Zack Snyder’s Justice League is finally getting released.
One of the most intriguing things about the director’s vision is his Knightmare timeline which showcases the earth decimated by Darkseid and an Evil Superman.
First shown in Batman V Superman this dark alternate future is what would’ve happened to our world had Joss Whedon’s version of the movie remained canon.
I’m gonna be breaking it all down, after piecing most things together from the original outlines and interviews on Snyder’s work. It really is a great storyline and the aesthetic even made for a great Halloween costume that I once wore all the way back before the world was ruined.
There may be heavy spoilers here so if you don’t want anything potentially spoiled then I recommend that you turn away now.
Snyder’s DCEU
Before doing this I feel like we need to lay out the original structure of Zack’s DCEU as it kinda makes things easier to understand.
I’m also talking about a lot of timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff which will sort of change the layout of things as we go through but from the top, we just need to look at things as if they’re travelling in a straight line.
Man of Steel
Our timelines started with Man Of Steel and originally in the movie, there were meant to be elements that established and built upon the idea that every member of Krypton was devoid of Free will.
As Clark was born naturally he didn’t have a predetermined path that he was placed on and very much represented a shift in society.
Jor-El gave him the codex which contained information on the entirety of Krypton civilisation and thus he became the future of the planet. Our timeline then follows the events of Man Of Steel which of course ended with the death of Zod at the hands of Superman.
Batman V Superman
Go to Batman V Superman and the aftermath of the two Kryptonians fight. We see as the Dark Knight decides that Superman is an alien that he must take down before he destroys the planet. In the original timeline, the pair go head to head and Batman almost kills him. However, they become the Super Marthio bros after Batman sees that they have a lot in common.
Unfortunately, the friendship is cut shorter than Geoff John’s career when Doomsday kills Clark after being awoken by Lex Luthor.
Justice League then takes place and we learn about Uxas of Apokolips and his failed invasion of Earth which was millennia ago when Prince Phillip was young.
Thwarted by the heroes at the time he cast his Uncle Steppenwolf out who returns to the planet after learning of Superman’s death from Lex.
Steppenwolf plans to reclaim three mother boxes which will allow him to cast a wave of fear, alienation and doubt over the planet.
This will fuel the already existing depression over the passing of the Man Of Steel and make Earth feel like 2020 all over again.
Wait…isn’t that just 2021?
Original Justice League
Anyway, in the original timeline, Bruce forms the Justice League and they resurrect Clark who can come back because of the Codex within his cells.
They manage to stop Steppenwolf from terraforming the planet and Wonder Woman beheads him and then throws that into a boom tube which is when the heroes see Darkseid on the other end.
He stares back at them, they stare back at him, they then stare some more and he stares back even more than they stared back and either way you slice it up, it’s onnnnnn.
Diana starts to research who this mysterious figure is and Martian Manhunter visits Bruce at his lakehouse which is where he learned that he is General Swanwick. Thanks for helping us fight Doomsday mate…much appreciated.
He’s also introduced to the Green Lanterns and we discover that they protect the universe from threats like Darkseid.
From here on out, Batman begins to grow anxious over the incoming invasion and it’s not too long before things start going to hell. In the original timeline, the heroes all unite and decide to communicate with the lanterns to formulate a plan.
Clark learns that Lois is pregnant with his child and before you can even ask why he didn’t use a Kryptonite condom he’s convinced by Batman to join the fight. He promises that he will keep Lois safe at his lakehouse and she remains there with Alfred.
Into Space
The league leaves Earth and through the flying fox they travel to New Genesis to meet with the people of it and the Green Lantern Corp. Armed with a new bunch of allies the heroes storm Apocalypse but Darkseid makes them look worse than CGI’in out Superman’s moustache and he destroys their own ways of returning to Earth.
The villain also captures Superman and strips the codex from him and he begins to study it. Darkseid learns that because the Kryptonians were able to obliterate free will amongst their people that he can adapt this as a weapon to take over the universe. Using all that he learns he creates the anti-life equation and journies to Earth where he decimates the planet.
Because of the fear and anguish that this causes the majority of the population succumbs to the anti-life equation and slowly the villain can turn the majority of the population into parademons.
On Apokalips they manage to fix their ship and start to journey back to earth but on the way, most of them turn against Batman.
Upon reaching their home they witness the destruction and Clark learns that Darkseid murdered Lois and his unborn child. After seeing the obliteration of another of his homes, and the loss of his father, Martha, Lois and his kid he fell into a deep depression. The anti-life equation slowly starts to seep into his way of thinking and slowly he turns into a villain.
Now I’m a bit unsure of the order of the next part so I’ll tell you the two ways that things can be taken.
Option 1: Batman Rebels
The first option that we will have to wait until the movie is released to clarify is that Batman discovers Deathstroke is still alive. Using him and Cyborg they track down Joker to get a Mother box which will hopefully help in defeating Darkseid. Using it the heroes can stop him but out of nowhere, Superman kills the villain. Superman then takes over his army and some of the survivors of Earth begin to worship him.
Batman turns against him and creates a small rebellion that plans to stop him from destroying the planet even further.
Option 2: Superman Turns Evil
Now the other option is that Superman just goes and kills Darkseid, turns bad and then Batman goes to the Joker after that to get the mother box.
However, I tend to lean more towards the former version as Batman goes to get Kryptonite in BVS. Either way, he realises that the world is completely decimated and with Flash and Cyborg they begin to build the cosmic treadmill.
Batman’s Plans
Batman formulated two plans and the first involved sending Flash back into the future to warn the heroes Black Adam. No sorry, the rock of Kryptonite so that he could kill Superman himself should the time travel shenanigans fail.
As we know it did and Bruce was murdered by Superman leading to a thousand years of Darkness in which the only movie available was Joss Whedon’s Justice League.
The Flash Changes Things
However, The Flash did manage to travel back in time and this of course altered the timeline itself.
Flash travelled back earlier than expected and in this do-over, he encountered Bruce in the cave which is where the Knightmare premonition first came to be. The speed force works in mysterious ways and when someone goes back they also take with them elements of the timeline that they are now erasing and thus bruce can catch a glimpse of the invasion.
Flash continues to travel through the speed force and he eventually reaches the correct position which is when the group arrived on New Genesis before they went to ambush the apocalypse.
Flash tells them not to strike at the planet but unfortunately, he’s ripped apart in the time window and his body gets thrown between the future and past. At this point, the Knightmare timeline is wiped out and this is why you may see it being referred to as a dream…a sweet dream…or a beautiful nightmare.
Back to Earth
Batman reformulates the plan and they decide to travel back to Earth to fight Darkseid on their terms instead. Batman, aware that Lois is now the key to keeping Superman on the side of good decides to hide her in the Batcave rather than the lakehouse.
Bruce develops a weapon capable of killing Darkseid and when his armies arrive they’re able to push his forces back.
In the middle of the battle, Lois goes into labour and gives birth in the Batcave. Unable to defeat Superman, Darkseid boom-tubes into the cave in an attempt to take the codex from the newborn baby so that he can create the equation without having to fight Earth’s forces.
Before he’s able to harvest the child though Batman steps between it and Darkseid and fires the anti-god gun at him. As it hits him Darkseid fires an omega beam which kills Batman in the process.
Killing Darkseid
However his sacrifice wasn’t in vain and Darkseid dies, freeing the world of the invasion. Superman and the league morn his death and Clark and Lois name their child Jonathan Bruce Kent as a tribute to their fallen friend.
Now I know I kinda went above the Knightmare stuff there but I didn’t wanna leave the story half-finished so that’s pretty the original outline and how the nightmare timeline plays into it.
I hope you’ve had some fun and if you have anything you’d like to add then the comment box is yours, do as you please.
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