It's no secret that Zack Snyder had some ambitious plans for
Justice League but the filmmaker has now shared some storyboards confirming that Martian Manhunter was supposed to make an appearance in the DC Comics adaptation. The kicker is that the character was going to be played by Harry Lennix, something fans have suspected ever since
Man of Steel.
At the end of that movie, Superman asks Swanwick why he's being followed by drones and after the General points out that it wasn't his decision and that "Even if I were willing to try, what makes you think they'd listen?" the Man of Steel responds with a cryptic, "I don't know, General. Guess I'll have to trust you."
As you can see in the Vero post below, Snyder reveals that he actually shot Martian Manhunter's scenes and that he was going to later add Lennix when filming moves to Los Angeles.
This would have been amazing to see and obviously something that would have had major ramifications for the DC Extended Universe and the Justice League franchise moving forward. It also emphasises just how different Snyder's plans for this movie was before Joss Whedon was brought in by Warner Bros. to write and direct those reshoots.
Check out these amazing Justice League storyboards below:
Hit the "View List" button to check out Zack Snyder's most
revealing "Snyder Cut" posts from his Vero account!
Iris West was originally set to make a cameo appearance in
Justice League in a sequence featuring Barry Allen rescuing her from a car accident. That was scrapped for reasons which aren't entirely clear, but Snyder did share a photo of what Kiersey Clemons would have looked like as the character.
In the theatrical version of
Justice League, Steppenwolf was sucked up through a Boom Tube after being defeated by the team, but that shot of Wonder Woman destroying the villain's sword was actually intended to show her chopping off his head and bringing a permanent end to the bad guy.
Mera's role in
Justice League was drastically altered, as she was originally meant to visit the surface world. However, it seems like this movie would have shown Arthur finding his classic comic book armour in Atlantis rather than being given some random pieces by Mera after he asked for it.
In
Justice League, the Flying Fox is introduced in the Batcave hangar as something Bruce Wayne is working on. In the Snyder Cut, it seems as if there would have been a little more to that as these early storyboards show the hero seemingly stealing it alongside Diana Prince from one of his hangars.
It's no secret that the actors who have played Batman and Superman have been made to audition in costumes from the past and when Henry Cavill first tried out for Man of Steel, he donned Christopher Reeve's classic suit. He wasn't massively bulky here, but still looks every bit the superhero.
This awesome photo of the League assembled confirms that Snyder was the one responsible for shooting this memorable moment. However, Whedon was obviously the one responsible for adding those lines about how beautiful the alien looking flowers were which most fans have ridiculed since!
The "Ultimate Edition" of
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was awesome, and a prime example of why fans are so anxious to see the "Snyder Cut" of
Justice League. Zack Snyder revealed this poster for that version of the movie featuring stunning shots of the DCEU's Trinity.
Another deleted scene from Justice League. It seems as if Aquaman was originally going to part ways with Bruce Wayne by catching a ride in the back of a local's truck rather than ditching his jacket and heading into the ocean. Now, it's hard not to wonder how differently his arc was going to be.
Cyborg got something of a happy ending in Justice League, but was originally going to be torn in half in order to set up the sequel. That wasn't the only trauma Victor Stone would have faced, though, as this photo reveals that his father was actually going to be killed in some sort of explosion.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's "Knightmare" sequence got everyone talking, and in this behind the scenes photo, Snyder shared an amazing Easter Egg in which we could see that the Dark Knight had attached one of The Joker's playing cards to his gun as some sort of bizarre trophy.
We know that Darkseid was going to be
Justice League 2's villain, and that he would have appeared in both those flashback sequences and through a Boom Tube during the final battle. Here, we get an idea of just how much the villain was set to factor into the Snyder's original plans.
While Steppenwolf was the focus of the theatrical cut's flashbacks to that epic battle in the past, Darkseid was meant to appear in his Uxas form. Sadly, he was nowhere to be seen and the movie instead explained that Steppenwolf was the one who led that quest for the Mother Boxes on Earth.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and
Justice League were originally set to delve much further into Victor Stone's transformation into Cyborg, and these photos show us revisiting his time as a football player before that fateful accident led to him becoming more machine than man.
Justice League featured a scene in which Barry Allen and Cyborg dig up Superman, but Aquaman and Wonder Woman were also part of this sequence once upon a time. How that would have changed it is hard to say, but the Man of Steel's return in general was probably once quite a bit different.
It feels like a long time ago now, but those reveals of characters like Wonder Woman and Batman from Zack Snyder and photographer Clay Enos generated a lot of excitement at the time. Here, we get a behind the scenes shot of sorts as the Trinity comes together for the first time.
Poor Cyborg was left almost entirely on the cutting room floor by the looks of it, as this photo shows that the hero would have visited his own grave and vented his frustrations after his accident. As it stands, his story arc was short changed and mostly forgettable in theaters.
You may recall some shots of Cyborg in what appeared to be World War II Germany, and thanks to these storyboards, we know that he was simply explaining the history of the Mother Box left on Earth to his fellow heroes. What significance that would have had to the plot is hard to say, though!
Steppenwolf was a terrible villain, and not just because of his awful CGI appearance or Ciaran Hinds' generic voiceover work. However, this fantastic image shared by Snyder shows that it would have been Darkseid leading that attack on Earth thousands of years ago. Much better, right?
Snyder is clearly good friends with Ray Fisher after essentially discovering him, and the filmmaker is obviously disappointed by how Cyborg has been given the short end of the stick. This sequence was going to show Darkseid trying to tempt Cyborg to join him by promising to return him to his old life.
It seems fitting to end with
Justice League's post-credits scene, right? While it's thought that Joss Whedon was the one who added those lines setting up the formation of the Injustice League, the belief is that this sequence was actually meant to set the stage for
The Batman instead.