Justice League: Who Carved The Anti-Life Equation Onto Earth

Zack Snyder‘s Justice League officially brought Darkseid into the DCEU, and with him came the Anti-Life Equation. The formula was revealed to be carved into the Earth’s surface is the very reason that Darkseid descended onto the planet. But who brought the Anti-Life Equation in the first place?

The addition of Darkseid was one of the changes the Snyder Cut saw from the theatrical version of Justice League. The movie chronicles the team-up of classic DC Comics heroes Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Superman as they band together to fight threats facing Earth. Steppenwolf acted as the threat in the original version of the film. But the Snyder cut revealed that Steppenwolf was working for Darkseid all along.

In the DCEU, the Anti-Life Equation is one of the most powerful forces one can wield. Whoever speaks the Equation possesses domination of those who hear it, breaking their spirits in the process. But for being such a powerful weapon, Snyder provides no context as to how it ended up carved onto the Earth’s surface. But the reason for that is simple — that question was supposed to be answered in the since-abandoned Justice League trilogy.

The Anti-Life Equation was presented in a different manner in the comics. Instead of being carved into the Earth, parts of it were figuratively carved into various people’s minds. The Equation existed in the mind of “Billion Dollar” Bates, a villainous and grossly wealthy businessman who used the Equation to subvert the will of his competitors. While Bates took it to his death, part of the equation was also found to exist within the mind of Japanese warrior Sonny Sumo. Darkseid eventually used clones of Billion Dollar Bates to access the Equation. Orion, the heroic son of Darkseid, eventually took the equation out of his father’s hands.

Showing an equation within someone’s mind would have been understandably difficult to translate to the screen, but carving it onto the surface of the Earth was a good film-friendly introduction for the Anti-Life Equation. Each hero in Justice League lives on Earth, positioning the Equation as a threat against their planet was a great way to bring them together. But unfortunately, fans will likely never see how the Justice League’s fight against Anti-Life Equation plays out. Snyder had always intended this movie to launch a Justice League trilogy. He intentionally did not provide some answers about the Anti-Life Equation in the first film, as that was meant to be answered in a later movie. While things could always change, Snyder has stated that Warner Bros. has no interest in making Justice League 2 happen. Unfortunately, that likely means audiences will always be left wondering who carved the Anti-Life Equation onto Earth in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

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