refused to let her go. When she finally stopped, she sat crying into Linda's shoulder as the two of them hugged her tightly.
Someone yelled down from the catwalk then, and the stage was suddenly awash with light. The overheads were unbearably bright, and as they all lit at once, I remember tinting my eyes with my hand, so they didn't blind me. We had used them for beach scenes a few times when rain caused us to not shoot on location, and I can remember thinking that they were so much brighter than the real sun. They lit up every corner of the set, but as I squinted at the seats, I realized I'd been wrong.
Every corner but that one it seemed.
The seats were still a pool of shadows, but when the light hit them, everything changed.
The low chuckling became a strange hybrid of screaming and deep booming laughter.
The kind of laughter you heard in an insane asylum.
The kind of laughter you heard in Hell.
The people in the seats never moved, but the darkness did. It plumed out like a fog and started rolling towards us. Those sitting near the seats were hit, and we could hear their laughter starting as they fell to their knees and clutched their stomachs. The director shouted at the crew to kill the lights, but it was much too late. The darkness was angry now, and it was no longer satisfied with the few people it had in the seats.
It was coming for us.
Mike grabbed Mark and me, lifted us up in his strong arms, and started running backstage. He turned to yell for Linda, but she was fighting with Rachel as the girl tried to free herself again. She was straining towards the fog, and it was creeping in to get both of them. Mike yelled for her to let Rachel go if she wouldn't come, but Linda refused to leave her there. She strained and pulled at the girl, but Rachel was apparently stronger than she looked.
It didn't matter a moment later as the fog rolled in, and they were both little more than chuckling shadows.
Mike ran to the back, Mark crying and asking him what was going on. He had woken up when Mike picked him up, and Mike was looking frantically for some way to escape. He saw a window and lifted a piece of wood to smash it against it. As he brought the wood down, however, he might as well have been hitting concrete because the board bounced off, splinters flying. The dark fog was rolling past the set wall now, and Mike was almost out of options. Mark and I just stood against a wall, eyes roving around like scared dogs, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Finally, Mike settled on a closet.
It was full of brooms and mops, but we didn't have time to move them by that point. Mike pushed us in and sighed as he saw how much room we took up. As the fog plumed behind him, he slammed the door and left us in total darkness. His laughter started a few seconds later, and the sound nearly drove us mad as we huddled in the tiny closet. Mark and I hunched, arms wrapped around each other, expecting that we would both begin to laugh at any minute. We sat like that for a long time, I have no idea how long until we both must have fallen asleep to the sound of Mike's choking laughter.
When I woke up, I was in a hospital, and my mother was asleep in the chair next to my bed.
I got the whole story a few days later. My mother didn't know much, she had come to the set only to find all the doors locked and police trying to get in. Once they had gotten in, some of them started laughing and couldn't stop. The paramedics and the fire department had come. After searching the place with breathing equipment, they found Mark and I and brought us to safety. There was nothing wrong with either of us, not physically, but the two of us had been catatonic for nearly three days.
The man from the studio, the one in the pristine suit and the oiled hair, had told me a different story. He said there had been some kind of gas leak and claimed that most of those present had been hallucinating due to gas. The audience, cast, and crew had all died due to gas inhalation, and Mark and I had been lucky to survive. Our parents would both sign nondisclosure agreements, we would promise not to talk about anything we had seen, and in exchange for a large amount of financial compensation.
My mother and I needed the money now that the show was going to be canceled.
Both our parents signed, and Mark and I went our separate ways.
The whole event was deemed a tragic accident, and I never worked in show biz again.
That would be the end of this story if it weren't for the email I received a week ago.
I'm in my thirties now, and about a week ago, I got a Facebook request from Mark. I had expected that he wanted to catch up, have a beer, and share some old stories, but his first message was far from what I had expected. He sent me a messenger request a few seconds later, and after accepting, he sent me seven words.
"Are they still laughing for you too?"
We met up for that beer the next day.
Mark was older but far from doing well. The guy looked rough, borderline homeless, and seemed eternally looking around to see who was near him. He asked if I still heard the laughter. I told him I hadn't, not since that day all those years ago. He said that for him, it had never stopped. He would wake up to see shadowy figures at the end of his bed, that canned laughter bubbling from their dark lips. He said Rachel and Linda and Mike were right out front, too white teeth smiling as they laughed and laughed. His parents hadn't believed him, they'd thought it was just bad dreams because of the incident. The drugs the shrinks gave him just meant he was a drooling zombie as the laughing apparitions chuckled on and on.
He started using young. It was alcohol at first, his dad had a cabinet in the living room, then drugs when he was in high school. He stole prescription drugs, used blends of different drugs, drank himself into oblivion, but nothing helped. Every night they were waiting for him, and every night he screamed until they disappeared with the light of day or the arrival of someone else.
"Just wanted to see if you'd found a way to make them stop too, big brother," he said sadly, as he left the bar.
He killed himself a week later.
He put a gun in his mouth, and the rest is pretty easy to figure out.
I envy him now, I envy that he had the strength to do what needed to be done.
About a week ago, I woke up to the sound of that canned laughter that always creeped me out in sitcoms. I fumbled for the remote, thinking I'd just left the TV on, but as the TV came to life, I saw them. They were arrayed at the foot of my bed, their bodies made of living darkness made all the murkier by the light of the tv, and their laughter went on and on. Mark was amongst them, his unkempt hair now a raven mane of living darkness. Mike was there too, and Linda and Rachel, all of them laughing and laughing as I lay in bed, frozen in terror.
They left with the sun, and I got up to write this.
I don't know how long I can take this. I'm afraid to go to sleep, afraid to see them, but I'm too afraid to take Mark's way out either. I see him amongst them, laughing and laughing like an audience in hell, and I wonder if I will join them too in the end? I'm afraid to go to sleep, afraid to be awake, afraid to see their faces, and afraid of running into them again.
My eyes are getting heavy.
The fourth cup of coffee is jittering in my hand.
I wonder if it hurts to laugh forever?
Perhaps I'll find out soon.

Not content with making the Snyder Cut a reality, fans are now campaigning for the SnyderVerse to be completed by Zack Snyder, the original Justice League director. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Trends As Fans Campaign For Zack Snyder To Finish His DCEU Plan. So, in this post, we will explore what is the Snyderverse, and what was the original plan for Zack Snyder’s DC Superhero Universe. Please be sure to check out this post till the end to find out the latest updates and our speculations for the Snyderverse!
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Zack Snyder rebooted the DC superhero universe with 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill as Superman. He followed this up with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Both films suffered from mixed reviews, with many saying they were too dark, while others enjoyed the director's trademark take on the material.
Snyder was working on his third movie in the franchise, Justice League when he suffered a family tragedy and was forced to quit. As a result, that movie was completed by Joss Whedon and suffered from even worse reviews than the previous two efforts. That led to the Snyder Cut campaign, which bore fruit when Warner Bros announced in May that Snyder's cut of the movie would release on HBO Max in March 2021. Despite this, DC Films head Walter Hamada says the studio sees the Snyder Cut as a dead-end and won't be exploring the director's vision for the characters following its release.
In response, fans are taking to Twitter to once again campaign for Snyder. The hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending. The hashtag features fans imploring DC to let Snyder complete his vision for the so-called SnyderVerse, and make his films canon again. Others were tweeting about the characters they'd like to see more of in any future movies.
While fans are optimistic they'll be able to change the minds of DC and Warner Bros. with a new campaign, it's unlikely this one will be as successful as the original Snyder Cut campaign was. Studio executives saw the potential in releasing the Snyder Cut to promote their new streaming service, HBO Max. However, with a release plan, which includes introducing the DC Multiverse in The Flash, as well as The Batman and a new version of The Suicide Squad incoming in 2021 and 2022, it's clear DC has a plan in place for the DCEU.
And, sadly for fans, that’s a pretty clear sign DC has moved on from the so-called SnyderVerse. The director, too, seems to have accepted that the Snyder Cut will be his final film with DC for a while, as he's already moving ahead with several projects, including a host with streaming service Netflix. So, despite the popularity of the hashtag on social media, it's most likely that the Justice League director's cut will the last fans will see of the SnyderVerse.
As most would know at this point, Zack Snyder did not intend for his DC universe to compete with the MCU, but as 5 films with a beginning and end, that would take inspiration from various comic series to form his own Justice League storyline. Zack’s original idea was to have a 5-film, Elseworlds-style, Superman-driven, Justice League film series, and we know what four of these films would be. This is where we guess and offer our ideas on the potential storyline of DC’s former Snyderverse, as well as some ideas on what the fifth film would have been. Some of these ideas are official or confirmed by Zack Snyder himself, while others are pure guesses.

1. Man of Steel

The first installment in the Snyderverse is pretty much the same as the one released in 2013: a grounded take on Superman and his birth with small teases to the larger world Zack had in mind.

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)

It is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman comics. And the Ultimate Edition, a 3-hour epic that was never meant to give us classic takes on characters or follow a light tone as audiences expected. Just as it is now, the film teases the Justice League, the Knightmare world, time-traveling, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf. We are given a look at Batman’s past and the death of his sidekick, Robin, who Zack has confirmed was originally intended to be Dick Grayson. And towards the end, Superman dies, but his revival is hinted at.

1. Justice League Part 1

The plot would be similar to the film released in 2017, but with a few key differences. It would follow Batman and Wonder Woman recruiting Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash to defeat Steppenwolf and stop him from retrieving the three Mother Boxes on Earth. And Steppenwolf wants the mother boxes because his mother’s spirit is literally inside those boxes, it would’ve helped him to get even more powerful than Darkseid himself!
Superman would be resurrected with his infamous black suit, but it is unclear whether he is resurrected by the League, or by Steppenwolf himself as a supporter of Darkseid. There’s also a possibility that the Green Lantern Corps would appear in a small role, teasing them for Justice League Part 2.
Zack has also confirmed that when Lois is killed in the original Snyderverse, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation and turns evil under Darkseid’s influence. I think that this would have played into this film, and it would end with Superman taking down the League.
And The final scene would be the storyboard revealed by Zack Snyder: we see Darkseid opening a Mother Box, an explosion takes place that encompasses the entire planet, and we soon find Earth reflecting the Knightmare sequence from Batman v Superman.

1. Justice League Part 2

This sequel would have been inspired by the Injustice comics, as confirmed by Zack. This film would basically be the entire Knightmare sequence in-depth: a Mad Max: Fury Road-styled event involving the League trying to break Superman away from Darkseid’s influence and defeat the ruler of Apokolips. And a Green Lantern, probably Hal Jordan, would be the 7th member of the League in this film.
It is possible that the death of Batman in that chamber seen in Batman v Superman would be a purposeful diversion to distract Superman, whose main goal would be to avenge Lois. This would buy enough time for the League to defeat Darkseid somehow. My guess is that this would be where The Flash goes back in time to warn Bruce, save Lois, and end Darkseid’s reign. This, of course, would have major repercussions.
In the end, all we see is that the Knightmare is over and The Flash has returned to the current timeline, and we are left unaware of the League’s status, or Darkseid’s whereabouts. Regardless, it would likely be made clear that something isn’t right, and a major issue remains. I’m not sure what this issue would be, unfortunately, but it is my belief that this would have to do with either the Flashpoint storyline.

1. ??? (Maybe Flashpoint or Justice League Part 3)

This project was one of the most mysterious aspects of the Snyderverse, we were continually told about the films from Man of Steel to Justice League Part 2, but we were never told what exactly the final film was called or was about, aside from it supposedly tying together the entire Snyderverse.
And our guess is that after The Flash went back in time, we would see a Flashpoint-like situation where everything has changed, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan being Batman, but it would not follow the comics. Instead, Zack would create an alternate universe with the New Gods as villains that some form of the League must defeat. The film would end with characters like Batman coming to terms with their career and the losses they have faced, and Superman becoming the hero we all know and love. It remains to be revealed what Zack’s plans were, and we can only hope that Zack does inform fans at some point.
In a recent conversation on the ComicBook Debate YouTube show, Zack Snyder talked about his future in the DCEU. In the midst of 'restore the Snyderverse' fans campaign, he was asked if he would do more projects ahead. He said that he never thought he would be finishing his version of Justice League. The filmmaker stated that he has no issues with his project being an old movie on which he is working for years. Snyder mentioned that the DC Universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing which is fine for him. As far as what he did and his vision for what he wanted to do with these characters and the journey he wanted them to go on.
Zack Snyder asserted that it is well known that he planned on more movies, around five films or something (including Justice League 2), but he is busy now and has a lot going on. He admitted that it is cool and amazing that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory. The filmmaker expressed that he could not be happier and is excited for the fans to see Justice League so they can "really drink the entire elixir" of JL. He stated that he has no plan to continue in the DCEU. But noted that, 'who knows'' if his cut can see the light of the day and more things could take place.
Zack Snyder originally had big plans in the DCEU. He would have reportedly done a Man of Steel 2 with Henry Cavill, followed by Justice League 2 and 3, with a few more projects. However, the failure of the theatrical version of JL and the creative conflict led to his departure from Warner Bros Studios for quite a long time. Now as Zack Snyder's Justice League will be arriving soon, fans are eagerly waiting for what it has to offer. The project will be a four-hour-long miniseries consisting of never seen before footage.
With the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie coming to HBO Max, many fans and even Zack Snyder himself hoped for the "Snyder Verse" to continue on the streaming service. However, now that may not be happening.
Following the Snyder Cut getting announced, all kinds of rumors and speculation hit the net regarding a "Snyder Verse" getting created on HBO Max that would involve Zack Snyder creating additional Justice League movies, with projects involving Ben Affleck back as Batman, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Jared Leto as Joker, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and more potentially in the works.
ZACK EXCITED FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUELS
Zack has enthusiastically and excitably gone on record that he has ideas for a Justice League sequel involving Darkseid on Earth, and Zack even discussed how his Snyder Verse is part of the DC Multiverse, part of an Elseworld Multiverse.
The Hollywood trade sites even reported that if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves to be successful for HBO Max that it seems likely Zack Snyder would be able to two sequels to Justice League that would complete his five-film arc.
Ben Affleck is also being brought back as Batman for The Flash movie, which at first was thought to be building anticipation and hype for Affleck to do his own version of The Batman on HBO Max, but now it is being said the appearance is to just give the character a proper send-off. Two additional factors why the Snyder Verse might not be moving forward on HBO Max could be Wonder Woman 1984 and Ray fisher.
The Hollywood trades also reported that if Wonder Woman 1984 was a success on HBO Max it would help lead to other projects. Well, WW84 is downright awful and hasn't been received well by the critics and fans alike, and it doesn't seem as if the HBO Max release led to a heap of new subscribers (where's the big announcement from WB?), so WarnerMedia could be rethinking its strategy of what to release on HBO Max, which may include rethinking the release of its 17-movie slate in 2021 (producers, directors, actors are not happy at all).
Regarding Ray Fisher, Fisher recently blasted Walter Hamada following the NY Times interview and said he will never work on another film Hamada is involved with. Shortly after, WB extended Hamada's DC films deal, and now it's said Ray Fisher is not appearing in The Flash and that Cyborg has been completely written out of The Flash. Obviously, doing the math, WB went with Hamada over Fisher, which is a no brainer.
We can assume that if Zack Snyder was going to complete his two Justice League films for HBO Max that he would have wanted Fisher back as Cyborg - who Zack says is the heart of the Justice League - but it's likely WarnerMedia probably said Fisher can hit the high road, so as Zack wouldn't recast Cyborg, he is probably finally done with all the BS at WB and is done with DC.
Another issue could be Geoff Johns who has been said to have stabbed Snyder in the back and is responsible for Ben Affleck leaving the Batman role. Then again, if the Snyder Cut turns out to be a huge success in terms of new subscribers for HBO Max, anything could happen.
Please let me know your thoughts on these plot points and my speculation, if I missed anything, or if you have ideas you’d like to add (especially for the final movie). Thank you if you managed to get this far. And be sure to check our Instagram page for additional information and updates on the Snyderverse, as well as hilarious memes related to comics.
If you liked the content or our efforts, don’t forget to hit that upvote button and support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel! Since we're just starting out, it would really mean a lot to us if you guys show a little support. New content comes out every Friday!

Not content with making the Snyder Cut a reality, fans are now campaigning for the SnyderVerse to be completed by Zack Snyder, the original Justice League director. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Trends As Fans Campaign For Zack Snyder To Finish His DCEU Plan. So, in this post, we will explore what is the Snyderverse, and what was the original plan for Zack Snyder’s DC Superhero Universe. Please be sure to check out this post till the end to find out the latest updates and our speculations for the Snyderverse!
I know this is a long post, and it took me a lot of time to write, so I hope you will show this some love. If you are not a fan of reading this much, you can watch it in video format on our YouTube channel: The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/7-oOcroRfEI If you decide to watch this, please do not forget to like the video and subscribe to our channel for more such content! We are looking for some love and support from fellow comics lovers to grow. Let's start!
Zack Snyder rebooted the DC superhero universe with 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill as Superman. He followed this up with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Both films suffered from mixed reviews, with many saying they were too dark, while others enjoyed the director's trademark take on the material.
Snyder was working on his third movie in the franchise, Justice League when he suffered a family tragedy and was forced to quit. As a result, that movie was completed by Joss Whedon and suffered from even worse reviews than the previous two efforts. That led to the Snyder Cut campaign, which bore fruit when Warner Bros announced in May that Snyder's cut of the movie would release on HBO Max in March 2021. Despite this, DC Films head Walter Hamada says the studio sees the Snyder Cut as a dead-end and won't be exploring the director's vision for the characters following its release.
In response, fans are taking to Twitter to once again campaign for Snyder. The hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending. The hashtag features fans imploring DC to let Snyder complete his vision for the so-called SnyderVerse, and make his films canon again. Others were tweeting about the characters they'd like to see more of in any future movies.
While fans are optimistic they'll be able to change the minds of DC and Warner Bros. with a new campaign, it's unlikely this one will be as successful as the original Snyder Cut campaign was. Studio executives saw the potential in releasing the Snyder Cut to promote their new streaming service, HBO Max. However, with a release plan, which includes introducing the DC Multiverse in The Flash, as well as The Batman and a new version of The Suicide Squad incoming in 2021 and 2022, it's clear DC has a plan in place for the DCEU.
And, sadly for fans, that’s a pretty clear sign DC has moved on from the so-called SnyderVerse. The director, too, seems to have accepted that the Snyder Cut will be his final film with DC for a while, as he's already moving ahead with several projects, including a host with streaming service Netflix. So, despite the popularity of the hashtag on social media, it's most likely that the Justice League director's cut will the last fans will see of the SnyderVerse.
As most would know at this point, Zack Snyder did not intend for his DC universe to compete with the MCU, but as 5 films with a beginning and end, that would take inspiration from various comic series to form his own Justice League storyline. Zack’s original idea was to have a 5-film, Elseworlds-style, Superman-driven, Justice League film series, and we know what four of these films would be. This is where we guess and offer our ideas on the potential storyline of DC’s former Snyderverse, as well as some ideas on what the fifth film would have been. Some of these ideas are official or confirmed by Zack Snyder himself, while others are pure guesses.

1. Man of Steel

The first installment in the Snyderverse is pretty much the same as the one released in 2013: a grounded take on Superman and his birth with small teases to the larger world Zack had in mind.

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)

It is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman comics. And the Ultimate Edition, a 3-hour epic that was never meant to give us classic takes on characters or follow a light tone as audiences expected. Just as it is now, the film teases the Justice League, the Knightmare world, time-traveling, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf. We are given a look at Batman’s past and the death of his sidekick, Robin, who Zack has confirmed was originally intended to be Dick Grayson. And towards the end, Superman dies, but his revival is hinted at.

1. Justice League Part 1

The plot would be similar to the film released in 2017, but with a few key differences. It would follow Batman and Wonder Woman recruiting Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash to defeat Steppenwolf and stop him from retrieving the three Mother Boxes on Earth. And Steppenwolf wants the mother boxes because his mother’s spirit is literally inside those boxes, it would’ve helped him to get even more powerful than Darkseid himself!
Superman would be resurrected with his infamous black suit, but it is unclear whether he is resurrected by the League, or by Steppenwolf himself as a supporter of Darkseid. There’s also a possibility that the Green Lantern Corps would appear in a small role, teasing them for Justice League Part 2.
Zack has also confirmed that when Lois is killed in the original Snyderverse, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation and turns evil under Darkseid’s influence. I think that this would have played into this film, and it would end with Superman taking down the League.
And The final scene would be the storyboard revealed by Zack Snyder: we see Darkseid opening a Mother Box, an explosion takes place that encompasses the entire planet, and we soon find Earth reflecting the Knightmare sequence from Batman v Superman.

1. Justice League Part 2

This sequel would have been inspired by the Injustice comics, as confirmed by Zack. This film would basically be the entire Knightmare sequence in-depth: a Mad Max: Fury Road-styled event involving the League trying to break Superman away from Darkseid’s influence and defeat the ruler of Apokolips. And a Green Lantern, probably Hal Jordan, would be the 7th member of the League in this film.
It is possible that the death of Batman in that chamber seen in Batman v Superman would be a purposeful diversion to distract Superman, whose main goal would be to avenge Lois. This would buy enough time for the League to defeat Darkseid somehow. My guess is that this would be where The Flash goes back in time to warn Bruce, save Lois, and end Darkseid’s reign. This, of course, would have major repercussions.
In the end, all we see is that the Knightmare is over and The Flash has returned to the current timeline, and we are left unaware of the League’s status, or Darkseid’s whereabouts. Regardless, it would likely be made clear that something isn’t right, and a major issue remains. I’m not sure what this issue would be, unfortunately, but it is my belief that this would have to do with either the Flashpoint storyline.

1. ??? (Maybe Flashpoint or Justice League Part 3)

This project was one of the most mysterious aspects of the Snyderverse, we were continually told about the films from Man of Steel to Justice League Part 2, but we were never told what exactly the final film was called or was about, aside from it supposedly tying together the entire Snyderverse.
And our guess is that after The Flash went back in time, we would see a Flashpoint-like situation where everything has changed, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan being Batman, but it would not follow the comics. Instead, Zack would create an alternate universe with the New Gods as villains that some form of the League must defeat. The film would end with characters like Batman coming to terms with their career and the losses they have faced, and Superman becoming the hero we all know and love. It remains to be revealed what Zack’s plans were, and we can only hope that Zack does inform fans at some point.
In a recent conversation on the ComicBook Debate YouTube show, Zack Snyder talked about his future in the DCEU. In the midst of 'restore the Snyderverse' fans campaign, he was asked if he would do more projects ahead. He said that he never thought he would be finishing his version of Justice League. The filmmaker stated that he has no issues with his project being an old movie on which he is working for years. Snyder mentioned that the DC Universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing which is fine for him. As far as what he did and his vision for what he wanted to do with these characters and the journey he wanted them to go on.
Zack Snyder asserted that it is well known that he planned on more movies, around five films or something (including Justice League 2), but he is busy now and has a lot going on. He admitted that it is cool and amazing that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory. The filmmaker expressed that he could not be happier and is excited for the fans to see Justice League so they can "really drink the entire elixir" of JL. He stated that he has no plan to continue in the DCEU. But noted that, 'who knows'' if his cut can see the light of the day and more things could take place.
Zack Snyder originally had big plans in the DCEU. He would have reportedly done a Man of Steel 2 with Henry Cavill, followed by Justice League 2 and 3, with a few more projects. However, the failure of the theatrical version of JL and the creative conflict led to his departure from Warner Bros Studios for quite a long time. Now as Zack Snyder's Justice League will be arriving soon, fans are eagerly waiting for what it has to offer. The project will be a four-hour-long miniseries consisting of never seen before footage.
With the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie coming to HBO Max, many fans and even Zack Snyder himself hoped for the "Snyder Verse" to continue on the streaming service. However, now that may not be happening.
Following the Snyder Cut getting announced, all kinds of rumors and speculation hit the net regarding a "Snyder Verse" getting created on HBO Max that would involve Zack Snyder creating additional Justice League movies, with projects involving Ben Affleck back as Batman, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Jared Leto as Joker, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and more potentially in the works.
ZACK EXCITED FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUELS
Zack has enthusiastically and excitably gone on record that he has ideas for a Justice League sequel involving Darkseid on Earth, and Zack even discussed how his Snyder Verse is part of the DC Multiverse, part of an Elseworld Multiverse.
The Hollywood trade sites even reported that if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves to be successful for HBO Max that it seems likely Zack Snyder would be able to two sequels to Justice League that would complete his five-film arc.
Ben Affleck is also being brought back as Batman for The Flash movie, which at first was thought to be building anticipation and hype for Affleck to do his own version of The Batman on HBO Max, but now it is being said the appearance is to just give the character a proper send-off. Two additional factors why the Snyder Verse might not be moving forward on HBO Max could be Wonder Woman 1984 and Ray fisher.
The Hollywood trades also reported that if Wonder Woman 1984 was a success on HBO Max it would help lead to other projects. Well, WW84 is downright awful and hasn't been received well by the critics and fans alike, and it doesn't seem as if the HBO Max release led to a heap of new subscribers (where's the big announcement from WB?), so WarnerMedia could be rethinking its strategy of what to release on HBO Max, which may include rethinking the release of its 17-movie slate in 2021 (producers, directors, actors are not happy at all).
Regarding Ray Fisher, Fisher recently blasted Walter Hamada following the NY Times interview and said he will never work on another film Hamada is involved with. Shortly after, WB extended Hamada's DC films deal, and now it's said Ray Fisher is not appearing in The Flash and that Cyborg has been completely written out of The Flash. Obviously, doing the math, WB went with Hamada over Fisher, which is a no brainer.
We can assume that if Zack Snyder was going to complete his two Justice League films for HBO Max that he would have wanted Fisher back as Cyborg - who Zack says is the heart of the Justice League - but it's likely WarnerMedia probably said Fisher can hit the high road, so as Zack wouldn't recast Cyborg, he is probably finally done with all the BS at WB and is done with DC.
Another issue could be Geoff Johns who has been said to have stabbed Snyder in the back and is responsible for Ben Affleck leaving the Batman role. Then again, if the Snyder Cut turns out to be a huge success in terms of new subscribers for HBO Max, anything could happen.
Please let me know your thoughts on these plot points and my speculation, if I missed anything, or if you have ideas you’d like to add (especially for the final movie). Thank you if you managed to get this far. And be sure to check our Instagram page for additional information and updates on the Snyderverse, as well as hilarious memes related to comics.
If you liked the content or our efforts, don’t forget to hit that upvote button and support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel! Since we're just starting out, it would really mean a lot to us if you guys show a little support. New content comes out every Friday!

Not content with making the Snyder Cut a reality, fans are now campaigning for the SnyderVerse to be completed by Zack Snyder, the original Justice League director. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Trends As Fans Campaign For Zack Snyder To Finish His DCEU Plan. So, in this post, we will explore what is the Snyderverse, and what was the original plan for Zack Snyder’s DC Superhero Universe. Please be sure to check out this post till the end to find out the latest updates and our speculations for the Snyderverse!
I know this is a long post, and it took me a lot of time to write, so I hope you will show this some love. If you are not a fan of reading this much, you can watch it in video format on our YouTube channel: The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/7-oOcroRfEI If you decide to watch this, please do not forget to like the video and subscribe to our channel for more such content! We are looking for some love and support from fellow comics lovers to grow. Let's start!
Zack Snyder rebooted the DC superhero universe with 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill as Superman. He followed this up with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Both films suffered from mixed reviews, with many saying they were too dark, while others enjoyed the director's trademark take on the material.
Snyder was working on his third movie in the franchise, Justice League when he suffered a family tragedy and was forced to quit. As a result, that movie was completed by Joss Whedon and suffered from even worse reviews than the previous two efforts. That led to the Snyder Cut campaign, which bore fruit when Warner Bros announced in May that Snyder's cut of the movie would release on HBO Max in March 2021. Despite this, DC Films head Walter Hamada says the studio sees the Snyder Cut as a dead-end and won't be exploring the director's vision for the characters following its release.
In response, fans are taking to Twitter to once again campaign for Snyder. The hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending. The hashtag features fans imploring DC to let Snyder complete his vision for the so-called SnyderVerse, and make his films canon again. Others were tweeting about the characters they'd like to see more of in any future movies.
While fans are optimistic they'll be able to change the minds of DC and Warner Bros. with a new campaign, it's unlikely this one will be as successful as the original Snyder Cut campaign was. Studio executives saw the potential in releasing the Snyder Cut to promote their new streaming service, HBO Max. However, with a release plan, which includes introducing the DC Multiverse in The Flash, as well as The Batman and a new version of The Suicide Squad incoming in 2021 and 2022, it's clear DC has a plan in place for the DCEU.
And, sadly for fans, that’s a pretty clear sign DC has moved on from the so-called SnyderVerse. The director, too, seems to have accepted that the Snyder Cut will be his final film with DC for a while, as he's already moving ahead with several projects, including a host with streaming service Netflix. So, despite the popularity of the hashtag on social media, it's most likely that the Justice League director's cut will the last fans will see of the SnyderVerse.
As most would know at this point, Zack Snyder did not intend for his DC universe to compete with the MCU, but as 5 films with a beginning and end, that would take inspiration from various comic series to form his own Justice League storyline. Zack’s original idea was to have a 5-film, Elseworlds-style, Superman-driven, Justice League film series, and we know what four of these films would be. This is where we guess and offer our ideas on the potential storyline of DC’s former Snyderverse, as well as some ideas on what the fifth film would have been. Some of these ideas are official or confirmed by Zack Snyder himself, while others are pure guesses.

1. Man of Steel

The first installment in the Snyderverse is pretty much the same as the one released in 2013: a grounded take on Superman and his birth with small teases to the larger world Zack had in mind.

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)

It is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman comics. And the Ultimate Edition, a 3-hour epic that was never meant to give us classic takes on characters or follow a light tone as audiences expected. Just as it is now, the film teases the Justice League, the Knightmare world, time-traveling, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf. We are given a look at Batman’s past and the death of his sidekick, Robin, who Zack has confirmed was originally intended to be Dick Grayson. And towards the end, Superman dies, but his revival is hinted at.

1. Justice League Part 1

The plot would be similar to the film released in 2017, but with a few key differences. It would follow Batman and Wonder Woman recruiting Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash to defeat Steppenwolf and stop him from retrieving the three Mother Boxes on Earth. And Steppenwolf wants the mother boxes because his mother’s spirit is literally inside those boxes, it would’ve helped him to get even more powerful than Darkseid himself!
Superman would be resurrected with his infamous black suit, but it is unclear whether he is resurrected by the League, or by Steppenwolf himself as a supporter of Darkseid. There’s also a possibility that the Green Lantern Corps would appear in a small role, teasing them for Justice League Part 2.
Zack has also confirmed that when Lois is killed in the original Snyderverse, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation and turns evil under Darkseid’s influence. I think that this would have played into this film, and it would end with Superman taking down the League.
And The final scene would be the storyboard revealed by Zack Snyder: we see Darkseid opening a Mother Box, an explosion takes place that encompasses the entire planet, and we soon find Earth reflecting the Knightmare sequence from Batman v Superman.

1. Justice League Part 2

This sequel would have been inspired by the Injustice comics, as confirmed by Zack. This film would basically be the entire Knightmare sequence in-depth: a Mad Max: Fury Road-styled event involving the League trying to break Superman away from Darkseid’s influence and defeat the ruler of Apokolips. And a Green Lantern, probably Hal Jordan, would be the 7th member of the League in this film.
It is possible that the death of Batman in that chamber seen in Batman v Superman would be a purposeful diversion to distract Superman, whose main goal would be to avenge Lois. This would buy enough time for the League to defeat Darkseid somehow. My guess is that this would be where The Flash goes back in time to warn Bruce, save Lois, and end Darkseid’s reign. This, of course, would have major repercussions.
In the end, all we see is that the Knightmare is over and The Flash has returned to the current timeline, and we are left unaware of the League’s status, or Darkseid’s whereabouts. Regardless, it would likely be made clear that something isn’t right, and a major issue remains. I’m not sure what this issue would be, unfortunately, but it is my belief that this would have to do with either the Flashpoint storyline.

1. ??? (Maybe Flashpoint or Justice League Part 3)

This project was one of the most mysterious aspects of the Snyderverse, we were continually told about the films from Man of Steel to Justice League Part 2, but we were never told what exactly the final film was called or was about, aside from it supposedly tying together the entire Snyderverse.
And our guess is that after The Flash went back in time, we would see a Flashpoint-like situation where everything has changed, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan being Batman, but it would not follow the comics. Instead, Zack would create an alternate universe with the New Gods as villains that some form of the League must defeat. The film would end with characters like Batman coming to terms with their career and the losses they have faced, and Superman becoming the hero we all know and love. It remains to be revealed what Zack’s plans were, and we can only hope that Zack does inform fans at some point.
In a recent conversation on the ComicBook Debate YouTube show, Zack Snyder talked about his future in the DCEU. In the midst of 'restore the Snyderverse' fans campaign, he was asked if he would do more projects ahead. He said that he never thought he would be finishing his version of Justice League. The filmmaker stated that he has no issues with his project being an old movie on which he is working for years. Snyder mentioned that the DC Universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing which is fine for him. As far as what he did and his vision for what he wanted to do with these characters and the journey he wanted them to go on.
Zack Snyder asserted that it is well known that he planned on more movies, around five films or something (including Justice League 2), but he is busy now and has a lot going on. He admitted that it is cool and amazing that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory. The filmmaker expressed that he could not be happier and is excited for the fans to see Justice League so they can "really drink the entire elixir" of JL. He stated that he has no plan to continue in the DCEU. But noted that, 'who knows'' if his cut can see the light of the day and more things could take place.
Zack Snyder originally had big plans in the DCEU. He would have reportedly done a Man of Steel 2 with Henry Cavill, followed by Justice League 2 and 3, with a few more projects. However, the failure of the theatrical version of JL and the creative conflict led to his departure from Warner Bros Studios for quite a long time. Now as Zack Snyder's Justice League will be arriving soon, fans are eagerly waiting for what it has to offer. The project will be a four-hour-long miniseries consisting of never seen before footage.
With the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie coming to HBO Max, many fans and even Zack Snyder himself hoped for the "Snyder Verse" to continue on the streaming service. However, now that may not be happening.
Following the Snyder Cut getting announced, all kinds of rumors and speculation hit the net regarding a "Snyder Verse" getting created on HBO Max that would involve Zack Snyder creating additional Justice League movies, with projects involving Ben Affleck back as Batman, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Jared Leto as Joker, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and more potentially in the works.
ZACK EXCITED FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUELS
Zack has enthusiastically and excitably gone on record that he has ideas for a Justice League sequel involving Darkseid on Earth, and Zack even discussed how his Snyder Verse is part of the DC Multiverse, part of an Elseworld Multiverse.
The Hollywood trade sites even reported that if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves to be successful for HBO Max that it seems likely Zack Snyder would be able to two sequels to Justice League that would complete his five-film arc.
Ben Affleck is also being brought back as Batman for The Flash movie, which at first was thought to be building anticipation and hype for Affleck to do his own version of The Batman on HBO Max, but now it is being said the appearance is to just give the character a proper send-off. Two additional factors why the Snyder Verse might not be moving forward on HBO Max could be Wonder Woman 1984 and Ray fisher.
The Hollywood trades also reported that if Wonder Woman 1984 was a success on HBO Max it would help lead to other projects. Well, WW84 is downright awful and hasn't been received well by the critics and fans alike, and it doesn't seem as if the HBO Max release led to a heap of new subscribers (where's the big announcement from WB?), so WarnerMedia could be rethinking its strategy of what to release on HBO Max, which may include rethinking the release of its 17-movie slate in 2021 (producers, directors, actors are not happy at all).
Regarding Ray Fisher, Fisher recently blasted Walter Hamada following the NY Times interview and said he will never work on another film Hamada is involved with. Shortly after, WB extended Hamada's DC films deal, and now it's said Ray Fisher is not appearing in The Flash and that Cyborg has been completely written out of The Flash. Obviously, doing the math, WB went with Hamada over Fisher, which is a no brainer.
We can assume that if Zack Snyder was going to complete his two Justice League films for HBO Max that he would have wanted Fisher back as Cyborg - who Zack says is the heart of the Justice League - but it's likely WarnerMedia probably said Fisher can hit the high road, so as Zack wouldn't recast Cyborg, he is probably finally done with all the BS at WB and is done with DC.
Another issue could be Geoff Johns who has been said to have stabbed Snyder in the back and is responsible for Ben Affleck leaving the Batman role. Then again, if the Snyder Cut turns out to be a huge success in terms of new subscribers for HBO Max, anything could happen.
Please let me know your thoughts on these plot points and my speculation, if I missed anything, or if you have ideas you’d like to add (especially for the final movie). Thank you if you managed to get this far. And be sure to check our Instagram page for additional information and updates on the Snyderverse, as well as hilarious memes related to comics.
If you liked the content or our efforts, don’t forget to hit that upvote button and support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel! Since we're just starting out, it would really mean a lot to us if you guys show a little support. New content comes out every Friday!

Not content with making the Snyder Cut a reality, fans are now campaigning for the SnyderVerse to be completed by Zack Snyder, the original Justice League director. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Trends As Fans Campaign For Zack Snyder To Finish His DCEU Plan. So, in this post, we will explore what is the Snyderverse, and what was the original plan for Zack Snyder’s DC Superhero Universe. Please be sure to check out this post till the end to find out the latest updates and our speculations for the Snyderverse!
I know this is a long post, and it took me a lot of time to write, so I hope you will show this some love. If you are not a fan of reading this much, you can watch it in video format on our YouTube channel: The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/7-oOcroRfEI If you decide to watch this, please do not forget to like the video and subscribe to our channel for more such content! We are looking for some love and support from fellow comics lovers to grow. Let's start!
Zack Snyder rebooted the DC superhero universe with 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill as Superman. He followed this up with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Both films suffered from mixed reviews, with many saying they were too dark, while others enjoyed the director's trademark take on the material.
Snyder was working on his third movie in the franchise, Justice League when he suffered a family tragedy and was forced to quit. As a result, that movie was completed by Joss Whedon and suffered from even worse reviews than the previous two efforts. That led to the Snyder Cut campaign, which bore fruit when Warner Bros announced in May that Snyder's cut of the movie would release on HBO Max in March 2021. Despite this, DC Films head Walter Hamada says the studio sees the Snyder Cut as a dead-end and won't be exploring the director's vision for the characters following its release.
In response, fans are taking to Twitter to once again campaign for Snyder. The hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending. The hashtag features fans imploring DC to let Snyder complete his vision for the so-called SnyderVerse, and make his films canon again. Others were tweeting about the characters they'd like to see more of in any future movies.
While fans are optimistic they'll be able to change the minds of DC and Warner Bros. with a new campaign, it's unlikely this one will be as successful as the original Snyder Cut campaign was. Studio executives saw the potential in releasing the Snyder Cut to promote their new streaming service, HBO Max. However, with a release plan, which includes introducing the DC Multiverse in The Flash, as well as The Batman and a new version of The Suicide Squad incoming in 2021 and 2022, it's clear DC has a plan in place for the DCEU.
And, sadly for fans, that’s a pretty clear sign DC has moved on from the so-called SnyderVerse. The director, too, seems to have accepted that the Snyder Cut will be his final film with DC for a while, as he's already moving ahead with several projects, including a host with streaming service Netflix. So, despite the popularity of the hashtag on social media, it's most likely that the Justice League director's cut will the last fans will see of the SnyderVerse.
As most would know at this point, Zack Snyder did not intend for his DC universe to compete with the MCU, but as 5 films with a beginning and end, that would take inspiration from various comic series to form his own Justice League storyline. Zack’s original idea was to have a 5-film, Elseworlds-style, Superman-driven, Justice League film series, and we know what four of these films would be. This is where we guess and offer our ideas on the potential storyline of DC’s former Snyderverse, as well as some ideas on what the fifth film would have been. Some of these ideas are official or confirmed by Zack Snyder himself, while others are pure guesses.

1. Man of Steel

The first installment in the Snyderverse is pretty much the same as the one released in 2013: a grounded take on Superman and his birth with small teases to the larger world Zack had in mind.

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)

It is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman comics. And the Ultimate Edition, a 3-hour epic that was never meant to give us classic takes on characters or follow a light tone as audiences expected. Just as it is now, the film teases the Justice League, the Knightmare world, time-traveling, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf. We are given a look at Batman’s past and the death of his sidekick, Robin, who Zack has confirmed was originally intended to be Dick Grayson. And towards the end, Superman dies, but his revival is hinted at.

1. Justice League Part 1

The plot would be similar to the film released in 2017, but with a few key differences. It would follow Batman and Wonder Woman recruiting Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash to defeat Steppenwolf and stop him from retrieving the three Mother Boxes on Earth. And Steppenwolf wants the mother boxes because his mother’s spirit is literally inside those boxes, it would’ve helped him to get even more powerful than Darkseid himself!
Superman would be resurrected with his infamous black suit, but it is unclear whether he is resurrected by the League, or by Steppenwolf himself as a supporter of Darkseid. There’s also a possibility that the Green Lantern Corps would appear in a small role, teasing them for Justice League Part 2.
Zack has also confirmed that when Lois is killed in the original Snyderverse, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation and turns evil under Darkseid’s influence. I think that this would have played into this film, and it would end with Superman taking down the League.
And The final scene would be the storyboard revealed by Zack Snyder: we see Darkseid opening a Mother Box, an explosion takes place that encompasses the entire planet, and we soon find Earth reflecting the Knightmare sequence from Batman v Superman.

1. Justice League Part 2

This sequel would have been inspired by the Injustice comics, as confirmed by Zack. This film would basically be the entire Knightmare sequence in-depth: a Mad Max: Fury Road-styled event involving the League trying to break Superman away from Darkseid’s influence and defeat the ruler of Apokolips. And a Green Lantern, probably Hal Jordan, would be the 7th member of the League in this film.
It is possible that the death of Batman in that chamber seen in Batman v Superman would be a purposeful diversion to distract Superman, whose main goal would be to avenge Lois. This would buy enough time for the League to defeat Darkseid somehow. My guess is that this would be where The Flash goes back in time to warn Bruce, save Lois, and end Darkseid’s reign. This, of course, would have major repercussions.
In the end, all we see is that the Knightmare is over and The Flash has returned to the current timeline, and we are left unaware of the League’s status, or Darkseid’s whereabouts. Regardless, it would likely be made clear that something isn’t right, and a major issue remains. I’m not sure what this issue would be, unfortunately, but it is my belief that this would have to do with either the Flashpoint storyline.

1. ??? (Maybe Flashpoint or Justice League Part 3)

This project was one of the most mysterious aspects of the Snyderverse, we were continually told about the films from Man of Steel to Justice League Part 2, but we were never told what exactly the final film was called or was about, aside from it supposedly tying together the entire Snyderverse.
And our guess is that after The Flash went back in time, we would see a Flashpoint-like situation where everything has changed, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan being Batman, but it would not follow the comics. Instead, Zack would create an alternate universe with the New Gods as villains that some form of the League must defeat. The film would end with characters like Batman coming to terms with their career and the losses they have faced, and Superman becoming the hero we all know and love. It remains to be revealed what Zack’s plans were, and we can only hope that Zack does inform fans at some point.
In a recent conversation on the ComicBook Debate YouTube show, Zack Snyder talked about his future in the DCEU. In the midst of 'restore the Snyderverse' fans campaign, he was asked if he would do more projects ahead. He said that he never thought he would be finishing his version of Justice League. The filmmaker stated that he has no issues with his project being an old movie on which he is working for years. Snyder mentioned that the DC Universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing which is fine for him. As far as what he did and his vision for what he wanted to do with these characters and the journey he wanted them to go on.
Zack Snyder asserted that it is well known that he planned on more movies, around five films or something (including Justice League 2), but he is busy now and has a lot going on. He admitted that it is cool and amazing that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory. The filmmaker expressed that he could not be happier and is excited for the fans to see Justice League so they can "really drink the entire elixir" of JL. He stated that he has no plan to continue in the DCEU. But noted that, 'who knows'' if his cut can see the light of the day and more things could take place.
Zack Snyder originally had big plans in the DCEU. He would have reportedly done a Man of Steel 2 with Henry Cavill, followed by Justice League 2 and 3, with a few more projects. However, the failure of the theatrical version of JL and the creative conflict led to his departure from Warner Bros Studios for quite a long time. Now as Zack Snyder's Justice League will be arriving soon, fans are eagerly waiting for what it has to offer. The project will be a four-hour-long miniseries consisting of never seen before footage.
With the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie coming to HBO Max, many fans and even Zack Snyder himself hoped for the "Snyder Verse" to continue on the streaming service. However, now that may not be happening.
Following the Snyder Cut getting announced, all kinds of rumors and speculation hit the net regarding a "Snyder Verse" getting created on HBO Max that would involve Zack Snyder creating additional Justice League movies, with projects involving Ben Affleck back as Batman, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Jared Leto as Joker, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and more potentially in the works.
ZACK EXCITED FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUELS
Zack has enthusiastically and excitably gone on record that he has ideas for a Justice League sequel involving Darkseid on Earth, and Zack even discussed how his Snyder Verse is part of the DC Multiverse, part of an Elseworld Multiverse.
The Hollywood trade sites even reported that if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves to be successful for HBO Max that it seems likely Zack Snyder would be able to two sequels to Justice League that would complete his five-film arc.
Ben Affleck is also being brought back as Batman for The Flash movie, which at first was thought to be building anticipation and hype for Affleck to do his own version of The Batman on HBO Max, but now it is being said the appearance is to just give the character a proper send-off. Two additional factors why the Snyder Verse might not be moving forward on HBO Max could be Wonder Woman 1984 and Ray fisher.
The Hollywood trades also reported that if Wonder Woman 1984 was a success on HBO Max it would help lead to other projects. Well, WW84 is downright awful and hasn't been received well by the critics and fans alike, and it doesn't seem as if the HBO Max release led to a heap of new subscribers (where's the big announcement from WB?), so WarnerMedia could be rethinking its strategy of what to release on HBO Max, which may include rethinking the release of its 17-movie slate in 2021 (producers, directors, actors are not happy at all).
Regarding Ray Fisher, Fisher recently blasted Walter Hamada following the NY Times interview and said he will never work on another film Hamada is involved with. Shortly after, WB extended Hamada's DC films deal, and now it's said Ray Fisher is not appearing in The Flash and that Cyborg has been completely written out of The Flash. Obviously, doing the math, WB went with Hamada over Fisher, which is a no brainer.
We can assume that if Zack Snyder was going to complete his two Justice League films for HBO Max that he would have wanted Fisher back as Cyborg - who Zack says is the heart of the Justice League - but it's likely WarnerMedia probably said Fisher can hit the high road, so as Zack wouldn't recast Cyborg, he is probably finally done with all the BS at WB and is done with DC.
Another issue could be Geoff Johns who has been said to have stabbed Snyder in the back and is responsible for Ben Affleck leaving the Batman role. Then again, if the Snyder Cut turns out to be a huge success in terms of new subscribers for HBO Max, anything could happen.
Please let me know your thoughts on these plot points and my speculation, if I missed anything, or if you have ideas you’d like to add (especially for the final movie). Thank you if you managed to get this far. And be sure to check our Instagram page for additional information and updates on the Snyderverse, as well as hilarious memes related to comics.
If you liked the content or our efforts, don’t forget to hit that upvote button and support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel! Since we're just starting out, it would really mean a lot to us if you guys show a little support. New content comes out every Friday!

Not content with making the Snyder Cut a reality, fans are now campaigning for the SnyderVerse to be completed by Zack Snyder, the original Justice League director. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse Trends As Fans Campaign For Zack Snyder To Finish His DCEU Plan. So, in this post, we will explore what is the Snyderverse, and what was the original plan for Zack Snyder’s DC Superhero Universe. Please be sure to check out this post till the end to find out the latest updates and our speculations for the Snyderverse!
I know this is a long post, and it took me a lot of time to write, so I hope you will show this some love. If you are not a fan of reading this much, you can watch it in video format on our YouTube channel: The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/7-oOcroRfEI If you decide to watch this, please do not forget to like the video and subscribe to our channel for more such content! We are looking for some love and support from fellow comics lovers to grow. Let's start!
Zack Snyder rebooted the DC superhero universe with 2013's Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill as Superman. He followed this up with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. Both films suffered from mixed reviews, with many saying they were too dark, while others enjoyed the director's trademark take on the material.
Snyder was working on his third movie in the franchise, Justice League when he suffered a family tragedy and was forced to quit. As a result, that movie was completed by Joss Whedon and suffered from even worse reviews than the previous two efforts. That led to the Snyder Cut campaign, which bore fruit when Warner Bros announced in May that Snyder's cut of the movie would release on HBO Max in March 2021. Despite this, DC Films head Walter Hamada says the studio sees the Snyder Cut as a dead-end and won't be exploring the director's vision for the characters following its release.
In response, fans are taking to Twitter to once again campaign for Snyder. The hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse began trending. The hashtag features fans imploring DC to let Snyder complete his vision for the so-called SnyderVerse, and make his films canon again. Others were tweeting about the characters they'd like to see more of in any future movies.
While fans are optimistic they'll be able to change the minds of DC and Warner Bros. with a new campaign, it's unlikely this one will be as successful as the original Snyder Cut campaign was. Studio executives saw the potential in releasing the Snyder Cut to promote their new streaming service, HBO Max. However, with a release plan, which includes introducing the DC Multiverse in The Flash, as well as The Batman and a new version of The Suicide Squad incoming in 2021 and 2022, it's clear DC has a plan in place for the DCEU.
And, sadly for fans, that’s a pretty clear sign DC has moved on from the so-called SnyderVerse. The director, too, seems to have accepted that the Snyder Cut will be his final film with DC for a while, as he's already moving ahead with several projects, including a host with streaming service Netflix. So, despite the popularity of the hashtag on social media, it's most likely that the Justice League director's cut will the last fans will see of the SnyderVerse.
As most would know at this point, Zack Snyder did not intend for his DC universe to compete with the MCU, but as 5 films with a beginning and end, that would take inspiration from various comic series to form his own Justice League storyline. Zack’s original idea was to have a 5-film, Elseworlds-style, Superman-driven, Justice League film series, and we know what four of these films would be. This is where we guess and offer our ideas on the potential storyline of DC’s former Snyderverse, as well as some ideas on what the fifth film would have been. Some of these ideas are official or confirmed by Zack Snyder himself, while others are pure guesses.

1. Man of Steel

The first installment in the Snyderverse is pretty much the same as the one released in 2013: a grounded take on Superman and his birth with small teases to the larger world Zack had in mind.

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)

It is inspired by The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman comics. And the Ultimate Edition, a 3-hour epic that was never meant to give us classic takes on characters or follow a light tone as audiences expected. Just as it is now, the film teases the Justice League, the Knightmare world, time-traveling, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf. We are given a look at Batman’s past and the death of his sidekick, Robin, who Zack has confirmed was originally intended to be Dick Grayson. And towards the end, Superman dies, but his revival is hinted at.

1. Justice League Part 1

The plot would be similar to the film released in 2017, but with a few key differences. It would follow Batman and Wonder Woman recruiting Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash to defeat Steppenwolf and stop him from retrieving the three Mother Boxes on Earth. And Steppenwolf wants the mother boxes because his mother’s spirit is literally inside those boxes, it would’ve helped him to get even more powerful than Darkseid himself!
Superman would be resurrected with his infamous black suit, but it is unclear whether he is resurrected by the League, or by Steppenwolf himself as a supporter of Darkseid. There’s also a possibility that the Green Lantern Corps would appear in a small role, teasing them for Justice League Part 2.
Zack has also confirmed that when Lois is killed in the original Snyderverse, Superman becomes susceptible to the Anti-Life Equation and turns evil under Darkseid’s influence. I think that this would have played into this film, and it would end with Superman taking down the League.
And The final scene would be the storyboard revealed by Zack Snyder: we see Darkseid opening a Mother Box, an explosion takes place that encompasses the entire planet, and we soon find Earth reflecting the Knightmare sequence from Batman v Superman.

1. Justice League Part 2

This sequel would have been inspired by the Injustice comics, as confirmed by Zack. This film would basically be the entire Knightmare sequence in-depth: a Mad Max: Fury Road-styled event involving the League trying to break Superman away from Darkseid’s influence and defeat the ruler of Apokolips. And a Green Lantern, probably Hal Jordan, would be the 7th member of the League in this film.
It is possible that the death of Batman in that chamber seen in Batman v Superman would be a purposeful diversion to distract Superman, whose main goal would be to avenge Lois. This would buy enough time for the League to defeat Darkseid somehow. My guess is that this would be where The Flash goes back in time to warn Bruce, save Lois, and end Darkseid’s reign. This, of course, would have major repercussions.
In the end, all we see is that the Knightmare is over and The Flash has returned to the current timeline, and we are left unaware of the League’s status, or Darkseid’s whereabouts. Regardless, it would likely be made clear that something isn’t right, and a major issue remains. I’m not sure what this issue would be, unfortunately, but it is my belief that this would have to do with either the Flashpoint storyline.

1. ??? (Maybe Flashpoint or Justice League Part 3)

This project was one of the most mysterious aspects of the Snyderverse, we were continually told about the films from Man of Steel to Justice League Part 2, but we were never told what exactly the final film was called or was about, aside from it supposedly tying together the entire Snyderverse.
And our guess is that after The Flash went back in time, we would see a Flashpoint-like situation where everything has changed, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan being Batman, but it would not follow the comics. Instead, Zack would create an alternate universe with the New Gods as villains that some form of the League must defeat. The film would end with characters like Batman coming to terms with their career and the losses they have faced, and Superman becoming the hero we all know and love. It remains to be revealed what Zack’s plans were, and we can only hope that Zack does inform fans at some point.
In a recent conversation on the ComicBook Debate YouTube show, Zack Snyder talked about his future in the DCEU. In the midst of 'restore the Snyderverse' fans campaign, he was asked if he would do more projects ahead. He said that he never thought he would be finishing his version of Justice League. The filmmaker stated that he has no issues with his project being an old movie on which he is working for years. Snyder mentioned that the DC Universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing which is fine for him. As far as what he did and his vision for what he wanted to do with these characters and the journey he wanted them to go on.
Zack Snyder asserted that it is well known that he planned on more movies, around five films or something (including Justice League 2), but he is busy now and has a lot going on. He admitted that it is cool and amazing that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory. The filmmaker expressed that he could not be happier and is excited for the fans to see Justice League so they can "really drink the entire elixir" of JL. He stated that he has no plan to continue in the DCEU. But noted that, 'who knows'' if his cut can see the light of the day and more things could take place.
Zack Snyder originally had big plans in the DCEU. He would have reportedly done a Man of Steel 2 with Henry Cavill, followed by Justice League 2 and 3, with a few more projects. However, the failure of the theatrical version of JL and the creative conflict led to his departure from Warner Bros Studios for quite a long time. Now as Zack Snyder's Justice League will be arriving soon, fans are eagerly waiting for what it has to offer. The project will be a four-hour-long miniseries consisting of never seen before footage.
With the Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie coming to HBO Max, many fans and even Zack Snyder himself hoped for the "Snyder Verse" to continue on the streaming service. However, now that may not be happening.
Following the Snyder Cut getting announced, all kinds of rumors and speculation hit the net regarding a "Snyder Verse" getting created on HBO Max that would involve Zack Snyder creating additional Justice League movies, with projects involving Ben Affleck back as Batman, Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke, Jared Leto as Joker, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and more potentially in the works.
ZACK EXCITED FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE SEQUELS
Zack has enthusiastically and excitably gone on record that he has ideas for a Justice League sequel involving Darkseid on Earth, and Zack even discussed how his Snyder Verse is part of the DC Multiverse, part of an Elseworld Multiverse.
The Hollywood trade sites even reported that if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves to be successful for HBO Max that it seems likely Zack Snyder would be able to two sequels to Justice League that would complete his five-film arc.
Ben Affleck is also being brought back as Batman for The Flash movie, which at first was thought to be building anticipation and hype for Affleck to do his own version of The Batman on HBO Max, but now it is being said the appearance is to just give the character a proper send-off. Two additional factors why the Snyder Verse might not be moving forward on HBO Max could be Wonder Woman 1984 and Ray fisher.
The Hollywood trades also reported that if Wonder Woman 1984 was a success on HBO Max it would help lead to other projects. Well, WW84 is downright awful and hasn't been received well by the critics and fans alike, and it doesn't seem as if the HBO Max release led to a heap of new subscribers (where's the big announcement from WB?), so WarnerMedia could be rethinking its strategy of what to release on HBO Max, which may include rethinking the release of its 17-movie slate in 2021 (producers, directors, actors are not happy at all).
Regarding Ray Fisher, Fisher recently blasted Walter Hamada following the NY Times interview and said he will never work on another film Hamada is involved with. Shortly after, WB extended Hamada's DC films deal, and now it's said Ray Fisher is not appearing in The Flash and that Cyborg has been completely written out of The Flash. Obviously, doing the math, WB went with Hamada over Fisher, which is a no brainer.
We can assume that if Zack Snyder was going to complete his two Justice League films for HBO Max that he would have wanted Fisher back as Cyborg - who Zack says is the heart of the Justice League - but it's likely WarnerMedia probably said Fisher can hit the high road, so as Zack wouldn't recast Cyborg, he is probably finally done with all the BS at WB and is done with DC.
Another issue could be Geoff Johns who has been said to have stabbed Snyder in the back and is responsible for Ben Affleck leaving the Batman role. Then again, if the Snyder Cut turns out to be a huge success in terms of new subscribers for HBO Max, anything could happen.
Please let me know your thoughts on these plot points and my speculation, if I missed anything, or if you have ideas you’d like to add (especially for the final movie). Thank you if you managed to get this far. And be sure to check our Instagram page for additional information and updates on the Snyderverse, as well as hilarious memes related to comics.
If you liked the content or our efforts, don’t forget to hit that upvote button and support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel! Since we're just starting out, it would really mean a lot to us if you guys show a little support. New content comes out every Friday!

DC Next presents:

GOTHAM KNIGHTS

In The Best Medicine
Issue Nineteen: Tragedy Plus Time
Story by AdamantAce
Written by AdamantAce & PatrollinTheMojavet
Edited by Dwright5252 & JPM11S
 
<< | < Prev. | Next Issue > Coming Next Month
 
 
Content Warning: Attempted Suicide
 
 
My name is Lonnie Machin. I am writing this of my own free will without coercion and all of this is the truth to the best of my memory.
I was born in Gotham December 1, 1992, in the East End to Melinda Machin. My dad wasn’t really in the picture. My mother worked at Ace Chemicals to provide for us, send me to school, put clothes on my back. We lived in a run-down apartment not far from there. The landlord wasn’t a good man. I was young, so I don’t remember a lot about him, but he was angry whenever he visited. Plus looking back, I’m not sure where our utility payments were going. Visit the East End today and you’ll see the place hasn’t changed. There’s actually more scumbag landlords extorting dirt-poor residents than there was before.
Sorry, I’m getting off topic. Like I was saying, the building wasn’t maintained. Garbage piled up by the emergency exit, the water was a muddy brown color. You get the idea. We stayed because the alternative was living on the street.
I remember I was in school, first grade, it was a Tuesday when we found out. If anyone here remembers the East End Fire back in ‘03 - it burned down two blocks, mainly residential. It started in my building. The electrical short-circuited in the walls. It started a fire. Mom would’ve just been coming home from a night shift at the plant, so she was probably asleep at the time.
An investigation found that the building hadn’t been inspected in over a decade and a court ruled the owners guilty of criminal negligence. I was placed into the care of a distant uncle who happened to live in the city and his wife; Michael and Roxanne Machin. The settlement contained an amount I cannot disclose, but no amount would have been enough to make up for the death of my mother, nor the tremendous loss of life which the East End is yet to recover from. Still, it was just enough to pull me out of the local public school and enroll me in Gotham Academy.
I remembered feeling dirty - using my mother’s blood money to go to school. I benefited from her death. I’ve been told to look at it like a gift from her, but it always felt more like a bribe to me.
Gotham Academy, from a physical, emotional, mental, and academic perspective, was hell. I would like to say I was at the top of my class, but truthfully, I was slightly below average and had to work my ass off to stay there. My time in public school left me lagging behind the other kids. Between that and my being poor, I was bullied basically my entire time there. It wasn’t anything physical, mostly. My classmates preferred exclusion and gossip to direct confrontation, maybe because of the stories they were fed about the feral kids at the public schools across the river.
I was sixteen when the bullying came to a head. A group of boys decided it would be funny to play a prank on me and hide pot - marijuana - in my locker at school, then report me for it. The police got involved. I was escorted out of my classroom by an armed officer of the law. I was instantly suspended and spent an unforgettable night in juvie. I was charged with possession of an illegal substance with intent to distribute, although received probation and community service before a judge.
Returning to school was the hard part. Word had gotten around campus and parents were concerned about their children mixing with, and I quote, my ‘kind’. I pleaded my case in front of the principal who was certain I was guilty. I feigned repentance, I promised to do anything to stay at the school. I knew that if I got kicked out, I’d be right back where I was and my mother’s death would’ve been for nothing at all. The principal let me stay, but I was walking a tightrope after that.
I tried to confront the kid that did it after school. That was the first time I was in anything resembling a fight. I stopped him after school to extract my pound of flesh, figuratively, of course. I was pissed. I knew most of the kids there were scared of me. So there I was, going on some long monologue in front of him, threatening him basically, when he punches me in the stomach. Before I could retaliate, he told me his dad was on the school board and with me on my final warning, he could get me expelled like-- And then he snapped his fingers.
So I swallowed my pain, bided my time, and eventually graduated from Gotham Academy. Go Knights.
 
♦ ♦ 🦇 ♦ ♦
 
Slam!
The door crashed to the ground, knocked off its hinges, and the clowns surged in. Having joined the new Joker’s movement, a dozen protestors broke into the run-down apartment looking to find where the GCPD were hiding the dirty child abuser Sebastian Hady, city comptroller and surviving mayoral candidate. But, as the clown-masked insurgents swept through the safehouse, it became quickly clear that the police had been tipped off to their arrival with time to spare. The place was empty.
Dick Grayson raced along the streets of Gotham City, across the Finger River and through Somerset. He was one part of a convoy escorting Comptroller Hady to a second location after a tip that the first safehouse had been compromised. Ahead of him was the black, unmarked police truck driven by Detective Harper, with Hady and Bullock in the back. Though it wasn’t the truck ahead that had Dick’s attention. Instead, Dick’s attention was pulled to the streets. After Jim’s lockdown, few vehicles were on the roads, a rare sight for Gotham. But what did pack the streets were protestors.
Navigating Gotham’s twists and bends was difficult enough on a regular night, but now along every other road marched dozens upon dozens upon dozens of people, packed tightly together, blocking what little traffic there was as they waved placards and chanted.
“Fuck the Waynes!” “Feed the poor!” “Eat the rich!”
“We are not a joke! We are not a joke!”
To Dick, it was inspiring to see the people of Gotham rise up and peacefully demand that their rights be respected, that they get what they deserved. But it was also hard to forget that the ones they held most at fault was his own family. Not only that, as the convoy crept and circled along the blocked streets, it quickly became clear that not everyone was so peaceful. The new Joker’s words empowered the disenfranchised, poor, and otherwise vulnerable to rise up and demand respect, but his and Harley’s actions and iconography, along with their direct call to action had also sparked a flame that was sweeping through the city. Whether it was rioters going too far to send a message, or the many opportunists of Gotham crawling out of the woodwork to loot and destroy among the existing chaos, widespread crime had engulfed the city, drowning out the more silent majority of peaceful protestors. Not that it was overwhelmingly easy to tell the difference, as many from both camps hid behind clown masks or white face paint. As such, as Dick drove through the streets, he saw several police cars race by - sirens on - and armoured-up officers on foot clubbing clowns. But of which colour? A shiver went down Dick’s spine as he recalled a vision of another Gotham City - one that was darker, and ruled by tyrants hiding under the guise of the GCPD *. Was this how it began?
As the convoy took a turn down Palance Street, Dick’s phone rang over the car’s sound system. He punched the answer key on his dashboard and refastened his concealed earpiece. “Alfred?”
“Master Dick!” The gentlemanly Alfred Beagle called down the phone. It was already immediately clear he was in a panic. “You must get back to the manor at once! A mob of men and women in clown masks have broken in and are searching room-to-room!”
Dick’s eyes shot open. “Is Stephanie safe? Where are you?”
“She is with me,” Alfred explained. “I’ve barricaded us in Miss Kyle’s old room. It hasn’t seen use for many years, but it’s deep enough into the East Wing that it should take those clowns a good while to find us. But you must hurry!”
“I’m on my way, Alfred.”
Dick pumped his breaks and took a harsh U-turn, barrelling up Lester Street to cut as fast as he could back to the outskirts of Gotham, racing to Wayne Manor and abandoning the police convoy.
 
♦ ♦ 🦇 ♦ ♦
 
By the time I graduated, I’d caught up with my peers enough to get a spot at Gotham University. My “Rising from Adversity” essay caught the eye of the Head of Admissions and I was guaranteed a full scholarship studying Social Work with a minor in Sociology.
As a freshman, I managed to land a spot in a research study with then-Professor Sam Young. We connected immediately. I found out that he’d grown up just two blocks from my old apartment in the East End and worked his way to his position from poverty. Even after the study ended, we would spend hours sitting in the campus coffee shop, talking about politics. We talked about history, about policies, candidates. We had a conversation about the corruption in Santa Prisca’s fascist regime, mass poverty, and incarceration rate which ultimately became the basis for my thesis.
I collected data, conducted peer-reviewed research, and wrote pages upon pages of a plan meant to improve the living conditions of the poorest and most vulnerable of Gotham City. I don’t remember exactly, but there were no fewer than thirty pages of charts detailing where I’d get the funds from. Little discretionary funds I’d found inspecting City Hall’s budget that wouldn’t be missed put to use elsewhere. I wanted to set up offices in poor neighborhoods that would teach people in poverty valuable skills, then put them to work in office jobs. Funds were set aside for a safety net just in case someone started backsliding into their old habit or if disaster struck, as it often did for Gotham’s vulnerable.
I showed it to Professor Young and he was blown away. He promised to get me in touch with the right people and my heart soared. That’s why I was so worried when a few days later he stopped replying to my emails. I went to his house, but found out he moved. I thought maybe someone had him disappeared. Either City Hall or one of the big CEOs who benefited from maintaining the status quo. I didn’t show my research to anyone else after that - I was worried I might be next.
Turns out I was wrong. Sam Young appeared on television a week or so later as the nationwide director of the Wayne Foundation. I saw Bruce Wayne on television commend him for his brilliant insight into poverty. Young had stolen my ideas, my thesis and was being bankrolled by Wayne Enterprises to introduce them nationwide.
I decided to confront him - and if you’re sensing a pattern here, good for you. I showed up at the Wayne Foundation Gala, crashed it technically, and called him out on it. I told him that my ideas were meant for the government, not to be co-opted by Bruce Wayne. You know what he told me? He said, “There’s a lot of money in charity.”
I think I remember the headline that night being ‘Professor Young attacked by deranged former student at Charity Gala.’
 
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In the haunted husk of Ma Gunn’s School for Boys, Jason Todd paced back and forth, having retreated here following Harley Quinn’s escape. It had been only a day since his whole life had been turned upside down, since some of his earliest trauma had been drudged up and entirely redefined. Sat on a pile of debris opposite him was Alice, his older sister. She had been dead for nine long years, along with their mother and father, claimed by the fire. Except she hadn’t. Having reappeared out of the blue, she had told him she was plucked from the fire by the Black Glove, the devil-worshipping cult their parents belonged to, and who had lit that very same fire to engineer an orphan to be adopted by Batman, but that Bruce had saved the wrong kid from the fire. So, because Bruce found Jason first, Alice was reclaimed by the cult and forced to be their assassin, wielding magical guns that killed anyone that deserved it.
It was all, frankly, ridiculous, but Alice was there right in front of Jason. And, even if she had avoided him all these years, and even if she was being pursued by powerful dark actors, Jason was overjoyed to have her sister back. But that didn’t mean the rest of his problems had vanished overnight.
“I don’t get it,” he huffed. “People are coming out in droves to support this fake Joker. As if their memories are that short!”
“He’s saying what they want to hear,” Alice replied plainly. She had been listening to him go for quite some time after he had rushed to get back to her following his failed mission. “People are fickle. And if they’re desperate enough, they’ll follow anyone promising change.”
“He’s calling himself the Joker! Wearing his colours, with Harley Quinn on his arm!” Jason exclaimed. “The things the Joker’s done… the people he’s hurt, or killed, or…” The second Robin recalled back to some years ago, in Bosnia, where he narrowly avoided a gruesome, sticky end at the hands of the Joker, the real one. That night, Jason had seen the Jester of Genocide as he truly was, beneath the glamour and the verbosity. A satanic figure, barely human. “No-one calling himself that name could possibly be out to help anyone, including himself.”
Alice shook her head. She had been outside of the Gotham sphere for long enough to see the Joker as most of the world did, from a distance. She hadn’t witnessed his atrocities first hand, nor had she seen the destruction he had wrought, but even thinking about him made her guns yearn for his life. Still, it was clear her brother was too far in his own head. “Look,” she stood and walked towards him. “As far as what they’re all feeling, Batman abandoned Gotham. The Waynes retreated to hide, lie, and tend to their own interests, and in doing so let a city dependent on industry that they managed to fall to fear. The elite that they depend on keep making selfish decisions without regard for their welfare. The Joker is an icon of chaos, of anti-authoritarianism. Nobody knows what he stood for, but everything he did spat in the face of the status quo that is oppressing these people. And, right now, the public would sooner follow a new Joker’s promises than be stuck under the elite’s thumb.”
“We weren’t looking after our own interests!” Jason scoffed. “If we lost the company, we wouldn’t be able to afford the gear we use to protect the city!” He leaned against the decrepit wall. “And Joker isn’t a hero. The old one or the fake. They can flock to him all they like, but he’s only going to destroy this city. Rule of law exists for a reason.”
“Is that why a vigilante had to swoop in to save Gotham from the mob all those years ago, outside of the law?” Alice challenged him, despite knowing she would get nowhere.
“Batman worked with the police as soon as they got on side!” Jason exclaimed.
“Well the rule of law is hurting people, Jason,” Alice persisted. “And you all lurk in the shadows, protecting industrialists, stopping desperate robbers, and locking sick people away. You rule with fear, and people don’t like being scared.”
“Gotham doesn’t know what it needs,” Jason shook his head, clearly not listening.
Alice sighed. She had hoped she could still convince him to leave this godforsaken city with her, but now she knew that wouldn’t be the case. Sadly, she replied, “So what does it need?
 
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Dick barrelled across the Trigate Bridge, away from the Burnley island and into the hills of Bristol Township, flashing his badge to pass through the quickly erected police checkpoint. His silver Porsche couldn’t move fast enough as he raced along the inner waterfront, climbing Dozier Hill and approaching the front of the manor. And as he did, Dick saw more and more people in clown masks marching up the hill towards Wayne Manor. As he approached the outer gate, he found the mansion surrounded by rioters spewing hatred and fire. The gate had been knocked clean open, and while many had pushed in, a large proportion opted to stay out front, preferring to be seen and heard than to cause needless destruction.
A minute before arrival, Dick’s phone blared.
“Grayson!?” spat the voice of Harvey Bullock. “Where the hell are you!?”
“Family emergency, Harvey!” Dick replied quickly, hanging up.
Instantly, he pressed his communicator and got in contact with the family on the secure line.
“Robin! Huntress! Regroup at the cave ASAP.”
Dick cut the line and brought the car to a screeching halt. He leapt out and sprinted towards the mansion, and while he was recognised instantly by the mob, he didn’t care. A dozen clowns leapt on his sports car, rallying against its doors and windows, destroying it. A similar number ran towards the detective, but he was faster and more agile than any of them, especially when he was determined. Then, as Dick burst through the front doors and into the foyer, he found absolute chaos.
The portraits were torn, busts smashed, the windows and glassware alike shattered across the floor. Piles of wooden doors, ripped canvases and torn curtains were strewn about the floor, set alight. Similar fires raged all about as far as Dick could see, with black smoke pouring through each doorway. The very air was red, polluted by the smoke and fire. The manor was like Dick had never seen it, a horror to behold. Two dozen men in clown masks and colourful face paint turned to face him. Some were still clutching placards, the most carried baseballs, tire irons and strips of metal. They all froze and then dispersed, allowing their leader to emerge from within their numbers.
Joker.
“Oh, look everyone!” The new Joker grinned and gestured towards Dick. In one hand he held a silver handgun, and in the other a jerry can of gasoline. “A cop!”
At the impostor’s ushering, the clowns dived toward Dick. First came close and Dick threw his torso back, ducking under the swipe of his baseball bat by a large margin. He then pivoted round, moving up and striking out at the next two in a fluid motion. An elbow to one’s throat, the back of a fist to the next’s nose. He heard a crunch and a twang as a tire iron came crashing down against his back, and - winded - Dick held his breath, pushing through. He dived forward, bouncing off of the ground into a front handspring, bounding over another attacked and driving his elbow into their back as he brought his front half over, landing. Sure, he was a cop, but he was also a master gymnast. And when it was 1 v 20, you needed to move quickly.
As two more rushed him, Dick employed some capoeira, taking a low stance and beating away a swing with a kick, diverting it to hit the clown’s friend and then switching balance to strike the clown in the side of the head with his other foot. Then, it was time for some Wushu, leaping up and striking the clown advancing from behind with a butterfly kick. A second’s breath later, Dick swept to the ground, plucking off of it the discarded baseball bat of a fallen clown. He gripped it tightly, pulled inwards and then flung his arm out, raking it across three more clowns. Another bat beat against his shoulder, so Dick moved his grip and drove the metal-plated knob at the base of the bat into the ribs of the cheeky assailant. But, in doing so, Dick left himself open. For as quick as he was, he was outnumbered and emotionally compromised. As the enemy behind him fell to the ground winded, four more clowns moved in. The first kicked him squarely in the gut. The next two grabbed him by the arms and pulled them back, attempting to restrain him. Dick tried to thrash, to overpower them, but the fourth swung back and struck him in the ribs with a swing. Dick’s body went limp, and he fell to the floor, only held up by the clowns taking him tightly by the arms. He had lost.
Dick struggled and strained in agonising pain, forcing himself to look up at what was happening. Before him stood Joker, who had forced his followers aside to get a closer look at the cop. It also meant Dick got a much better look at the clown. He was younger than Dick initially thought. The real Joker was ageless, with twisted, wrinkled skin, jaundiced eyes, and a long-stretching career of carnage, but the vigour and energy of a man in his prime. This Joker on the other hand was clearly not much older than Dick, a man who looked - beneath the haphazardly dyed hair and messy chalked face - like a normal man. Like any man off of the street in a halloween costume. That was the true terror. The Joker’s identity had always been an enigma, but it never mattered who he was. He was just the Joker. But this Joker? It mattered who he was, because he was everyone and anyone.
“I don’t get you, Dick Grayson,” the clown got up in Dick’s face, slapping his lips as he spoke. “Why do you do the things you do? It’s like… I’m missing one piece of the puzzle, the one piece that makes it all make sense.”
Dick spat, his brow furrowed. “The real Joker wouldn’t waste time trying to make sense of anything.”
Joker stood up from his squat and moved back. Dick tried to pull himself free but the clowns only tightened their grip. Their leader took a deep breath and then shrugged. “I suppose you’re right.” Rapidly, Joker turned and leveled his handgun, training it at the helpless detective. “Is this spontaneous enough for you?”
Beat.
“The GCPD has failed Gotham. You all truly don’t get it,” he shook his head. “The people finally rise up and refuse to be oppressed by the tyrannous elite, refuse to submit to the manufactured safety of the police and the Bats. And what do you do?” He took a step forward. “You double down. You come down on us like a ton of bricks, shove your boots back in our faces, and oppress us a bit harder for extra measure instead of actually listening. And then you wonder why we had to get violent!”
“I’m listening now,” Dick replied.
“No. No, you aren’t, Dick Grayson.” He took another step forward, his gun still raised. “You’re just biding your time so you can escape and go find the rest of your pig family before we do.”
Dick spat. “Then kill me,” he said. “You brought that gun. Use it.”
Joker broke out into a splutter, a hearty laugh to himself. “I’m not going to kill you!” he exclaimed. “I’m not letting you be a martyr. You need to live to tell the tale!”
Dick said nothing. He looked past the villain, seeing the flames rapidly beginning to grow out of control, enveloping the space around them.
“And you’re so perfect!” Joker clenched his off-hand into a fist. “Born in dire straits - to a Romani circus performer, no less - and adopted by the billionaire monarch of the city. A class traitor, a race traitor. Bourgeoisie, and now even a pig to boot. The perfect paragon of the true evils of Gotham all rolled into one: A privileged, wealthy American protecting the interests of other privileged, wealthy Americans. And now you’ll go down with the ship. People will see what happens to the wicked when they reap what they sew!”
Dick listened to his words, and as he watched the flames grow into an inferno, it became clear what he meant by ‘going down with the ship’. This man was no Joker at all, not an agent of thoughtless chaos. He was a laser-guided agent of social change, an anarchist obsessed with the bigger picture. And now the Waynes were set to lose everything.
“Harley’s already having your man Fox drain the Wayne bank accounts as we speak. Once she’s done, we’ll redistribute the wealth, and no-one in Gotham will go without again,” Joker grandstanded, the roaring of the flames having grown so loud that the clown had to shout to be heard. “You’ll be left with nothing. You can stop pretending to care about this city, and we can do some actual good for a change. Without your selfish motives.”
In that moment, Dick had an epiphany. He knew exactly who the clown before him was because he had encountered him before, years ago. But it didn’t matter, because a second later, the gas oven in the kitchen two rooms away went up, engulfing half of the foyer in a fireball.
 
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After I - a deranged man with a criminal record for drug abuse - viciously assaulted my former mentor in a public place, I was sentenced to six months in Blackgate Penitentiary. Six months. Six months in a hole for losing my temper against a man who would exploit the vulnerable for a profit. I spent those six months minding my own business, trying to stay alive in a prison populated by literal supervillains and their minions. But that wasn’t the worst part, for as awful as it was, it was over in six months.
When I was released, I was a changed man. Not because I was any different, but because, in my anger, I had seemingly confirmed every rumour passed around about me at school. I had proven them all right. I was a dirty criminal, not a scholar. After six months, I had my freedom, but my reputation was irreparably tarnished. No-one would hire me, despite my more than impressive qualifications. All my years of tireless study, all my research, my whole degree, it was worthless to them. The schooling that my mother’s blood money had afforded was for naught. She had truly died for nothing.
That kind of thinking was what brought me to the Trigate Bridge.
I’ll spare you more theatrics of my downward spiral, and the true depth of my self hatred. What matters is that I was there, ready to jump, with the traffic passing by giving not the slightest care. Nobody saw me until he did.
A gentle flutter. I turned from looking at the river below to look behind me. There was Robin - one of them at least - in his red tunic, his green tights and his yellow cape, looking ridiculous as ever, if not especially so having long since outgrown the look. He gave me the usual spiel: That I had so much to live for, that there was a better way. Nothing original. But one way or another, he got me talking. That’s one thing I remember often: Getting me to talk to him was effortless for him. So I told him everything, like I’m telling you, probably skipping a lot of important details. I told him how Professor Young stole my work and gave it to the fat cat playboy Bruce Wayne to make a profit nationwide. He sympathised, but he said something that truly infuriated me.
“Surely, helping the poor and the needy is a good thing, no matter his intentions?”
Intentions are everything, I assured him. What’s the point in a prosperous world if nobody is good? I don’t know why I expected him to understand. Batman and his Robins *protected the city - sure - but they didn’t make it any less terrible. They kept the criminals in their homes, scared, but they didn’t make them any less awful. Just like how men like Bruce Wayne kept the poor safe, and arguably well fed, but they never gave them the means to rise up and compete with them. Not if that risked them being toppled.*
Robin told me that everyone hides things, that we can’t always glean people’s exact intentions just on what we see. He said some people may seem awfully cruel, but are good on the inside. But, to that, I asked: What am I meant to think of someone other than what they choose to show me? I told him what I have always known to be true: Any small amount of real goodness out there is and always has been swiftly trampled on by everyone else. The universe isn’t fair and never will be.
God, I got so enraptured in the debate, I almost forgot I was here to kill myself. And the truth is - and I haven’t admitted this to anyone before - he convinced me. He had me so riled up that I didn’t want to do the world the favor of ridding them of me. The world had to suffer my stern words much as the former Boy Wonder. That was the plan until I lost my footing. It’s embarrassing. You make a plan to kill yourself, you stand on the edge for a good 15 minutes, and as soon as you decide to live, the wind knocks you over the edge. Seemed awfully par for the course.
So I fell. I plunged faster and faster towards the Gotham River, the shallow rocks welcoming me. For a moment, a wash of calm fell over me, until at the last minute I thought of everything I was yet to say. Every man and woman out there I had yet to give my piece to. At that moment, I had something to live for. Then I hit the water.
 
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When Dick came to, he found himself in the heart of a ferocious sea of flames. It was difficult to see through the smoke, and his every muscle still throbbed, but he had to keep moving. Lonnie Machin and his followers were gone, and now only the flames stood in his way. They had expected Dick to flee, to watch his adoptive father’s home come crumbling down from the outside and know the cost of his mistakes, but instead Dick delved deeper into the blaze, charging up the stairs, covering his sinuses with the inside of his jacket.
He fell down the East Wing, sprinting towards the room Alfred had referred to, the one that was once Selina’s, and as he moved Dick noticed something even more alarming. Even as he outran the flames, plastic explosives were littered along the halls, on walls and support beams. They didn’t just want to burn the manor down, they wanted to demolish it. Dick pushed further, his head beginning to spin from smoke inhalation, and before long he reached the final door of the East Wing. He pushed it open and fell in, the air pressure rapidly equilibrating from behind him to the room before him. There sat Stephanie Brown, scared witless, close to Alfred Beagle, who nearly fired a shotgun slug in Dick’s chest from the sudden start.
“We need to go!” Dick spluttered. His face was caked in soot and blood. Without thinking, Stephanie lunged forward and threw her arms around Dick, holding him tightly.
Alfred moved through the doorway and saw the explosives lining the hall and the flames in the far distance growing closer and closer. “By God, there’ll be nothing left!”
Dick grabbed Alfred by the arm as Steph moved away. “They’ve hit the manor at its key points. And no doubt the rioters are waiting outside. We need to bunker down.”
“You don’t mean…?” Alfred looked to Steph, who was none the wiser.
“It’s our only option,” Dick snatched a breath.
Alfred furrowed his brow, raised his shotgun and took the lead. Together, Alfred, Dick and Steph weaved down the servants’ staircase, taking the back way back around to the front of the house. And while Alfred nearly fainted at the sight of the foyer in ruins, he couldn’t stop.
They pushed into the lounge, which was - apart from the interior walls - mostly intact. Alfred moved over to the piano and laid his weapon across the top of the lid and held down as many keys as he could with his bony fingers. And though the piano made no sound - a piece of debris having taken it out of commission - the important mechanisms were still in place to prompt a section of the nearby bookshelves to recede and slide away, revealing the hidden staircase. Stephanie’s eyes went wide. Why hadn’t they gone to the panic room sooner? She had no idea what was in store for her.
Behind her, Dick ushered Steph along, with little time to spare, the flames hot on his back, and - with Alfred still at the head - the three disappearing down the stone steps, down to the Batcave below, the bookcase door sliding shut behind them with a resounding click.
 
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Believe it or not, I survived my nosedive off Trigate Bridge, the universe once again playing fast and loose with my trajectory. I landed in the hospital a broken man. My time in prison had driven away basically everyone I knew, but I got two visitors while I was in my full body cast and eating lunch through a straw.
The first was the wealthiest, gaudiest, most well-known playboy in the city. The late Bruce Wayne. He said a little birdie told him where Professor Young’s ideas were coming from. He said that Young was no longer attached to the Wayne Foundation and even offered me a spot on the team once I’d left the hospital.
What a moment that was. I had a few moments to think everything was right in the world. I’d just come off years - maybe a lifetime of bad luck. So to think it was starting to turn around, that perhaps karma was real, and the universe wasn’t just another oppressor - well it was great. Naturally, it only lasted a day or so.
My next guest, they said, was a psychologist. I figured she wanted to ask me important questions like ‘Why did you jump off that bridge?’. Imagine my surprise when Harley freaking Quinn visited me. Apparently she’d been watching me for a while at that point. That’s what she said anyway. I wasn’t in much of a position to force her out - and after she said she had information for me about my mom, I didn’t want to either.
She knew about the faulty wiring, but she showed me documentation of a building inspection. It pointed out everything that was wrong with the apartment and what would happen if it wasn’t fixed. I didn’t understand it at first. It would’ve been peanuts to get it fixed, not to mention that that document didn’t show up during the investigation. Harley said the fire was planned and pulled out more documents. It was an insurance claim they filed after the fire, worth a hundred times what was paid out in the settlement.
For a third time, I felt cheated. It was wrong. Worse than wrong it was repulsive, cruel, wicked, and unfair.
Harley looked at me and said it was a sick joke.
 
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Stephanie Brown stood in the centre of the Batcave, dumbfounded. Everywhere she looked was a wonder, be it the array of Batmobiles, the towering penny, or the giant animatronic dinosaur. But no single sight rivalled the impact of the underlying truth. One - that Bruce Wayne was Batman, and her new adoptive family were his sidekicks, and - two - that she had been lied to.
And though she was angry, and though she had only narrowly escaped certain death either by burning alive or by killer clown, as Steph put the pieces together, everything suddenly made a lot more sense. That was why the family had defended Bruce Wayne so ardently. That was why they lied about his death. That was why it was so important to them to hoard Wayne’s assets: Batmobiles weren’t cheap. And finally, the most important thing clicked into place. She wasn’t adopted for good PR, nor was that the reason Wayne had taken in Dick Grayson and Jason Todd all those years ago. Grayson and his family weren’t looking for good press, they were protecting orphans like themselves, and… God.
Was she the new Robin!?
“Our sincerest apologies, Miss Stephanie,” Alfred hung his head in shame. “We wanted to give you a home, not… this.”
“So I’m not the new Robin!?” Steph exclaimed.
“What?” Dick looked to Alfred incredulously. “No, I--. I’m retired from leaping off buildings. I promised to help you as Dick Grayson, not as Robin… or anyone else.”
“So Bruce Wayne was Batman, and you’re Robin,” Steph relayed.
“I used to be.”
“Now you’re just a cop.”
Dick took a deep breath. He was used to this. “Cops can do a lot of good.”
“Cops are fighting a war on the streets,” Steph shook her head. “My streets. My dad died helping the cops. He needed more than ‘just a cop’.”
“I know,” Dick replied. “But I can’t be that.”
In the distance, the far off waterfall parted ways to open up the secret runway that trailed from the street to the cave. Along it raced a violet motorcycle that came to a prompt and screeching halt. Off of it dismounted the Huntress, in purple and black regalia. She turned to find the family, her face flush with worry having seen the manor up top, and then jumped again as she saw Steph.
Stephanie scoffed. “So I guess Jason’s Robin then,” she threw her hands up. “You all must have thought I was a real idiot, didn’t you?”
Alfred moved over to her after having discarded his torn and burnt tuxedo jacket and rolling up his ashen white sleeves. “Master Dick wanted to give you a safe home, Miss Stephanie. He didn’t want you wrapped up in this world.”
“Well,” Stephanie turned to Dick. “Great job. There’s only rioting clowns burning down my bedroom!”
Then, in came the Robin-Cycle. From it, Jason dismounted and tossed his helmet aside. His face was wrought with pain. But unlike Helena, he wasn’t worried. He was hurt.
“Great, we’re all here,” Dick began, raising his voice. “Things… are terrible. But I have a plan.”
Instantly, Jason cut him off. “I have my own plan.”
With haste, Jason reached over his shoulder and removed his torn canary yellow cape from around his neck, throwing it to the ground. He moved towards the armour situated beyond the Batcomputer and began replacing his gear, worn out from an especially harsh night.
“As far as Gotham cares, Batman abandoned them,” he began, echoing his recently-found sister’s words. He removed his red domino mask and placed it on a nearby table. “We ran away to look after ourselves and the company--” He unclipped his golden utility belt and hung it over a railing. “-- And the city that depended on us to keep them in check descended into chaos. There’s only one answer, and it’s obvious. It always has been.”
Stephanie looked to Dick, confused. “What’s he talking about?”
“The people of Gotham are a superstitious and cowardly lot. They’re dangerous because they’ve gotten too brave,” Jason resolved, looking to Dick with expectancy and finality. “And they need Batman to return.”
 
 
Next: Everything ends - Coming December 16th