After years of anticipation, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is now out in the world for all to see. The film got off to a solid start box office-wise, which is a good sign for Warner Bros. This is an incredibly important film for the studio that serves as the foundation for the DC Extended Universe to come, and with two further films already in the can and another about to start production, the ball is already rolling, so there’s a lot riding on the success of Batman v Superman.

Indeed, while Man of Steel retroactively fits into the interconnected “DC Extended Universe,” Batman v Superman is the first film of Warner Bros.’ that was built from the ground up with the explicit purpose of existing within said universe. As such, there’s a lot we can glean from the film about what’s to come, from the tone of the DC Expanded Universe to specific plot points of upcoming films. But first, here’s a brief refresher on the release slate as it stands now:

So, with all that in mind, let’s dig into what Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice tells us about what to expect from the DC Extended Universe going forward. [Batman v Superman spoilers ahead]

Superheroes Are Gods

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Image via Warner Bros.

One of the overarching themes of Batman v Superman is the treatment of these superhuman beings as gods, and what that means in a philosophical context. Indeed, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is prone to droning on about the mythological implications of Superman and such, and director Zack Snyder has used this comparison frequently, referring to Superman as a god and Batman as a man to set up their contentious relationship, and speaking about these iconic characters as the equivalent of humanity’s modern-day Greek myths.

So while the idea and tone of the DC Extended Universe is a bit more grounded and darker than other superhero films, it’s rooting the supernatural and otherworldly aspects of the characters and stories in more of a philosophical, mythological way. Snyder aims to ask how would the existence of these beings alter humanity, and what would that do to the human psyche? This stands in contrast to something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe where superheroes are generally just accepted as superheroes and life goes on as normal, with the drama coming out of character conflict and not necessarily existential crises.

This gives us an idea not only of how superhuman and alien beings are treated in the context of the DC Extended Universe, but also the tone of the films. Snyder no doubt set an aesthetic foundation for other filmmakers to build on, and the notion of considering these other characters in a mythological context will likely inform the tonal and aesthetic choices going forward.

Batman Assembles the Justice League

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Image via Warner Bros.

So Superman dies in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That wasn’t exactly the most expected of plot twists, but it does have major ramifications for the DC films going forward, as we now know that it’s Ben Affleck’s Batman that will be heading up the Justice League, not Henry Cavill’s Superman. Snyder previously told us his intention here was to send Batman on a Seven Samurai-esque quest to round up this ragtag team of superheroes, which is what will presumably take up a significant portion of Snyder’s Justice League movie.

Moreover, could the team’s quest involve finding a way to resurrect Superman? And what will Superman’s reaction be when he awakens to find that Bruce Wayne has assembled this team of heroes? Will he then want to take charge? Snyder and screenwriter Chris Terrio have laid the groundwork for what could be a fascinating dynamic to explore in one or both Justice League movies.

Time Travel and/or Alternate Realities Exist

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Image via Warner Bros.

In one of Batman’s “knightmare” sequences in Batman v Superman, we saw a portal open up in which a battle armor-clad Flash (Ezra Miller) delivered a message to Bruce Wayne from the future. Flash says he’s “too early,” alluding to the fact that he’s traveling through time, but there’s also the possibility that this message involves an alternate reality, which is something that villain Darkseid deals with quite a bit.

Whatever the case, producer Deborah Snyder revealed to us that this scene didn’t exist in the script, but instead came about during production when Zack Snyder was developing the outline for Justice League and decided to include a portion of that film as connective tissue to Batman v Superman. This implies that we’ll get to see the other side of this scene in the Justice League movie, which in turn tells us that yes, time travel and/or alternate realities exist in the DC Extended Universe. Is this the key to resurrecting Superman, and how will this affect the stakes of the DC Universe going forward if time travel exists? Again, another interesting dynamic teed up that will hopefully be explored down the road.

Wonder Woman Is Wonderful

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Image via Warner Bros.

While portions of the film are contentious, the one thing almost everyone seems to agree on is the fact that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is great, and indeed if Batman v Superman did nothing else, it introduced us to a terrific onscreen iteration of the comics heroine and made us incredibly excited to see more of her. We’ll get to experience Diana Prince’s origin story in the standalone feature Wonder Woman next year, but Gadot’s character marks an integral staple in the DC Extended Universe, especially now that Superman is dead.

And will we see the flirtatious relationship between Bruce and Diana continue in Justice League, or will she take some convincing to join his superhero team? Plenty of questions still left to answer, and the good news is we’re very much looking forward to finding out.

Darkseid Is Coming

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Image via Warner Bros.

While non-comics fans were likely confused about Lex Luthor’s rambling at the end of the film, Jesse Eisenberg’s villain was indeed heralding the impending arrival of the villain Darkseid, a DC Comics supervillain not dissimilar from Marvel’s Thanos in that he’s an alien from far away who’s hell-bent on universal control. Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne had some similar allusions to make at the end of the film when speaking about assembling the Justice League, and one of his dream sequences gave us a look at a Darkseid-infused post-apocalyptic landscape, but the biggest clue came in the form of a deleted scene that Warner Bros. released online, which shows Luthor communicating with a massive, monstrous being on Zod’s “goo ship” at the moment of his capture. This explains why, at the end of the film, Luthor knows about Darkseid, and the scene also tells us Luthor is far from done with the DC Extended Universe.

But will Darkseid be the primary villain in Justice League or is his arrival being saved for the 2019 sequel? That part is unclear, and it’ll be interesting to see if nods and clues to Darkseid’s arrival will be peppered throughout the next two DC films, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman, or if those two movies will be more standalone in nature.

Whatever the case, Darkseid is coming, the Justice League has dawned, and with two DC films set for release every year for the next four years, Warner Bros.’ interconnected series of superhero movies is finally off and running.