WMG / Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Pre-release theories

There will be a group that thinks that Zod was Good all Along, and he had good intentions for Earth

• They will make a statue of him
  • And will chant "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD"!

Batman, Joker, Nightwing, Red Hood: The Craziest Theory Ever

So, there's a theory flying around over Jared Leto's take on The Joker for Suicide Squad: he's actually the most recent deceased Robin, Jason Todd, who rather than being killed, was tortured to insanity by the true Joker (who is now believed to be dead). But with all of the uproar over the casting of Batman/Bruce Wayne (some even saying he looks too young to be playing an older Bruce Wayne), no one has thought to suggest that he may not be the real Bruce Wayne. What if Ben Affleck is playing Dick Grayson who, rather than actually dying (as the grave in the trailer suggests) killed off his former identity in exchange for taking up the mantle of the Batman and living (for some reason) as Bruce Wayne (maybe he's insane too, lol).

1. Convoluted to the point of idiocy...
2. Ben Affleck probably wouldn't settle for a role as a sidekick turned hero (much less some weirdo who stole his mentor's identity)...
3. the thought of Ben Affleck being Robin-turned-Batman probably wouldn't sit any better with fans than him actually being Batman...

so those are my comments on my theory.

1. Also WAY too similar to the plot of Batman: Arkham Knight (where one of the villians is Jason Todd who was thought dead).

• Much as I long for the days of Dick Grayson as Batman, the casting notices on Wikipedia identify Affleck's character as Bruce Wayne.

Lex Luthor isn't actually Lex Luthor

He's an Actor hired by Ferris Boyle.

• or maybe he's...[GASP] Granny Goodness!!!

Deathstroke will appear

Must be portrayed by Ron Perlman.

Oracle will be a supporting character

Barbara Gordon is kind of due for a modern live-action appearance. Showing her as Oracle could distance her from Batman and prevent her from being just a Girl Batman.

• Supported, Jena Malone has been suggested to be playing her, and as she's a bit to old for Batgirl, Oracle seems likely.

Superman was replaced by Bizarro and is the Dragon to Lex Luthor

It will be revealed that Lex Luthor either owns the Daily Planet and followed Lois Lane's reporting enough to figure out who Superman is, and that he exists, or he did his own independent investigation and found out. He then finds some sample of Superman's DNA (some of his beard hair, perhaps?) and uses Cadmus to create a clone of this powerful alien. While working on the clone, they discovered a particular type of radiation that hurts the clone on a molecular level which they'll call "Kryptonite." When the clone is finished, Luthor uses some form of mind control on him, or controls him with the threat of Kryptonite. After Superman is arrested and interrogated, Luthor secretly takes custody of the actual Superman (keeping him in a prison that is surrounded by Kryptonite, so he can't escape) and replaces him with the clone. The clone has instructions to stop Zod while destroying as much of Metropolis that Luthor doesn't own and protecting LexCorp properties as much as possible. Then, after the big battle, Luthor buys up the now-devastated land for cheap and rebuilds it. He becomes a hero to the people.

Of course, the clone isn't perfect, and is degenerating. Lois figures this out, and Batman (who is in Metropolis to strike a business deal with Luthor and investigate him for possible criminality) figures at least part of it out. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman announces her existence after the Battle of Metropolis (and many other heroes consider doing the same, including Aquaman and Green Lantern) and helps Lois save Superman, while Batman fights "Superman" wearing a power suit. Fake!Supes will degenerate further, looking like the traditional Bizarro (Batman will be the one to name him that). It'll end with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman beating Bizarro down and arresting Luthor. That will be the dawn of the Justice League.

The film will end with the creation of the Justice League...

...but Luthor will still be at large and the actions taken in the climax will cause the destruction of a major Atlantean city, prompting a war.

When he first appears, Lex Luthor will have hair.

At the beginning of part 2, Lex will have a full head of red hair. In the middle of the movie (or at the climax), he will be exposed to something that will cause his hair to fall out.

• Alternate Theory: Lex gets a Prison Buzzcut near the end.
• Confirmed◊, though it's possible he's wearing a wig.
• The hair is real, but gets shaved at the end of the movie.

Lex will be the villain in the second movie, and there will be a shout out to Batman: No Man's Land and the DC Animated Universe

Sort of. Metropolis was pretty much ko'd in the fight between Supes and Zod. It's going to take a lot of money to rebuild. And, why, what noble philanthropist but Lex Luthor will rush into save the day with donated funds to rebuild the city? Unlike that nasty alien who wrecked it in the first place. Then, just like his DCAU counterpart, Lex really will own and employ half the city and, like in No Man's Land, the deeds for those buildings will go mysteriously missing and there will be no Batman to stop Lex from doing it.

• Technically, DCAU Lex built half the buildings and employed two thirds of the citizens (whether they knew or not).

Lex Luthor will invent Kryptonite.

In Man of Steel, Zod's ship was able to nullify Superman's power. Luthor will salvage the wreckage of the ship and use it to synthesize Kryptonite.

• Or, it's Batman who invents Kryptonite to use in case Superman ever goes rogue for any reason.

• Jossed. Kryptonite was formed by Zod's World Engine when he tried to terraform Earth into Krypton and Lex arranges for some to be brought from the Indian Ocean to the United States. Batman seals it from Lex and makes Kryptonite weapons, namely several Kryptonite smoke bombs and a spear with a Kryptonite point.

Kara has been living among the Amazons.

And she's friends with Wonder Woman.

Kara's pod was the only one on the scout ship still functioning, but it was stolen by Lex Luthor

At some point, Luthor got a hold of it and has kept it safe and secure just because!

• You're◊ welcome◊.

Dakota Fanning will play Supergirl

I think she would be good at the role. No, this isn't because I have a crush on both of them!

• Well, it would be another famous movie she'd be in that isn't Twilight. That's good for anyone's resume.
  • She did voice Kid Wonder Woman in JLU so it's no surprise if WB asked her to do another role.
• According to IMDB, Dakota's Typecasting is either Wise Beyond Their Years or Troubled, but Cute. Depending on the era, either one fits Supergirl very well.
• Not sure how relevant this is, but I don't recall seeing any blonde Kryptonians in Man of Steel, so she might have dark hair if she is cast.
  • Kara was still blonde in the prequel comic book.
  • Plus, we didn't see that many kryptonians in Man of Steel. It mostly consisted of Kal-El, his biological parents, Zod, his soldiers, and those council guys. I don't think that's a good number to use to definitely judge the whole population.

There will be a Brick Joke about the satellite broken during the fight with Zod

A Funny Moment, of course.

• The following conversation is from Superman/Batman: Apocalypse:
  Batman: You still owe me a computer.
  Superman: Might take a while. Reporter's salary.
• Would be interesting (and hilarious) to learn that the destruction of a Wayne Enterprises satellite screwed over Batman in some way (while it could be argued he could have more than one in orbit, satellites are expensive, and even with his money, Bruce might have only one of his satellites orbiting Earth).
  • On a darker note, Bruce might decide his next satellite needs to monitor superheroes, leading to the creation of Brother Eye.

Batman will be some sorts of Mentor/Big Brother to Superman when it comes to becoming a superhero

So, probably, the sequel might have some Time Skip or something where Lex Luthor rebuilds Metropolis and makes an all-out campaign against Superman for the destruction of city during Zod's invasion. Bruce Wayne comes to Metropolis to either help in rebuilding the city or have some business deal with Luthor. Luthor tells Bruce some nasty stuff about Superman regarding the city's destruction during Zod's invasion. Bruce, being Batman, investigates and tracks down Superman's whereabouts until he discovers his identity. Then, he teaches Clark some sort of tips on being a superhero such as the No-Kill Policy and how not to make too much collateral damage when saving people. Of course, there might some sorts of conflict between them where Clark warns Bruce not to be too close to Luthor because of his anti-Superman campaign while Bruce reminds Clark that Luthor paid most of the damages due to his carelessness back then, etc.

• I get how this could work in-universe, but in a meta sense, it's just so out of place for Batman to be the one to teach Thou Shalt Not Kill after past incarnations tied a gargoyle to the Joker's leg, left Ra's al Ghul on a train about to crash, and shoved Harvey Dent off a building (the last one being almost the exact same situation that Clark was in at the end of his movie).
  • The ones that you mentioned are from the Nolanverse and, for the nth time, they're not connected to Snyder's version ever since Ben Affleck got cast as Batman. It's possible that Batfleck would be the version close to the comics. If you check Batman's tropes, he doesn't kill or is reluctant to kill unless it's necessary. Hell, in Batman: Arkham City, he regrets letting Joker die and has to let Harley Quinn live.
    • Did you even read the first half of that? The whole "works in-universe but not meta" part?
    • Yes but again, Batfleck is completely different from Bat-Bale. It's mentioned that Batfleck would be an older and wiser version that would complement with Henry Cavill's Superman, probably similar to Bruce Wayne's version from Batman Beyond. Anyways, I guess most people are very used to The Dark Knight Trilogy.
    • Okay, let me put this another way: after so many years of Batman movies showing him kill off the villains, having him try to teach Superman Thou Shalt Not Kill (new version of the character or not) as yet another of DC's attempts to make Batman superior would be just downright infuriating.

Working with Superman will convince Batman he doesn't need to work alone

Because dammit, Robin is long past due for film redemption! And frankly, I'm tired of films about only Batman.

Related to the above: Robin died in this continuity.

This prompts Batman's desire to work alone or his decision to retire.

• Was it Jason? Because, not many people know this, but Superman did play a role in that storyline.
  • Don't forget that Joker had a tattoo of a dead robin. And who does he kill? Let's think for a second...
• Possibly confirmed. This image from the set depicts a tombstone engraved to Richard John Grayson.
  • Or maybe he faked it again in this continuity and is off doing other chores for Batman?
• Essentially confirmed by the Comic-Con trailer, with Bruce staring at a recognizable Robin uniform (dull red and green, staff, utility belt, 'R' logo in the corner of the chest) in the Batcave with Joker having spray-painted on it "HAHAHA Joke's on you BATMAN".
• It's been confirmed that the dead Robin is indeed Jason, so that means Dick has become Comic Book/Nightwing by then and that Tim Drake or Carrie Kelley isn't too far off.

Connected to the above theory...

• The Comic-Con trailer has Bruce on the phone as Wayne Tower fell as he is mouthing a one syllable word, and runs toward the building to help. He is later seen comforting a little girl. The newspaper he later unfolds reads "You Let Your Family Die". Imagine this: Dick, his wife, lets call her Barbara Gordon, and their daughter moved to Metropolis after they retired from duty as Robin and Batgirl. That was when The Battle of Metropolis struck. Dick, and Babs died in an attempt to save as many people as possible. The little girl we see Bruce comforting is their daughter.
  • Seconded on that being how Dick died, but I'm thinking if anyone else dies in the tower collapse ("You let your family die" sounds plural) it will be *Jim* Gordon, since he's supposed to be dead already as well. Either way, if Barbara is in the tower too, I doubt she'll die (maybe crippled though) due to how sensitive people are about bad things happening to female characters lately. Her being one of, if not the, foremost female characters of the DC cash cow franchise adds into that.

Alfred is dead

• He died sometime ago and Bruce is "imagining" him.
  • That would make the "Alfred, pilot my jet while I do some stunts" scene really impressive.

Batman v Superman is testing the waters before cannon-balling in with a Justice League movie

Probably jossed, because they announced they were going ahead with a Justice League movie.

There will be a Batman villain acting as Lex's dragon.

• Lex Luthor works great as a foil for both Superman and Batman. So you don't need him to team-up with Ra's or something. Instead, just have him recruit one of Batman's villains as muscle for his schemes. As for which one, I think Clayface would work best: he hasn't appeared in a film yet, his powers would make him a feasible threat to both Superman and Batman, and his shapeshifting would work well with Lex's Corrupt Corporate Executive deal. Just have him working in corporate sabotage or something.
• Joker could be a Dragon with an Agenda. Lex hires him, only to find out too late that he overestimated his ability to control Joker, thinking Money, Dear Boy would work on a man who just wants to watch the world burn.
• Deadshot is also acceptable, but he's more associated with Green Arrow. If (note the If) they are planning on putting Arrow in the planned DC Cinematic Universe, there could be a scene with Deadshot being approached by Lex, or someone representing him.
• Metallo, the android with Kryptonite in his chest, which is why Superman needs to turn to Batman for help in the first place.
• Magpie, as a nice little Mythology Gag to the first post-Crisis Superman/Batman team-up.
• Confirmed - although he's never addressed using his comic name, Anatoli Knyazev (AKA KGBeast) is The Dragon to Lex.

Batman and Superman will start out as friends, but come to odds by the end of the film.

If they form a Justice League, it will be built on a bitter, paranoid truce so that each can be close enough to keep an eye on the other.

The sequel "Superman vs Batman" movie will be officially titled...

"Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman: Giant Heroes All-Out Attack" due to its apparent inclusion of both Wonder Woman and the Flash.

• Most people are already calling it Worlds Finest, because it's both the title of the pre-Crisis Batman/Superman crossover comic, as well as the Crossover movie which codified the DC Animated Universe between Batman and Superman.
  • Both jossed. The full title will be Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Gal Gadot will only cameo as Wonder Woman

Because otherwise the whole thing just feels crowded.

• I don't think it would feel crowded. Avengers didn't, and it had 6 heroes. However, I agree that Wonder Woman will probably only cameo because everyone seems to be terrified of using her.
  • It would be crowded because, unlike The Avengers, this movie is about Superman and Batman. If they're not calling it Trinity, then Wonder Woman probably isn't a main protagonist.
  • Also, most of the Avengers were introduced in solo movies, so they only had to really introduce Hawkeye and add characterization to Black Widow. The movie will already have Superman introduced, and it will definitely introduce Batman, but if it tried to introduce Wonder Woman as well, it could feel crowded due to throwing too many new major characters at us with their own things going on.
  • Most likely Jossed (no pun intended). In the trailer she's seen in both her civilian Diana Prince guise and suited up as Wonder Woman for what looks to be the final battle. It's unlikely a mere cameo would have her in multiple scenes/sequences.

Lex Luthor will use Facebook or some other social network to take over the world.

Because he is being played by Jesse Eisenberg.

• I swear to God, if somebody says anything about magic tricks next...
• I know you meant that as a joke, but using Lex Luthor for social commentary on real-life tech moguls might not be a bad idea...
  • Unless you're one of those people who's just sick and tired of superhero movies with obvious social commentary.
    • Hipsters?
    • NSA Surveillance.

There will be an attempt at an Author's Saving Throw towards criticisms of the previous film.

I don't want to start another Internet fight, so let me try to put this as nicely as I can: from a purely objective standpoint, a lot more people had problems with Man of Steel than could be reasonably expected. This film will try to appease those people by addressing those issues.

• Well, the last one got a few complaints about not doing enough to establish the DC Extended Universe. And we all know how that's going...

Batman was one of Clark's childhood heroes.

Here, Batman will take the role of the Gray Ghost from Batman: The Animated Series while Superman will take the role of Batman, trying to convince his hero to come out of retirement and help him.

This movie will introduce Kryptonite.

It will be in Lex's possession, which is why Superman needs Batman's help.

• At the end, Superman will leave the Kryptonite with Batman to use in case he gets out of control.
  • Confirmed Luthor is seen with it in the trailer

Someone will call Batman a daredevil

Please?

• At some point, Bruce will wear sunglasses and use a cane.
  • And while taking a walk around Crime Alley at night (perhaps to lay flowers at his parents' death site), some punks will think they can take on the rich looking older gentlement (that is, assuming they don't recognize Bruce with his sunglasses on). Instead, they end up getting a sound beating, including an Offhand Backhand from Bruce with his cane. This not only gives off the look of a potentially blind man fighting, but it also works as Mythology Gag to old!Bruce's fight against the Jokerz in Batman Beyond.

The fight between the two title characters will end before it becomes clear who will win

This is a basic rule of Let's You and Him Fight.

Kryptonite was created by Zod's terraforming.

Instead of meteorites, Kryptonite is transformed Earth matter. Possibly enhanced by Luthor.

• Hey, that's a good one. Cookie for you!
  • Confirmed.

Metallo will be in this as The Heavy

As already guessed above. Luthor salvages Kryptonian material to rebuild John Corben, a soldier or policeman who was injured in Man of Steel's climax, as a cyborg. The real Man of Steel, if you will. He's pretty much RoboCop but Luthor uses him to turn the public against Superman, etc. He's also powered by Kryptonite.

Wonder Woman is tied to the New Gods

The film will use her New 52 origin as the daughter of Zeus. She's a child of the Old Gods who came to Man's World to prepare Earth for the coming of the New, by seeking out champions.

There will be a Love Triangle between Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Lois Lane in Dawn of Justice

• Which one of them is the hinge? (Admit it, you set yourself up for that one)
  • To put it simply, there would be a romantic situation similar to the one in the DC Animated Universe's "World's Finest" three-parter (Lois begins dating Bruce, she finds out his secret, and they end their relationship).
    • But aren't Lois and Clark already dating?

Both Smallville and Metropolis will be (mostly) re-built by the time Dawn of Justice takes place, because Superman lent a super-powered hand

Superman will probably have felt really bad about having caused so much damage during his battle with Zod and his soldiers in the first film that he decides to help re-build Smallville and Metropolis (though Wayne Enterprises will probably chip in as well). This will make Lex Luthor very jealous and Luthor will then seek to discredit Superman; Luthor even accuses Superman of deliberately summoning the Kryptonians to Earth in the first place so they could raze the city, leaving it so damaged that Superman could help re-build it and therefore win the people's trust.

Batman's role in the film

Batman/Bruce Wayne will probably be in Metropolis to investigate Superman for himself after hearing Lex Luthor's claims that Superman is a threat to mankind and was secretly working with Zod to level the city so he could then help re-build it and make himself look like a hero and get people to trust him. Bats will ultimately end up agreeing that Superman is a sufficiently powerful alien being who could destroy Earth and take the necessary precautions (like stockpiling Kryptonite) should anything of the sort happen, but he and Superman will part on at least civil terms.

The film will end on an optimistic note...

...because the subtitle Dawn of Justice has got to suggest the beginnings of the Justice League and, more than that, an age of hope and heroism for Earth, because that's why Clark/Kal-El was sent to our planet in the first place—to bring hope to humankind (hell, the House of El crest on Supes' uniform means "hope," as stated by Jor-El in the first movie).

• I suppose this could be considered confirmed, to some extent. After Superman is killed by Doomsday, there's a scene at the very end where it shows Lois Lane tossing dirt on his grave. After she walks away, the camera focuses on the dirt, which, after a few seconds, begins to rise, showing that Superman is actually still alive.

There will be no more solo movies in this universe for a long while.

After Batman v Superman, there will be a 6-movie Justice League story arc with no attempts at all to flesh out the non-Superman, non-Batman members of the League with their own movies. This will be done to avoid the "why aren't the Avengers helping out" type criticisms the Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps getting (and differentiate these movies from the MCU).

• Familiar Justice League story arcs will get adapted for marketing purposes. Unfortunately, some of them will be In Name Only.
• Do you mean we'll get 6 Justice League movies, or one Justice League movie split into 6 parts? Because last I heard, the Justice League movie was going to be split into like 2 or 3 parts, if they're seriously considering a "Part 1 of 6" thing that would be more ridiculous than it already is.

Bruce Wayne will sue Clark Kent.

After all, the title uses the legal "v." style of "versus" instead of the more traditional "vs." spelling.

Robin is already Nightwing in this continuity.

Why would there be a Cyborg cameo in a movie that already has the Big Three if someone wasn't trying to push a Titans movie?

• ...Because Cyborg is in the Justice League now, as all the recent animated movies have constantly been trying to remind us?

Cyborg and Metallo are being built by the same people.

If Metallo's in the movie as well, it's much neater and intelligent to have the same doctors saving Victor Stone's life to work on John Corben.

• Or perhaps Cyborg and Metallo will be combined into a Composite Character.

The film will use "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal.

A light hits the gloom on the grey.

• This might be my favorite theory.

"Bring Me To Life" will play on Bruce's normal car radio

Then he quickly switches stations to "Kiss From A Rose".

Barbara Gordon was paralyzed at some point before the time of the movie.

This film will set Aquaman up as an antagonist.

Or at least an Anti Hero. It makes sense and draws on his best non-comic appearance in the JL Unlimited show.

Jim Gordon will cameo.

Potentially with other Gotham police officers such as Harvey Bullock or Renee Montoya.

Batman will already know about the existence of Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

Since it's pretty much confirmed that Batman will already be well-established. The two might only have a cameo or appear in a few quick scenes that involve Batman appearing to them separately either to help them with a villain or see if they have information on Superman, considering they all have superpowers. Alternatively for Aquaman's involvement...

• Jury's still out on Aquaman, but confirmed for Wonder Woman. Ben Affleck describes one of the newly released photos from the movie where Bruce and Diana are interacting on a dance floor as a Bond-esque sexual tension-fueled exchange where both are aware of each others' true identities, but play it coy in an effort to get information out of each other.

Aquaman will appear when Batman and Superman take their fight to the ocean...

• ...and considering how protective he is of his people, he will give the two a quick ass-kicking back to dry land.
  • Or, being Aquaman, he'll just complaint and talk to some fishes.

Aquaman will appear in The Stinger...

...declaring war on the Surface World for its involvement in the destruction of his ocean during Man of Steel and this movie.

Jim Gordon will be portrayed by Bryan Cranston.

He did a great job voicing him in Batman: Year One. Plus, he looks and is older than Ben Affleck, just like how Gordon is older than Wayne.

Taking a page from Ultimate Thor, Aquaman will just appear as some "crazy man" on the news

Who says he's King of the Sea, and he can talk to fish.

• Given that Aquaman works best as a king, this probably isn't a proper direction to take.
  • Nobody believed Ultimate Thor was a god until he summoned the warriors of Asgard with the rainbow bridge. Same here, Aquaman is the King of the Sea, but nobody believes him yet.

Luthor's battlesuit will be reverse-engineered from leftover parts of the Kryptonian suits left behind by Zod's men

The big collars on their suits makes it a little obvious, don't you think?

• These collars?◊.
  • Yup.
• Lex isn't the only one who could make good use of some Kryptonian tech◊ either.

Possible Casting Choices for future villains

• Deathstroke, by Ron Perlman
• Killer Croc, through Motion Capture by Robert Maillet
• The Joker, by David Tennant
  • Jossed, he'll be played by Jared Leto.
• Larfleeze, through motion capture by Nathan Fillion
• Deadshot, by Jason Flemyng
  • Jossed, he'll be played by Will Smith, see Suicide Squad (2016).

Alfred is Secretly the Big Bad & He Killed Bruce Wayne's Parents

1. Why else would Warner Bros. hire an A-list actor known for playing a parent-killing villain?

2. Alfred was The Outsider in the comics, so having him play a villain is somewhat faithful to the Batman mythology, especially given that memorable eulogy in Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader??

3. If Alfred was the one who orchestrated the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, it could add depth to his villainy. A butler who sees a child grow up in privilege with no knowledge of loss or pain, despite living in a city full of it, may have come to the conclusion that he needed a particularly loud wake-up call

4. If Alfred has to go through some horrific transformation to become the Outsider, he would be the Harvey Dent equivalent in Batman v. Superman and thus uphold the formula set by Chris Nolan until Doomsday comes along

5. Who else can top the Joker and Bane at this point?

• No one. You can't top Joker and Bane, no matter what. You just can't.

A brief adaptation of Jason Todd's death A Death in the Family will be featured in the movie, or will at least be alluded to, as Batman's reason for "retiring" up until the events of this movie

This being supported by the rumors of Jason Todd's tattered Robin costume appearing in the Batcave, provided that they are true.

• All but it specifically being Jason confirmed.

The guns on the Batmobile shoot rubber bullets

Honest. Given that almost everything we've seen about this version of Batman has been a love letter to Frank Miller's version in The Dark Knight Returns, non-lethal ammunition would likely be carried over from that comic. Not to mention that it's highly unlikely that the writers would have Batman kill after the backlash against a Thou Shall Not Kill character like Superman being forced to kill Zod came about.

Batman will change his outfit at some point after his clash with Superman

Frank Miller's Batman alternates between the blue, grey & yellow version and a black & grey variant, so why not this one? As anyone who has read DC: The New Frontier can tell you, Batman changing from his dark and imposing look to a more colourful campy look is an attempt to appear more friendly to the people he's protecting. And with a Justice League movie in the works, having Batman going from a being a recluse to one of the most recognisable heroes would definitely warrant a redesign.

Our introduction to Batman will be him stopping one of his lesser villains

My bets on Croc or black mask

• Double points if Croc is dual wielding Miniguns.

Batman v. Superman/Wonder Woman v. Aquaman

• We've seen these face-offs in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Flashpoint, so who's to say there won't eventually be a 2-on-2 brawl that ends with all four deciding on a truce that eventually develops into a League?
• Or maybe Wonder Woman and Aquaman's feud is the real threat and Batman and Superman decide to team up and stop them from destroying Europe?

Batman and Superman's meeting will be like Oliver Queen's cameo on The Flash pilot.

Superman will meet Batman on a rooftop and ask him for advice. Batman will give him encouraging words. Batman will then use his grappling hook to go up another building, causing Superman to smile and say, "Cool." Superman will then fly away with super speed, causing Batman to smile and say, "Cool."

The film will end with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman meeting and then parting ways.

A future Justice League movie will include these lines.

Cyborg: I'm bringing the party to you.

Batman: Now might be a good time for you to get fishy.Aquaman: That's my secret, Bats. I'm always fishy.

Wonder Woman: It's like Budapest all over!Flash: You and I remember Budapest very differently.

Kal-El: He is adopted?

Aidan Gillen will play Bill Wilson, CIA

And he will go on to become the Phil Coulson of the DCCU.

Clark goes to Gotham to write about Batman

"Tell me about Batman. Why does he wear the mask?"

"He's a big guy."

Luthor goes bald, Superman ribs him on it

"Was getting bald part of your plan?"

Batman and Superman will Stealth Hi/Bye each other at some point in the movie

Of course, Batman is the master of this and Superman can also pulls this on him.

Black Adam will appear

And Being that he's going to be portrayed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Shazam, there's going to be an actor allusion to his time as a wrestler. IE for example...Black Adam: Who are you to me, child? Parading yourself around as a God? Who do you think you are.Billy/Shazam: I-PUNCH, Shazam goes flying through buildings. Black Adam appears at his location.Black Adam: It does not matter what you think, mortal!!!!!

There will be a Shout-Out to Batman (1989)

Let's say Clark and Lois visit Gotham, and attend a party at Wayne Manor. They wander around and find a room with antiques, and a "guy" comes in behind them. Clark and Lois don't notice him, and Lois makes a snarky comment about one of the objects in the room, at which points the guy makes his presence known and displays knowledge about the object in question. Clark asks, "How do you know that?" The guy replies, "Because I bought it." The guy then holds out his hand. "Bruce Wayne."

These pieces of dialogue will be included throughout the DC movies

• The Flash and Green Lantern's best-buddy banter.
  Flash: Nice bling. Does it come in red?
  GL: Yeah. But that feeds off rage and turns you into a blood-spewing monster.
  Flash: Eh…yellow?
  GL: Uses fear to bump up your laundry bill.
  Flash: Orange you glad I didn’t ask about any more colors?
  GL: Everyone’s a comedian.
  • Complete with bromance.
  GL: As much as I hate to admit it, before I act...I think about what my friend Barry would do.
  Flash:...And then you do the opposite.
  • And finally, some Good Cop/Bad Cop. It gives a good dynamic since both Hal and Barry are technically cops.
  Flash: I'm bad cop.
  GL: Flash, I'm bad cop.
  Flash: You're always bad cop.
  GL: Bad cop goes against everything you are, Flash.
  Flash: Come on, Lantern. This one time.
  GL: No.
  Flash: I'll do cleanup duty! I'll run to China for Chinese food!
• RIP Wayne Enterprises satellite.
  Batman: Your little tussle with Zod destroyed my satellite.
  Superman: Send me the bill.
  Batman: On a reporter’s salary. Right.
• The Fortress of Solitude.
  Flash: So what’s with the ice palace?
  Superman: This is my fortress of solitude. I built it to be my home away from everyone. I’m sure you can relate.
  Flash: Sure thing, Elsa!
• Lex's chrome dome.
  Lex Luthor: My brilliant plan. It worked!
  Superman: Was going bald part of your plan?
• Capturing just how fast The Flash truly is. Figuratively, of course. He's too fast to be captured.
  Lois Lane: In other news, Central City speedster the Flash was in Metropolis today. The trip didn't last long, you could have blinked and missed it. Literally. According to experts at STAR labs who constantly monitor any and all unusual phenomena in the area were alerted by a brief, extremely high pressure system that came out of nowhere and left just as quickly. They estimate the Flash's visit to have been less then 2.387 seconds. We have confirmed from reports all over the city and social media that while he was here, the Flash stopped a bank robbery, 3 liquor store hold ups, put out 4 fires, rescued 73 various species of small animals from one type of danger or another, saved 3 people trapped in a sinking boat, painted "KILROY WAS HERE!!" in 13 foot long letters using red paint up the east side of Lexcorp Tower #1, and "BYE, BYE BALDY!!!" in the same size letters but in blue paint down the west side of Lexcorp Tower #2, prevented a bridge collapse and stole Superman's phone and tweeted a selfie. Former CEO of Lexcorp, Mr. Lex Luthor, responded this afternoon from Metropolis State Prison where he is serving a 378 year sentence for various crimes against humanity and possession of marijuana with this statement: "This is why I HATE you people! You're all animals! ANIMALS!!!". Superman could not be reached for comment. Film at eleven.
• The League defending Earth from the Big Bad.
  Batman: Get the hell off our planet!
  Flash: Fast.
• The Daily Planet gang interviews Bruce Wayne.
  Clark: (referring to a samurai-style armor) Where did this come from?
  Lois: I have no idea.
  Bruce: It's Japanese.
  Clark: And how do you know?
  (Beat)
  Bruce: Because I bought it in Japan.
• Cyborg will use what will hopefully become one of the most iconic superhero catchphrases ever:
  Cyborg: BOOYAH!
  • It'd be even funnier since "booyah" is also a type of stew. His built-in tech system could misunderstand and define it.
  AI System: Booyah is a simple chicken and vegetable stew that is cooked overnight, typically in huge Booyah kettles for church picnics and public festivals.
  Cyborg: What? Wait, really?
  • Then the whole Justice League could go out for some booyah at the end of the film.
• There will be references made concerning the infamous Bat Shark Repellent, Bat Credit Card, and Bat-Lube.
  Batman: Never leave the cave without them.
• The Flash getting a car ride.
  Flash: You can't run everywhere.
  Darwin Elias: No you can't.
• Bruce and Barry going Technobabble nerd over science stuff, finishing each other's sentences, finding common ground.
• Lex Luthor's utter unparalleled contempt for Superman.
  Lex: Those red eyes, I'm sure they look right through me, like I am nothing more than a nuisance. But when I see you? I see something no man can ever be. I see the end. The end of our potential. The end of our achievements. The end of our dreams. You are my nightmare.
• The acknowledgement of Batman's unparalleled investigating skills.
  Lex: You really are the world's finest detective, aren't you?
  Batman: World's greatest.

Aquaman will demonstrate that his powers are NOT LAME!

At one point in the movie, one of the Leaguers (e.g. Green Lantern or Flash) will ask Arthur what can he do. Then, Arthur summons sharks, giant squids and any creatures of the deep and commands to attack the enemy. And Arthur will say or give a look, "So....you were saying?" Cue the Oh, Crap! faces from the spectators.

The movie will have a very divisive reception, similar to Man of Steel

The Flash will not be Barry Allen

The creators of Arrow have said that the reason why the Atom is more like Blue Beetle is that WB did not allow them to use the latter, since they had plans for the character. Similarly, they were told they couldn't use Harley Quinn, since she would be in Suicide Squad (2016). Considering that Barry is the main character in The Flash (2014), it seems unlikely that they would re-use the same character in two live-action universes. On the other hand, though, considering that Superman Returns came out while Smallville was still airing, two Barry Allens might not be impossible either.

• Aaaaand, Phil Lord has confirmed it's Barry Allen. Womp womp...

Batman was retired long before Superman shows up

And when Metropolis gets wrecked, Bruce Wayne reluctantly suits up again.

Think about it: how could the Batman be a mere urban legend in this universe, regardless of how high profile his escapades were? It would make sense that, in his short run, something happened to force him to retire. Like the death of a sidekick, or in some other rumour's case, the commissioner. And he blames himself.

The first trailer shows Bruce looking at the suit with what looks like pain and regret, and maybe even subdued anger. Meanwhile Alfred narrates, "That's how it starts. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness, that turns good men cruel." Bruce knows this means he has to go back out there, that he's not done—fairly similar to what compelled him into action in The Dark Knight Returns. And maybe, just maybe, with emphasis on the rage (which Affleck has gone on record to discuss as a serious character flaw of Batman's), Bruce knows exactly what's coming. As Batman he experienced a kind of power no one had before, and he blew it when something terrible happened that he responded to poorly. He was a good man turned cruel, so he hung it up. Seeing Superman, who has much more power than anyone had ever been able to imagine, he realizes that it could all happen again, except the risk is much greater because of all the power Superman has.

And, perhaps, instead of trying to reason with him, Superman comes to see the Batman as a potential threat as well. Lois would uncover the urban legends surrounding the Batman, brings up the thing that saw Bruce disenfranchised with his own cowl, and it convinces Superman that the Batman is something that shouldn't be left unchecked. Hence the show down, hence why it leads to a fight. In the end, it takes something bigger showing up that needs the both of them working together.

Each Justice Leaguer respresents an ideal which will be addressed

• Superman: Hope.
• Batman: Justice.
• Wonder Woman: Truth.
• Green Lantern: Courage.
• The Flash: Sacrifice.
• Cyborg: Humanity.
• Aquaman: Peace.

The Riddler exists in this continuity

In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it-moment within the trailer, a familiar question mark can be seen as graffiti on a pillar◊.

• It might even be a leftover from or Foreshadowing Zero Year.

The villain of the movie will be Neil Degrasse Tyson

The villain of the movie will be Star Sapphire

Amanda Waller will show up in the post-credit scene, becoming the Nick Fury tying the DC films together.

And going with the "government doesn't trust superheroes" thing the New 52 is doing, she will appear to Lex Luthor to enlist his help in finding a way to defeat the newly formed Justice League should they go rogue. The first project she brings him under? "We're forming a team of our own".

• Sure, go ahead. DC has a lot to learn from Marvel. In fact, if you want the "government supergroups vs. freelance supergroups", you have the whole aftermath of Civil War to steal ideas from.
  • Though Amanda Waller has the twist in that, whereas Nick Fury recruited the heroes of Marvel to form the Avengers, Amanda Waller is (at least according to this WMG) recruiting the villains of DC to form the Suicide Squad.
• Jossed, Amanda Waller does not appear in the movie.

Matt Damon will appear in this or a later movie.

He and Ben Affleck worked together before. Matt will play Bruce's best friend (like with Harvey Dent or Ethan Bennett). Tragically, circumstances led to him become a villain (maybe Hush).

Superman and Batman are not going to fight at all.

Batman in the power-armour staring down Superman? All a huge misdirect. The scene is when the two of them decide to team-up. The "Do you bleed?" line? Taken out of context. Batman's actually talking to one of the villains (presumably Luthor). After all, the word versus isn't even in the title. There will be tension between the two heroes, but no fists will be exchanged.

One of the voices heard at the beginning of the trailer belongs to G. Gordon Godfrey.

Wonder Woman will play peacemaker between Batman and Superman.

According to some sources, Wondy will be at least a century old. She could play the older and wiser mentor figure to these two heroes.

Wonder Woman trained Bruce Wayne to be Batman when he was younger.

Making him one of Themiscyra's few male guests.

• So Bruce found himself on Themyscira during his world training?

It's Wonder Woman's idea to found the Justice League

There is a reason Snyder called her the 'gateway drug' to the rest of the DC Extended Universe.

As a diplomat and having been around, as one rumour puts it, for at least a century, Diana has seen and experienced things that require more than just several governments working together to address large-scale threats, dealing with wide-scale evacuation for natural disasters, and anything short of alien invasion (and perhaps a few supernatural threats too, considering her own background and realizing she alone may not be enough to deal with it). The Black Zero event (a.k.a. the Battle of Metropolis, as Ben Affleck has referred to in an interview) is what convinces her that the world might need a team of superheroes to defend her and her people. She inadvertently causes the clash between Batman and Superman as she pushes the two towards each other in the hopes that, despite their differences, they would see their similarities and see a merit in being allies. When that doesn't quite work out, Diana takes a more direct approach, especially when the big threat against humanity becomes apparent.

At the end of the movie, Diana convinces Clark and Bruce (who is classically reluctant) to help her form the team, beginning the foundations for the Justice League.

Possible subtitles for the Justice League movies

Part 1:

• The Seven Unite
• The Heroes Rise

Part 2:

• Gods Among Us

The Stinger will feature a catatonic Joker in Arkham Asylum

And as the announcement of Batman's battle with Superman and return to crime fighting make national news, he will slowly emerge from his state, flash a smile and say Batman. Darling. Thus foreshadowing his appearance in Suicide Squad (2016).

Exposure to something nasty will make Lex Luthor bald by the end of the movie

Zod will be reanimated in some manner, creating a gritty version of Bizarro

• With little or no memories of the real Zod he'll experience.
  • Close, he's Doomsday.

Jim Gordon is killed during the collapse of Wayne Tower.

In the second trailer, we see Bruce holding a little girl while kneeling in the wreckage of Wayne Tower. That little girl could be Barbara Gordon, seeing as Bruce is a.) retired from Batmaning at this point, and b.) would trust Gordon and certainly want to hire him and/or be involved with his company. This could be what fuels Batman's rage and need to take down Supes - he blames Superman for his buddy's death. Bonus points if he actually sent Gordon and the rest of the victims to Wayne Tower as a safe haven.

Batman's Power Suit is a product of Reverse Engineering

Judging from some very quick shots in the second trailer, we get to see Zod in a bodybag and Lex hovering around what appears to be kryptonite. Perhaps using his many, many connections - Bruce probably designed the power suit based on bits and pieces of kryptonian armor that also would have been left around in the aftermath.

The Joker knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne in this continuity

Based on the "YOU LET YOUR FAMILY DIE" message on the article about the collapse of the Wayne Tower and the "HAHAHA, JOKE'S ON YOU, BATMAN" spray-painted over Robin's costume, combined with the dialogue that implies that Batman started his crime-fighting career decades ago, it seems as though Joker found out Batman's secret along the way and has been using it to torment him ever since.

• While it's pretty well known that a lot of Batman's story draws inspiration from The Dark Knight Returns, the idea of the Joker knowing his identity and tormenting him thus has been explored in the comics through "Death of the Family" and "Endgame"—the latter being what confirms that post-Flashpoint DCU has the Joker figure it out and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Incidentally, ROTJ is also of a story from a continuity where Batman retired after a tragedy namely the torture of Robin, through which the Joker learns Batman's identity. Suicide Squad (2016) features a scene very reminiscent to how the Joker tortured Robin.

The Bat-family existed at one point, but fell apart

The above two messages suggest this and Batman's apparent crime-fighting career would have given him a lot of time to gather allies. Unfortunately, things went wrong for the team, who either were forced out of action or grew distant from Batman - who blames himself for whatever happened to the others.

The Bat-family ended with Jason Todd, and will reform and expand after Batman's return

So in this case, it also once included Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon and The Outsiders (hence why Katana is working with Suicide Squad). With Bruce's return to crime fighting, he'll start recruiting some of his later allies, like Batwoman, Huntress, a new Batgirl (or two) etc.

Clark Kent will try to use his job at the Daily Planet to attack Batman.

Fearing that a direct confrontation with Batman could create unwanted consequences after the Metropolis incident, Clark will instead try to indirectly combat him by antagonizing him through the power of the press. It won't work, however, because, as Perry says, "no one cares about Clark Kent taking on The Batman."

At some point in the movie, Lex Luthor will compare himself to Paul Revere.

Because his "The red capes are coming" sounds very similar to Paul Revere's "The Redcoats are coming". The comparison will be that he was one of the first to see the threat that Superman represents, and take steps to prepare for him.It could also simultaneously be comparing Batman to William Dawes, the lesser known rider who also helped warn the Minutemen about the British attack, yet has faded into obscurity while Paul Revere has become a well known historical figure. The comparison will be stating that, though Lex Luthor and Batman both saw how Superman could be a threat, and prepared for him, only Luthor will be the one who becomes the hero in the public's eyes, while The Batman will fade into obscurity.

Everybody is dead

Superman failed to save the world in Man of Steel and now they are all dead and the entire DC Universe is about the heroes journey to redemption to enter Paradise and atone for their sins. Because a WMG on TV Tropes isn't a WMG on TVTropes unless Everybody Is Jesus in Purgatory.

Batman's backstory is the Arkhamverse of games.

Because it would be awesome. As to the Joker being back after "dying" in Arkham City...since when has death ever really stopped the Joker?

BvS will start with a flashback to the Superman/Zod fight

• Which might be Batman's, since there appears to be a scene where Bruce is comforting a child during the fight.

Lex Luthor knows who Batman really is, and he's the one who sent the note to Bruce in the SDCC trailer

It's all part of an elaborate plan to discredit BOTH Batman and Superman so he can look like the hero, because he sees Superman as a threat to the world and to himself (or, more specifically, his ego, as stated on the character sheet for the DCEU).

The Batman/Superman battle will be early in the film, followed by the inevitable team-up.

After killing Zod, Superman has taken an oath not to take any more lives. As a result, during his fight with Batman, he'll hold back and be obviously just trying to incapacitate Batman instead of just punching Batman's head off. Batman will figure this out and deduce that Superman is a good guy at heart, just young and reckless, and the two will team up with Batman as the older and wiser mentor. There'll still be tension between them, but they will come to respect each other regardless.

The Batman/Superman fight will be broken up by Wonder Woman

Diana is seen causing a huge explosion with her wristbands in the SDCC trailer, which seems very similar to the end of the three-way battle between Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor in The Avengers film. It would also act as a reference to the DC: The New Frontier comic in which Batman and Superman were similarly manipulated into fighting one another and Woman Woman was the one who broke up the fight and convinced them that they were on the same side.

Luthor is using the fight between Batman and Superman as research on how to kill Superman

Leading to a fight between Superman and Kryptonite powered armor Lex

Luthor will be killed by Wonder Woman

• And be brought back to life, and bald.

Luthor is framing both heroes with crimes using Bizarro and Metallo/Cyborg-Superman.

While Batman seems to have ample emotional reason to distrust Superman, moving on to "I've got to destroy him" still seems like a pretty bad reaction. Unless Luthor has created an evil doppelgänger using his access to Zod's body and is actively deploying Bizarro to frame Superman. Something with heat vision took a shot at Batman in the trailer; that's Bizarro, and it's also Bizzarro in the desert scene with the Super-troopers and kneeling before Luthor. Since Henry Cavill is playing both characters, another marquee actor isn't needed for the heavy lifting there. Meanwhile, Luthor is also using a survivor of the Battle for Metropolis (either John Corben or Hank Henshaw) to hijack Batman's equipment and turn it on people, like the Batwing in the trailer. Corben/Henshaw belongs to the same program as Victor Stone.

Clark and Lois are engaged to be married, or Clark is thinking about proposing to Lois

After reading one of the entries for Broken Base on this film's YMMV page (the one about Martha's line to Clark about how he doesn't owe the world anything), one has to wonder if Clark's thinking about asking Lois to marry him, but he's hesitant because, well, he's a superhero and that tends to attract plenty of danger.

• confirmed, though it has nothing to do with what Martha said in the trailer.

Luthor will create an imperfect clone of Zod, possibly using Clark's recovered DNA too, codenamed B-Zero

Zod's attack on Metropolis using the Black Zero ship is being called the "Black Zero event".

Black Zero = B-Zero = Bizarro.

Aquaman will be the villain of the first part of the Justice League movie

His Cameo in the film will set him up as a Villain (Motivated by a Disaster in this movie or the first one) and show him as a Credible threat, before he takes the main villain status in the Justice League movie. Atlantis has been the villain before, and is often been shown as being very quick to war. Aquaman and his nation act as major villains in the first part, before both unite to fight a greater threat *cough* Darkseid *cough* in the second part (Does it qualify as a Genghis Gambit if the filmmakers do it?)

Jena Malone isn't playing Robin or Barbara

She's playing Mera. Seeing how important Mera is in Aquaman comics, she'll likely be introduced alongside her husband.

Diana is going to spin into WW

As homage to the 70's show. The transformation doesn't have to be as long or cheesy - but quick with a burst of lightning.

Mercy will be revealed to be an Amazon or possess some connection to Wonder Woman

After it was confirmed Tao Okamoto would be playing Mercy Graves, a few sites began to speculate that the film may incorporate her Amazonian backstory from the comics. Of course, this could end not happening, since her Amazonian heritage was only ever canon in the comics (not the show she originated in or any of the other media appearances she's made). And in fact may not be canon at all in the New 52.

• But she might have Amazon ancestry.

Mercy will have a Designated Girl Fight with Wonder Woman

And if she doesn't possess Amazonian abilities like in the comics, it'll be a Curb-Stomp Battle that's Played for Laughs.

Alternatively, she'll have a fight scene with Batman

Related to the "Lex will go bald from something nasty" WMG above: Lex either will go bald or has already gone bald from exposure to Kryptonite.

He's awfully enthusiastic about ogling a glowing green rock in the trailer; perhaps he ends up with Kryptonite poisoning or straight-up cancer. Either this Lex is affecting his demeanor and appearance to conceal his illness, or we'll see his deliberately carefree playboy image crumble over the course of the film.

Mercy will be a robot.

In Young Justice (2010) she has a robot arm that was really cool. In several media, Lex works on robots quite frequently (creating Metallo, countless Lex Luthor robots), so it's not too hard to believe that Luthor would want a robot armed to the teeth (perhaps even literally) guarding him at all times.

The big fight will end once Batman realizes that Supes is deliberately going out of his way to reduce collateral damage

As in, pushing civilians out of the way, making himself vulnerable in the process. We know Clark's motivation this time around is to protect innocents. After this becomes apparent to Bruce he'll likely opt not to fight him.

Bruce sells his usual equipment to the military

If they're going with a Dark Knight Returns angle, it reverse the positions where Superman is the outlaw and Batman is the government dog. The shot of the Batwing causing destruction is simply a soldier using Wayne Technology. To cover his tracks, Bruce will report one of his fighter jets stolen by Batman.

Luthor is framing both Batman and Superman

He hijacked Batman's technology and had him killing people with it. He would then reanimate Zod's corpse to have him become Bizzaro like an above theory stated to have him cause destruction. This would be to turn Superman and Batman further against each other.

The plot's a bit revealed in Snyder's odd insistence on weird grammar in the title

Stay with me here. We're all misreading it."Versus" would be either "versus", "vs.", or "v.". Not just "v". And he's been weirdly insistent on just "v". Just "v"? It JOINS. It's a bracket. Not like some weird yaoi fic you Did Not Want, but as in...

Batman v Superman

Batman joining forces after a few territory pissing matches

Big Bad goes down

(There was initially a typo there of "Big Bad goes GOWN". Feel free to now picture a bald Eisenberg feeling really, really pretty. You're welcome.)

Just read it DOWNWARDS.

We have a perfectly suitable Jason Todd

Guys, we've already got a Jason Todd waiting in the wings, shall we say, and he's been inadvertertently practicing his gravelly voice for about 10 years now. His current gig can't last forever... Right?

• Meh. I think he'd be better as Guy Gardner.

Doomsday will kill Superman

With the reveal that Doomsday will be in the film, this WMG seems somewhat obligatory.

• Confirmed.

Doomsday is really a battle damaged Bizzaro

Rebel Wilson will play Etta Candy

She'll be an army brat who just graduated from Holiday University. She's also a close friend of Steve Trevor before Wonder Woman appeared. She and Trevor will then join ARGUS.

Batman is a Death Seeker during the first part of Dawn Of Justice

One: This story draws inspiration from The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman regularly muses "It would be a good death", following Jason's death, which happened in this universe as well.Two: Him running towards the Superman/Zod fight might be not only courage, wanting to save people from the debris, but dying while saving people might be a good death for Bruce... but not good enough.Three: Alfred's comment about fighting Superman being suicide. I can perfectly see this sentence being followed with something along the lines of "...my God, that is actually what you want...".However, Bruce learning about the new threats against his world (Doomsday, Darkseid, evil Greek Gods, whatever), will give him a new reason to live during the course of the movie.

The Team Shot from the second trailer is the final shot of the movie

Just like the fight with the Rhino from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the fight with Doomsday will happen entirely off-screen and be cut short by the credits. By the time the Justice League movie comes out, the fight with Doomsday will simply be an Offscreen Moment of Awesome and will serve as a starting-point for the League.

Aquaman will show up in a Big Damn Heroes moment and kill Doomsday

Much like the end of the three-fight between Blue, Rexy, and the Idominus Rex from Jurassic World, Aquaman will jump in out of nowhere to deliver the final blow to take out Doomsday. Not only will this follow up from Aquaman rescuing Superman in Man of Steel, but will instantly negate any and all "Aquaman is useless" sentiment still lingering in the minds of the general movie-going public.- Jossed.

Lex Luthor Jr. is Lex Luthor Sr.

Both father and son have the same name. Convenient, isn't it? Perhaps it's an indicator of the arrogance that Sr. Had, or perhaps something more. In the comics, when Lex Luthor got cancer from overexposure to kryptonite, he came up with a clever way to survive, by cloning himself so that when his original body dies, he can transfer his consciousness to the clone body, and then claimed to be his own son, who had conveniently the same name as his father. Here it's similar.

Superman is being blackmailed by Lex Luthor into stopping Batman

Luthor's blackmailing Superman into stopping Batman by threatening Lois or Martha (or maybe both).

• Confirmed, although he only threatens uses Martha to blackmail him into fighting Batman. He threatens Lois Lane to get him to meet him.

Diana is just as disenchanted as Bruce is with their crusade, but is coaxed back to being Wonder Woman as opposed to blindly jumping back in like he did

In a recent interview, Snyder and Gadot talk about Diana's character in perspective, between Wonder Woman and Batman v Superman. They make it clear that she is old, roughly 5,000 years, with the latter years spent engaging with humanity—and our wars. By BvS she will have seen humanity at our worst, and despite her desire to bring peace to it, she has become weary and battle-worn. She doesn't retreat back to Themscyra, however: she wants to continue her crusade, but as Diana Prince, diplomat and ambassador. Retiring her Wonder Woman persona may be a result of not wanting to solve conflicts with violence anymore, not when it's at the cost of so many lives.

When Superman makes his presence—and the threat of a greater power—known, Diana is urged by UN associates (maybe even Trevor's descendant) into coming back. She won't, however, staunchly believing that this time humanity has to fix their own problem, especially since Superman seems more than happy to play nice. But when Batman starts stirring up trouble, she realizes she might not have a choice. And when Doomsday breaks loose, Diana will realize that the world does need Wonder Woman—and Batman and Superman fighting together.

Doomsday is a prehistoric Kryptonian

Lex attempts to create a Bizarro-type creature from Zod's body, but the radically alien way Zod was birthed (genetically conditioned to be a soldier and using the template taken from the Codex) screws everything up and instead he recreated a powerful being from Pre-History Krypton. Hell, maybe as the body's being constructed his skull will look eerily similar to the one seen in Man of Steel.

Doomsday is a clone of Doomsday

Lex Luthor doesn't create Doomsday, but merely an inferior duplicate of him. This would also mean Luthor will inadvertently give Darkseid (if he's indeed the villain of a future movie) the means of creating his own Doomsday clone army.

Jesse Eisenberg is actually playing Mxyzptlk

Pretty self-explanatory.

Lois will be the DCEU's Oracle

Amy Adams has noted that Lois will be the "key to the information", implying that she'll serve as the League's effective "intelligence officer". The difference, of course, is that this Oracle won't be crippled and she's affiliated with Superman more than Batman.

Lux Luthor Sr. will be played by...Gene Hackman.

Gene has half-joked that he'd only be willing to return to movies if they just film him in his house. So at one point, we'll see Eisenberg's Luthor visiting his dad at the old man's place, for advice. The mind reels....

• His role will be "covered up" and not mentioned in the marketing, and it will be a BIG shock for the audience—delightfully so.

Lex Luthor doesn't care who wins.

Lex Luthor wants Superman killed, and is also fairly certain he can do the deed himself, but because of his ego he also wants to be be seen as a hero by everyone. He knows that many people fear Superman's powers being turned against humanity, and if he can make those fears seem like reality, then he can bring the support of the people onto his side. What better way to do that than make Superman kill a human being, just like he did Zod? Once Batman has entered the picture, and makes his dislike of Superman obvious, the plan becomes simple: subtly pit the two against each other, then just sit back and watch (and film) the gladiator match. Whoever wins doesn't matter, as it's a win-win either way. If Batman wins, then he'll kill Superman, which is what Lex wanted, and if Superman wins, then he'll kill Batman, whose (very human) death would give Lex more than enough material to sway the majority of humanity against Superman, and subsequently allow Lex to kill Superman himself. The plan only goes awry when both heroes refuse to kill the other.

• Jossed. Lex definitely wanted Batman to win.

Superman will fill the role that Robin fills in Batman's life

Batman becomes much darker when he doesn't have a Robin to remind him that men can still be good. Clark is usually presented as more optimistic than Bruce and could remind Bruce that there is still hope in the world. As a corollary, this Clark Kent is around the same age as Dick Grayson in this universe.

The reason the Extended Edition is going to be rated R...

Is because it will adapt the controversial scene from A Death in the Family. Yes, that one. The trailers for the movie have already alluded to the scene in question with Robin's vandalized costume on display, and rumors of an adaptation of Under The Hood. While an abbreviated version of the scene might appear in the theatrical cut of this movie, it would have to be toned-down for the purposes of securing a PG-13 rating.

• or alternatively, it will adapt the scene from The Killing Joke where Joker shoots Barbra Gordon through the spine and cripples her.

Lex will make Superman think Lois is dead, and that leads to the infamous "Superman kneels before Lex" scene

Crazy theory about the Batman vs. Superman fight

Halfway through the fight, Batman and Superman will realize that the other guy isn't their enemy. But they continue fighting to give Clark an impromptu training session and to trick Lex Luthor into thinking they are still enemies. Because Clark knows that Lois is doing some sneaky detective work and needs Lex Luthor to stay distracted.

Post-release theories

Batman has PTSD

Worse than usual. His parents were brutally killed before his eyes, who knows what horrors he has seen in his 20 years as Batman, Robin was brutally murdered, and he was helpless to do anything in the final battle of Man of Steel. As a result, his mind snapped into sheer fight-flight reactions and Insane Troll Logic along the lines of "dragons set stuff on fire, Superman can set stuff on fire, so Superman is a dragon. And dragons need to be slain by a knight." Somehow Bruce will recover and not need to be in a mental institution.

• Indeed, I really got the impression that this Batman was so much more brutal because Jason's death hit him pretty hard. And why wouldn't it? He was like a son to him.

The "He is coming" Lex Luthor refers to in prison

is Green Lantern.Lex just doesn't know what Green Lantern is on the side of the good guys. He's the one person is the upcoming league who can rival Superman in raw power so Lex assumes he's corruptible, or is already power-mad like anyone else.

• Based on the appearance of a Parademon in the Knightmare scene, I thinks it's actually Darkseid.
  • Not to mention the focus on the devil in the painting.

Superman and Doomsday both getting nuked

will somehow lead to the creation of Bizarro.Supes looks pretty darn haggard before the sun hits him, somewhat resembling Bizarro. And if comic books have taught us anything, it's that radiation makes everything possible.

Batman and Wonder Woman will start a romantic relationship.

Alfred will be happy since this means this could lead to the next generation of Waynes as he mentioned in the movie.

Doomsday

will return, and will have Zod's memories. Doomsday could very much return either from healing himself, or Darkseid could revive him, either way Darkseid will most likely enlist him and give him Zod's original memories.

• At one point in the comics, Doomsday did revive himself with sentience and intelligence. It actually made him a weaker (though obviously not by much) threat because having sentience gave him the ability to feel fear.

Mercy is not dead

Whether through her being a robot or Amazonian, she'll have survived the explosion at Congress. Next time we see her, she'll be busting Lex out of prison.

• Considering that Lex escaped from prison as of Justice League, her breaking him out of prison would be a moot point.

The Senator from Kentucky

is Lex's mother.The way they share physical space is unusual for two Americans who are not related or dating; given their age difference and Lex's asking permission to change the room, he seems to treat her like a parent, not an opponent.

• Unlikely. Her surname isn't Luthor and Lex took a moment to explain his father's study to her, which his mother would already be familiar with. Lex's approach to her is either just his usual quirkiness or an attempt to endear himself to her.

Wonder Woman retired because of World War I.

SPOILERRIFIC!!! At the end of the film, Wonder Woman states that she lost faith in humanity 100 years before the events of the film. Assuming that the film happens anywhere post 2010, the most likely offender is World War I, which kicked off somewhere around 1914. As any history book will tell you, the World Wars were nothing short of unpleasant.

• Since the WW movie will indeed take place in WWI, this is most likely true.

one of the sequels will follow the Injustice storyline

the scene where Bruce is visited by Flash from the future could possibly imply that they're planning to have a story where superman goes evil like in the Injustice: Gods among us Game and comics. Whether they save Superman from himself or it turns out to be Bizarro or cyborg superman (or something else of that nature) it will take the united effort of the justice league to stop him and if not used in the same story-line as Darkseid would be a natural way to up the ante after fighting the dark lord of the DC universe.

• Word of God states that future films won't be as dark as BvS. Injustice was far darker, given the amount of deaths and betrayals that occurred.
• Alternately, they could use that as a possible Bad Future that gets averted because Batman remembers Flash's (or whoever it was) warning and manages to Set Right What Once Went Wrong.

Batman will be captured like in his knightmare.

But with the obvious twist that, unlike the nightmare, Superman shows up to rescue Batman. Batman, however, is still scared due to remembering what happened in his nightmare, and Clark is a bit puzzled by that because he wouldn't know why Batman would be scared.

• Superman: Why are you scared? I'm here to get you out. How did you even get captured in the first place?
• Batman: It's not important.
• Superman: Are you sure? Is there anything I need to know?
• Batman: No. I just had further proof that I was being an idiot and almost caused a self fufilling prophecy. Don't even think of asking for details.

^Superman: *effortlessly breaks Batman's bonds* Okay, Let's get out of here.

The Justice League's first enemy is Starro the Conqueror

The threat of Darkseid is what inspired Batman and Wonder Woman to head out and found the Justice League. But that doesn't necessarily mean Darkseid will be the first threat they face together as a team.

• Jossed. It's Stepphenwolf.

Batman will secretly found a separate organization from the JL

Batman helps form the Justice League, but he realizes that there's still plenty of small-fry crime to take care of. He decides to form another team of vigilantes, more low key than the League to combat such crime. He calls this team The Outsiders, while someone else jokingly calls it Batman Incorporated.

Superman will have Restrained Revenge on Batman

Since Batman was very mean to Superman, Clark will get even by soaping all the mirrors in Bruce's house, shortsheeting all the beds, and pulling off other pranks. Because good guys should forgive others, Clark won't beat Bruce up. Not only because that would prove Batman's paranoia to be correct.

The Knightmare sequence came from an alternate timeline where Batman killed Superman

Since Kryptonians have more lives than a cat under a yellow sun, Clark comes back to life and eventually kills Batman, because Batman's actions indirectly caused the deaths of Martha Kent and Lois Lane. Alfred was correct about Batman fighting to destroy Superman would be suicide. Of course, since Batman didn't kill Superman, Clark has no reason to kill Bruce. Though, he could scare Batman into thinking that he'll get killed. Or would that be too mean?

A sequel will adress the "promise" Bruce mentions Alfred in the 1% conversation

.Bruce says "a promise doesn't last much in Gotham" like he was refering to something in particular. If the solo Batman film is a prequel, it could explain what happened with Robin and Joker.

• He could be talking about Two-Face.

Theories of how Superman will return from the dead

.

• Darkseid revives him as a pawn.
• It turns out God's mother's name is also Martha so he returns him.
• He soaks up enough solar radiation to come back, much like he was revived after being nuked.
• The robot aboard the Kryptonian ship identifies him as the last Kryptonian, and revives him.
  • She also uses his DNA to create a 'purer' Kryptonian, the Eradicator.
• Revived by Project Cadmus and the Suicide Squad

Lex gave Mercy Graves powers without her knowledge.

And he sent her to the bombing to test them. It would foreshadow Infinity, Inc..

Kryptonians have little to no self preservation skills.

Especially if they were raised under a yellow sun. It would explain some things. And those skills aren't usually needed anyways.

Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are canon.

Just not in the same exact way. The only hints to these are the burnt-down Wayne Manor, his battles with the Joker (he did say they are "destined to do this forever"), and the line about "good guys turning evil" (likely referring to Harvey Dent).

Who the hell was that thing in the deleted "Communion" scene?

The scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-MUzvASr8sMy guess is Steppenwolf, maybe? Looks like him, and he's holding a couple of things that look like Mother Boxes... any other ideas?

• Darkseid: I doubt this one very much, but thought I'd just get it out of the way.

This Batman is not Bruce Wayne

He's actually Jean Paul Valley, posing as Wayne/Batman (or brainwashed into thinking he's Wayne). That explains his brutality against criminals, and his pathetic detective habilities. And, in the Batman film, the real Bruce Wayne will return.

At least, it's a way for DC to salvage a bit of the disaster they have made.

Diana didn't fight aliens in the past

She is talking about demons and other supernatural creatures.

Lex Luthor Sr. was bald.

A man old enough to have defected from East Germany while it was still a Communist state and to have a son Jesse Eisenberg's age would certainly be old enough to have lost his hair the old-fashioned way, or to shave his head to conceal a failing hairline. Lex Jr.'s less austere appearance is a means of establishing that he's a different person than his old man. The irony of being stripped down to physically resemble his hated predecessor wouldn't be lost on him in his final scene.

Lex is going to be killed in prison.

Superman isn't getting criminals in jail. He's more like a super-fireman, helping in disasters and such. And Mark of the Bat or not, he's going to be known as "The man who got superman killed". There's no way he's going to get out of prison with all his teeth.

• Jossed, since he's alive and well (and out of prison) as of the Stinger to Justice League.

There was more to the "Martha" scene than just shared names

Superman asking Batman to save his mother forced Batman to think about the fact that Superman has a mother (a human one, at that), which caused Batman to view him as a person for the first time.

• Batman would have also correctly assumed that having a human mother means he was raised on Earth and thus had nothing to do with the Metropolis invasion.

Perry White will figure out Clark Kent is Superman in the next film.

Think about it. Clark is believed dead, and has a funeral of his own separate from Superman's. As such, when they both come back, Perry—Clark's boss, for goodness sake—won't be fooled for an instant...especially seeing as in Man of Steel he saw right through Lois's "the leads dried up" excuse. And so...near the end of the film, Perry calls Clark and Lois into his office...and we see a parallel with Lucius Fox in Batman Begins, where he sets a "don't ask, don't tell" deal with them, "If you two never tell me a dang thing...I'll never have to a lie. But don't think for a second you two are pulling the wool over my eyes—am I clear?"

• Clark could still salvage his secret identity. Remember that he disappeared from work sometime before he had his first encounter with Batman. From the looks of things, Clark never came back to work, especially since he went into self-imposed exile after the senate hearing and only reappeared as Superman to save Lois. He could just waltz back into work one day and say that he was kidnapped by a terrorist group or something.
  • He had an open casket funeral as Clark, so that explanation wouldn't hold any weight, since there are many people, most of which don't know that Clark is Superman, who saw Clark Kent's dead body in a coffin and saw that coffin buried.
• Or maybe...
  • A partially shot (but cut because of a lack of availability from Laurence Fishburne) scene from Justice League shows Lois and Clark revealing to Perry who Clark really is So confirmed that he does know, but jossed as to how he finds out.

Perry White already knows Clark Kent is Superman.

In the comics, Batman has long suspected that Perry White is too good of a reporter to not know Clark's secret, and, as said in the guess above, Perry showed in Man of Steel that he has a surprising amount of wisdom and perceptiveness behind that gruff exterior. It would also explain why he's so hard on Clark throughout this film: his harsh treatment makes the idea that Clark could be Superman seem very hard to believe.

The Jim Olsen in the movie will turn out to be the father of the Jimmy Olsen we know and love.

Yes, it's happened before. But in all seriousness, it would set up a nice character arc for Lois, who almost certainly would feel responsible for the kid, as Jim Sr. died on her assignment. She becomes very protective of him, and Jimmy becomes a sort of apprentice for her in journalism.

• Either that or his "Dad" comes back via Lazarus pit.

It wasn't the real Jimmy Olsen who got shot.

Lois doesn't appear to have actually met "Jimmy" before, and it's only his own word that tells us who he is. If the CIA wanted to send an agent along undercover as a photographer, "borrowing" the identity of a real Daily Planet employee and forging false papers for their agent in that employee's name would be easy.

The POTUS was in League with Lex

Why else would he command the military to nuke both Superman and Doomsday while they were fighting in orbit, the latter of which had the upper hand?

Luthor sold himself out to Darkseid

before the events of the movie, to ensure his survival when he attacks earth. As return, he had to find and kill possible obstacles - the superheroes.

Bruce had Jason's body put in the same mausoleum as his parents

Jason was, in many ways, his son. He was a part of the family.

Similar to the above WMG, Darksied

is responsible for any OOC behavior in the movie

He caused Lex to Go Mad from the Revelation and turned him into a pawn. He may have influenced Batman also. He is ultimately the reason why the movie is so dark.

DING DING DING DING DING

Well, considering who the next Big Bad is, I think it's safe to say that Lex might've heard that sound wrong.

It's actually:

PING PING PING PING PING

• What?
  • It's the sound of the Mobius Chair when it's being used. But usually that many pings in succession means either an information overload or something really bad is coming. I belive OP was referring to the Chair's presence in Justice League: Darkseid War.
    • It's also the sound of Mother/Father Boxes used in the◊ original Jack Kirby◊ Fourth World comics◊.

Mercy Graves won't stay dead

Lex Luthor will take the technology used to create Cyborg and use it to resurrect his bodyguard.

The Superman in the vision wasn't actually Superman

It was actually Cyborg Superman. Or Bizarro. Or some other villainous version of Superman.

Bruce Wayne has suffered brain damage in his 20 years as Batman

Tanking multiple point-blank shots to the back of the head, even when armored with apparently bulletproof fabric, is not something you just walk away from. This has probably happened before in the past, and it's taken it's toll. It would explain a lot of how nonsensical Batman's plan is as well as why he apparently has no ability to think rationally.

Who Lex Luthor was really warning about at the end...

...Was an alien entity that was hungry. This isn't Darkseid. Where else have we heard of an Eldritch Abomination that hungers for worlds to consume — and who may have learned to wait until the world's greatest superhuman protector is dead? Why, of course, it is Galactus who is coming!

Diana decides to join Bruce also because she feels partially responsible for Clark's death

During the climatic battle against Doomsday, she cut the monster's hand, which caused the giant spike that ultimately impaled Clark to grow up in its place. She also didn't manage to restrain it for all the time that was needed to impale it with the Kryptonite spear until it was dead, which let it have its arms free and counterattack. Nothing is her fault - nobody could have predicted such regrowth, and the grip of her lasso loosened because the wall she was holding her feet on collapsed - but she still feels that she could have done better, and that Clark may be still alive if she did.

DCEU Bats and Supes don't act like the ones we know because they aren't.

What we're watching is the dawn of the Justice Lords!

Jimmy and Mercy will be retconned as not the real deal.

Their names weren't said onscreen (I know Jimmy's wasn't and I don't remember Mercy's; correct me if I'm wrong) and there are a few signs that DC is learning from the invoking of Too Bleak, Stopped Caring produced by Snyder's work so far. As such, even though they were intended to be those characters according to Word of God, the final product leaves room for the "real" Jimmy and Mercy Graves to be revealed and show their stuff.

• Mercy was referred to by name. In the extended cut, so was Jimmy.

Batman's team in the "Knightmare" scene...

• Dick Grayson.
• Barbara Gordon.
• Oliver Queen.
• Dinah Lance.
• Ted Kord.

After Justice League, Luthor will revert closer to his classic businessman form

After Steppenwulf invades, Luthor will use his presence to argue that the alien had gotten into his head and was controlling him, and that therefore his attempts to kill Superman and creating Doomsday will be swept under as not really his fault. Superman and Batman won't believe it, but Luthor will effect enough of a personality change to sell the idea to the average person, and will enter into the more well-known dynamic between him and Superman.

Luthor Set Up Cesar

We know, thanks to the Ultimate Edition, that the sex trafficker was killed in prison on Lex's orders. But we also know that Cesar was working for Knyazev in the first place. What if Lex told Knyazev to get into sex trafficking just so he could leak it to Batman, get some criminals branded, and then have them murdered? At the very least, it would start to turn public opinion against Batman, and at most, it would turn Superman against him. And all it would cost is the life of some low-level criminal.

Batman didn't kill anyone

All of the thugs and lackeys Batman attacked in the movie are still alive. They are all lying in hospital beds with broken bones.

The burn scar on Bruce's left shoulder is either from Firefly or one of the Joker's squirting acid weapons.

Pretty straightforward guess here.