"Millions fell and rose again."
Warning: Spoilers Off applies to Moments pages.
For Zack Snyder's Justice League, see here.
open/close all folders
Pre-release
- This dialogue about a looming threat from another world (Apokolips).Bruce Wayne: We have to be ready. You, me, the others. There's an attack coming from far away.
Diana Prince: Not "coming," Bruce. It's already here.- Think of it from Bruce's perspective. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he witnesses the battle against Doomsday and finds out that, as Nick Fury would put it, humanity is hopelessly, hilariously outgunned. Then this new threat comes along, and it's the one he saw in his Bad Future nightmare in the same film. It's enough to terrify even Batman. Of course, being Batman, he decides to fight anyway.
- And to confirm all of the above, there's one word: Steppenwolf. The Apokoliptian war chief will show why Earth has all the reasons to fear him.
- The Amazons' Mother Box summons a Boom Tube that teleports him onto Themyscira. The Oh, Crap! look on Queen Hippolyta's face says it all, especially since the Amazons' only weapon against gods (Diana) is not there.
- He sums up the state of Earth's defenses against him: (the line only appears in the SDCC 2017 trailer, it was cut from the theatrical version)Steppenwolf: No protectors here. No Lanterns. No Kryptonian. This world will fall, like all the others!
- "Like all the others" implies many worlds were destroyed or conquered by him on behalf of Darkseid.
- The destructive power of his axe is simply terrifying.
- Humans from this distant past were turned into Parademons. And it's horrific.
- Steppenwolf isn't only powerful but incredibly cruel when the STAR Labs janitor begs him not to kill him and the others because they have families he responds with this:Steppenwolf: (genuinely confused) Why does everyone keep telling me that?
- In the movie it becomes even more horrifying as Steppenwolf actually violently snaps the neck of a female scientist who also said she had a family.
- Did we not mention Steppenwolf yet? Well, according to one of the TV spots, he apparently fought Zeus in the ancient past. Whether he won or lost is irrelevant, but what does this say about Darkseid?
- Schoolgirls being taken hostage during the Old Bailey Criminal Court attack. Thankfully, Wonder Woman shows up and kicks some ass.
- Silas Stone goes back to his home and his Mother Box activates. Then a Parademon with glowing eyes rises behind him.
- For that matter, the fact that Parademons are on the battlefield. They're scary on their own, but infinitely moreso when you remember they take orders from something much, MUCH worse.
- The final battle takes place under red skies. Those who know the cosmology of the DC Multiverse will know how serious this change of scenery is.
Post-release
- Bruce tells Diana about the dream he had. Not only can you hear the fear in Bruce's voice, but you can also see the fear on Diana's face.Diana: (horrified) The Invasion...Bruce: I think it's something more... something darker.
- As he says this, we see Parademons overrunning a town while a little girl looks out the window.
- The way the janitor is first snatched by the parademons.
- It's pretty low-key compared to everything else in the film, but during the opening song, just the intensity of the slow motion of two racist thugs terrorizing a middle-eastern family even in the midst of being threatened with arrest, while the lyrics "And Everybody knows that the Plague is coming, everybody knows that it's moving fast" play.
- As well as being a Blood Knight, Steppenwolf is also a total creep. He mentions that he wants to turn Themyscira into his own personal harem and that Hippolyta will "love him", just like all other Amazons. On the other hand, it's possible to interpret his lines in a different context: since he is able to turn normal humans into his loyal Parademons and he intends to do the same with them, they will "love him" which isn't much better.
- We also see his invasion of Earth from a previous time as he nearly decimates the army with his electro-axe and it's clear that even with the Amazons' help, they won just barely.
- Superman is...less than happy at being brought back to life initially, and when he first encounters the League he isn't holding back anything.
- This is especially true when he fights Barry. Since he can keep up with him, he's definitely using his full strength, and if one of his punches actually landed Barry would likely be killed instantly from the force.
- Worst of all, it's shown that he hasn't forgiven Bruce for his actions yet, or has Laser-Guided Amnesia that made him forget what Bruce did for him (saving his mother and helping him kill Doomsday). And when he sees him after his resurrection, he is ready to crush his jaw.
Superman: You won't let me live. You won't let me die! Tell me...do you bleed? - The parademons pick their prey based on how scared they are. When Steppenwolf has his axe destroyed, he begins to feel fear and the parademons circle him. The realization that he's now all alone makes Steppenwolf even more afraid and the parademons pounce on him.
- And if that isn't enough before Steppenwolf can be torn apart by the parademons, a boom tube whisks him away to Apokolips. An act of mercy from Darkseid? Unlikely, given how he usually treats failure. Him sparing Steppenwolf likely means he has something much worse than death in store for him.
- The post-credits scene: A guard at Arkham Asylum approaches Lex Luthor's cell, only to find that he's been switched out with a very unhinged looking inmate. Lex Luthor's out and he's up to something. By up to something we mean recruiting Deathstroke and starting the Legion of Doom.
- It's a subtle one, but He has been named.
- From the perspective of the characters, Steppenwolf is the Big Bad of the entire universe. His "For Darkseid" line is a big hint that he's just a lackey for someone much worse.
Deleted Scenes
- Diana explores an ancient crypt with frescoes on the walls. One of them clearly depicts Darkseid (photo).
- Uxas
◊ (Darkseid's previous name) was originally intended to lead the first invasion of Earth, in search of the Anti-Life Equation. - Silas Stone getting disintegrated by the Mother Box.
Scrapped Production Material
- Steppenwolf's original design◊ was much scarier than his final one.
- This planned scene, which was vetoed by studio executives because they deemed it "too scary". It was supposed to have Batman investigating a Parademon nest with cocooned humans being turned into Parademons.
- In the original script written by Chris Terrio (which was scrapped by Executive Veto and wasn't filmed during principal photography), Darkseid boom-tubes into the Batcave and kills Lois Lane there, making Superman snap and turning him into his Brainwashed and Crazy servant with the Anti-Life Equation, explaining the "Knightmare" from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Superman's anger at Batman in it.
