Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon Proves He Doesn’t Need To Make Justice League 2 & 3

The first trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Rebel Moon proves that the director doesn’t need to complete his planned Justice League trilogy. When Zack Snyder was hired to direct Warner Bros. Superman reboot Man of Steel, he began to develop an overarching plan for the new DC Extended Universe, which would have encompassed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a trilogy of Justice League films. Snyder left production of Justice League after his daughter’s death, however, leaving superhero film veteran Joss Whedon in charge of post-production. After Whedon’s Justice League fell flat, there were calls for Snyder to return to bring his own Justice League plans to fruition.

A director’s cut, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, finally released in 2021, and spurred more desire for Snyder to develop his entire Justice League trilogy as it had originally been planned. With more recent DC-related projects from Warner Bros. being met with poor responses and disappointing box office totals, many attribute Snyder’s departure from the franchise as the turning point in the DCEU’s downfall. Even so, the newly-released first trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire solidifies Snyder’s absence from Warner Bros. and DC Studios, suggesting his planned Justice League trilogy will never be made available for public viewing.

Rebel Moon Shows Zack Snyder Has Moved On From The DCEU

Following Snyder’s departure from Justice League in 2017, and the subsequent lackluster performance of the theatrical crossover film, the hashtag #ReleasetheSnyderCut was used en masse to bring Snyder back into the world of DC and correct Joss Whedon’s mistakes. However, while this hashtag has morphed into the #RestoretheSnyderverse hashtag, urging the director to develop his plans for the entire Justice League trilogy, the release of Rebel Moon’s trailer and the buzz surrounding Snyder’s new franchise proves that his DC days may be behind him. While this may disappoint many, it could actually be the best decision for Snyder, DC Studios, and the Justice League themselves.

Snyder has developed Rebel Moon with Netflix rather than working directly with a studio such as Warner Bros., which means that he has a much wider scope of creative control over this new story. While Snyder directed Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League, and co-wrote the latter’s story, his roles with Rebel Moon see him directing, writing, producing, and acting as the director of photography, much like he did on his previous Netflix project, Army of the Dead. This creative freedom means Rebel Moon can push boundaries more than Justice League ever could, and Snyder can develop his full vision best in this format.

Justice League 2 & 3 Would Compete With James Gunn’s DCU

While Zack Snyder developing his Justice League sequels in the DC Extended Universe may have helped to boost the popularity of the faltering franchise, in the new landscape of DC Studios, it wouldn’t make sense for him to return. James Gunn and Peter Safran were hired as co-CEOs of DC Studios in November 2022, and since then have made many changes, including setting up a reboot of the DCEU into the new DC Universe. Gunn revealed DC Studios’ plans on January 31, 2023, which included revealing planned projects featuring new actors as Superman, Batman, and other iconic DC heroes, so it’s unlikely that Snyder will return to continue his old continuity.

It could be argued that Snyder’s Justice League trilogy could be released as DC Elseworlds projects, akin to Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Todd Phillips’ Joker franchises. However, since Snyder’s Justice League plan would continue the DCEU, which was thought to be reset in 2023’s The Flash (though this has also caused some confusion), it would be directly competing with the new DC Universe. With David Corenswet assuming the role of Clark Kent in Superman: Legacy, and a new actor becoming Batman in The Brave and the Bold, it’s possible that the DC Universe could culminate in a new Justice League project, so Snyder’s return would only confuse things further.

What Zack Snyder’s Justice League 2 & 3 Would’ve Been About

Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2021, Zack Snyder revealed that Justice League was intended to be the middle piece of a “five-part trilogy” that started with Man of Steel and was set to culminate in two Justice League sequels. Snyder revealed that the entire storyline had been planned out by himself and DC Comics artist Jim Lee, with Justice League 3 featuring the death of Bruce Wayne and the stepping-up of a new Batman. Zack Snyder’s Justice League left several loose ends that would have been revisited in future films, including the reveal of Martian Manhunter, Lex Luthor meeting Deathstroke, and the exploration of Bruce Wayne’s Knightmare scenario.

Justice League 2 would have seen Darkseid, the villain Steppenwolf’s boss, come to Earth to engage in a battle with Superman, and the Man of Steel would ask Batman to keep Lois Lane safe while this battle ensued. Receiving a tip from Luthor, Darkseid would kill Lois after Batman became distracted, and this could have also introduced the idea of a romantic relationship between the pair, during the time that Superman was presumed dead. With Lois dead, Superman would lose the will to fight, allowing Darkseid to seize control of the superhero using the Anti-Life Equation, which would later culminate in the deaths of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and countless others.

This was seen during the Knightmare scenario in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, as the rag-tag team faced a corrupted Superman. Justice League 3 would have acted as a do-over for the DCEU, as Barry Allen would have traveled back in time to warn Batman of the future – leading to that strange portal scene in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This would have led to Bruce Wayne sacrificing himself to save Lois instead of letting her die, reshaping the franchise from then on, with the returned heroes leading an epic battle against Darkseid, and a new Batman would emerge in the form of Lois and Clark Kent’s adult son.

How Zack Snyder Can Finish His DC Story Elsewhere

Even though Zack Snyder’s plans for Justice League 2 and 3 might never come to fruition in an actual Justice League story, they could easily be repurposed for a variety of other media. Snyder revealed to Vanity Fair that he would be interested in forming his Justice League plans into a book, or alternately they could be integrated into DC Comics. This would allow audiences to still understand Snyder’s full storyline, as Zack Snyder’s Justice League left many questions unanswered. Even so, it seems very unlikely that Gunn and Safran would accept Snyder’s return to develop his own Justice League stories, as the new DC Universe needs to develop now.

Snyder could also integrate pieces of his Justice League story into the Rebel Moon franchise, even though the two projects are vastly different. Rebel Moon started as a pitch for a more mature Star Wars project, but was redeveloped into a separate entity that allows Snyder more freedom when it comes to plot, character, and world-building. It’s possible that the concepts of the Anti-Life Equation, unintended romances, the Knightmare future, and time travel antics could be introduced into Rebel Moon, as the film’s heavy reliance on science fiction creates the opportunity for some wild storylines. In this way, Zack Snyder’s original Justice League plans might not be completely dead.