In the 2017 theatrical cut of Justice League, the Justice League members are all pretty on board with the idea of resurrecting Superman using a Mother Box. Flash (Ezra Miller) warns of the Pet Sematary implications, but beyond that, they all seem pretty chill with the notion of bringing Superman back to life. In The Snyder Cut, however, this scene has a major twist – while Cyborg is plugged into the Kryptonian spaceship, he sees a vision of a future that makes him extremely nervous about what they’re about to do. It goes by quickly and may not make complete sense just yet, but by the end of the film, all the pieces are in place to point to Cyborg’s vision as a premonition of events that would have occurred in Justice League 2 had Zack Snyder been able to fulfill his DCEU plans.

Cyborg Takes Us to a Future We'll Never See

Cyborg in Zack Snyder's Justice League
Image via Warner Bros./HBO Max

While Cyborg is plugged into the Kryptonian ship and Flash has gone to the edge of the ship to get enough room so he can run and supercharge the Mother Box (thereby resurrecting Superman), Cyborg says the ship is scared of the Mother Box. Indeed, the ship then begins to show Cyborg visions of a future that will take hold if they go forward with this plan.

In his vision, we see the Earth turned into a desolate wasteland while the villainous Darkseid sits on a throne. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is dead, being burned on a pyre and mourned by her fellow Amazons while spaceships fly above. We see Darkseid full-on impale Jason Momoa’s Aquaman (now wearing the crown as King of Atlantis), killing him instantly. And most importantly, we see Superman (Henry Cavill) cradling the skeleton of someone he loves as Darkseid looms overhead. Darkseid puts his hand on Superman’s shoulder, and Superman appears to settle into some kind of resolve. The next scene is Superman flying over the ruins of the Hall of Justice, holding Batman’s mask in his head like some kind of hunting trophy.

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Once the vision is complete, Cyborg says “No,” which Flash mistakes for “Go,” at which point he runs, supercharges the Mother Box, and brings Superman back from the dead. The ship says, “The future has taken root in the present.” No turning back now.

Zack Snyder on What Would've Been

justice-league-zack-snyder
Image via Warner Bros.

This vision was supposed to have been fulfilled in Justice League 2 and reversed in Justice League 3, as Snyder has explained in an interview with Vanity Fair.

“Darkseid comes to Earth. Superman says to Batman, ‘Guard Lois. This is a war between me and Darkseid. If you can help me as a friend, keep Lois safe.’ In the midst of these alien attacks, Luthor aligns himself with the invader. “Lex tells Darkseid that the key to Superman’s weaknesses is killing Lois Lane,” Snyder said. “For whatever reason, Batman fails. Darkseid comes back and kills Lois. Batman fails, he hesitates. They were in an argument.”

Superman then blames Batman for Lois’ death, which we glimpse in Cyborg’s vision, and that’s what allows Superman to succumb to the Anti-Life Equation and become a weapon for Darkseid. So the plot would then follow the group we see in the Snyder Cut Epilogue – Batman, Flash, Cyborg, Mera (Amber Heard), Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), and Joker (Jared Leto) — working to send Flash back in time to warn Batman and change the past.

That plan would have worked, and Batman would have sacrificed himself instead of allowing Lois to die. This would have then cleared the way for a grand finale in Justice League 3 that would have mirrored the flashback scene in Zack Snyder’s Justice League showing Darkseid’s first attempt at invading Earth. And as a final button on the whole thing, a flash-forward would reveal that Superman and Lois’ son was going to become the next Batman.

So that’s a lot of story teed up by this one Cyborg Vision, but there are nods and teases aplenty in Zack Snyder’s Justice League alluding to the plan that Snyder had for his next two DC movies. Alas, Snyder left Justice League during post-production and has no plans to make another DC movie as Warner Bros. is now forging ahead with an entirely different plan.

But it’s nice that we at least go to see some of what was intended to occur in future DC movies, if only for a moment.