Latest Justice League trailer came out today, and although it has shown us how Clark Kent looks in the movie, it also raises another question about the role that the ‘Man of Steel’ plays in this film.
It was well known that Henry Cavill would make a come back in Justice League, even when we saw the Superman being killed in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Fans believed that this would lead to Superman’s resurrection and he would make a dramatic comeback to help the Justice League to thwart the attack by Steppenwolf. However, have you considered the possibility that Cavill’s appearance in the film is only as a recollection of him by Lois Lane?
As seen in the trailer, Lois (Amy Adams) was shown to be at the Kent family farm. Standing on the porch, she looked out to the field of grain, and that’s when she saw Clark standing out there. He points to the ring on her finger and asks if she had said yes. Then she is shown to have woken up alone in the bed, and we find out that this was just a dream sequence.
What if this was all that the Superman had to do in Justice League? He might not be only in that one scene, but, as various recollections and dreams of Lois Lane. That means that we won’t see any Superman resurrection in Justice League, but, maybe later in a movie based on the Superman saga and that would be much more logical.
We are not saying that Superman’s resurrection is never going to happen. Warner Bros. can’t consider running the DCEU movies without bringing back Superman, who is probably one of the most legendary superheroes ever and a great merchandising line as well. What we are saying is that Justice League might not be the film that sees the return of this Superhero.
There is another Justice League scene as shown in the trailer which features a newspaper front page with the headline “World Without Hope.” This is a giveaway about a World Without A Superman, which happened to be the tagline for the comic “Funeral for a Friend” and a storyline which took place after the Death of Superman and later went on to be used as the title for the collected edition of that storyline.
World Without a Superman
World Without a Superman was a story that explored the responses of the other DC Universe heroes to Superman’s death, how they mourned it and how they moved forward without him. Justice League might be the film representation of the same although in a more dramatic and highly action-oriented style.
It is possible that Superman would return only in the Justice League sequel or at the earliest in the post-credits of the upcoming film, which would mean that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is indeed an on-screen adaptation of The Death and Return of Superman. In the first segment of that series Superman dies, is not seen in action in the second part and then makes a comeback in the third part.
This is all complete guesswork right now, and we might even see a clone or a substitute of Superman come to fore in the Justice League sequel. In any case, nobody can figure out what’s Batman cooking up with that hologram in his cave.
Legacy
It is also a possibility that Darkseid will resurrect Superman and manipulate him into siding with the Apokolips, which is something that we saw in the Superman: The Animated Series during the two-part “Legacy” episode and this could be what Batman had seen in his Knightmare vision in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Maybe this is why DC Films are trying to be so guarded about the resurrection which we all know, is imminent. This would be a disappointment for the fans of the Kryptonian who had been waiting to see their icon back in action. However, this throws open the possibility of a very intriguing storyline.
Justice League releases on November 17, 2017. It will be followed in the DC Extended Universe by Aquaman on December 21, 2018, Wonder Woman 2on December 13, 2019, Shazam in 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.
