Director Zack Snyder has shared another image promoting his upcoming four-hour recut of 2017's Justice League. The image shows a black and white photo from the back of Ben Affleck's Batman wearing what's known as his "Knightmare" costume. Overtop of the image is the hashtag #ZACKSNYDERSJUSTICELEAGUE followed by another hashtag, #SNYDERCUT, below it. The director also included the simple caption: "Ok".
Fans might recognize this version of Batman from 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In that film Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, has what at first seems like a bad dream, but may in fact be a haunting vision of the future. In what's been referred to as "The Knightmare Sequence," Batman is seen leading an insurgency against Superman's (Henry Cavill) evil regime in what looks like a desolate, apocalyptic future. Batman and his insurgency are seen fighting against black-clad soldiers that bare the Superman logo, as well as an army of winged monsters that abruptly makes an appearance. Batman is then captured by Superman's forces and faces down the mighty Kryptonian, who decides to used some pretty intense "enhanced interrogation" techniques against Batman's soldiers.
The sequence ends with Superman declaring, "she was my world, and you took her from me," before seemingly shoving his hand through Batman's chest. Bruce Wayne then wakes up from the nightmare only to then be visited by The Flash (Ezra Miller) from the future, who pleads with Bruce to find the other members of the Justice League and reassures him that he is right about Superman, all before vanishing in a flurry of electricity before Bruce's eyes. This "Knightmare" is used by Batman as further justification for why he shouldn't trust Superman and ultimately leads to their fight later in the movie.
When the film premiered in 2016 this sequence left a lot of audience members confused as to what they just saw. Was this real? Why were there flying demon creatures? For fans of DC comics though, they would likely recognize the winged monsters as Parademons, the alien foot soldiers of DC supervillain and ruler of the planet Apokolips, Darkseid. It's clear that this sequence was initially setting up things to come in what, at the time, would be the next film for the DCEU, Justice League.
However, 2017' s Justice League either cut or did not include any scenes involving this sequence, nor did it feature Batman dawning the earthy tone trench coat seen in the photo. It's clear from the director's tease that Snyder will be making more of an effort to connect these two films, and maybe give more insight into the "Knightmare" sequence. This may also indicate a stronger connection to Darkseid, who is now confined to be making an appearance in the new Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Does this prove that the Knightmare sequence will come to fruition? Will Superman turn evil after seeing what he looked like with a digitally removed mustache? Or does this photo indicate that Batman has yet another vision of the future?
Hopefully, all questions will be answered on March 18th, 2021 when Zack Snyder's Justice League premieres on HBO Max.
Source: Zack Snyder/Vero