Snyder’s Original Justice League Would’ve Done Infinity War Before The MCU

In Zack Synder’s Justice League, theintroduction of the Anti-Life Equation within the DCEU could have caused a big problem for another cinematic juggernaut: the MCU. After Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) is defeated by the Justice League within the Snyder Cut, Darkseid informs DeSaad to prepare his armada to return to Earth with a single goal in mind: to reclaim the Anti-Life Equation, the ultimate weapon with the power to enslave the multiverse. Since the Snyder Cut intentionally sets up a battle for Earth between Darkseid’s army and the Justice League, the Anti-Life Equation and the future of the DCEU initially established within Zack Snyder’s Justice League naturally conflicts with the MCU’s Infinity Gauntlet arc in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame because of its notably similar storyline.

While Steppenwolf was a solo villain within Joss Whedon’s Justice League, the Snyder Cut depicts Steppenwolf as a lackey of Darkseid that attempts to earn his master’s trust by claiming worlds, such as Earth, in his name. After Steppenwolf steals two of the Mother Boxes guarded by the Amazons and the Atlanteans, the Mother Boxes present Steppenwolf with a vision, revealing that the Anti-Life Equation Darkseid has been searching for throughout the universe is actually carved onto the Earth’s surface. According to Diana Prince, Darkseid previously discovered the Anti-Life Equation on Earth when his armada first invaded the planet, but his fleet was defeated by the unity of Earth’s defenders. Since the Snyder Cut isn’t considered DCEU canon, the Anti-Life Equation’s future within the DCEU is uncertain, but its implementation, as depicted in DC Comics, would’ve been quite similar to Thanos’ use of the Infinity Gauntlet.

Within the MCU, Thanos believes that the universe will prosper once he reduces the population by half using the Infinity Gauntlet. In the DCEU, the Anti-Life Equation is vaguely described by Steppenwolf as “the key to controlling all life and all will throughout the multiverse.” The formula in the comics gave its user the ability to control any sentient life that hears it by conditioning them to believe life is pointless and causing them to give up their own free will. In Forever People #5 by Jack Kirby, Beautiful Dreamer describes Anti-Life as “The very opposite of living! If someone possesses absolute control over you – you’re not really alive.” With this in mind, both the DCEU’s Anti-Life Equation, which renders the listener as living dead, and the MCU’s Infinity Gauntlet, which can decimate the population with a snap of someone’s fingers, essentially possess the same ability: to end all life. Zack Snyder’s Justice League technically would’ve been released back in 2017, one year before the MCU’s Infinity Gauntlet arc properly began in Infinity War. Had this happened, it could have easily dampened excitement for the MCU’s most popular films, as they would have potentially been drawn into far closer comparison to Justice League, appearing more of a semi-copycat situation instead of iconic in their own right.

The Knightmare scene featured in the Snyder Cut is also very reminiscent of the MCU’s conflict in Endgame after Thanos succeeds in eliminating half of the universe and the remaining Avengers, led by Tony Stark, are left to reverse the Decimation. At the end of Zack Snyder’sJustice League, there is an additional scene in which Batman has a nightmare about an apocalyptic future. In the dream, Darseid’s armada surveys from the sky while Batman, Flash, Mera, Cyborg, Deathstroke, and Joker stealthily travel through the wasteland below to avoid being discovered by a brainwashed Superman. The scene is presumably set after Darkseid has successfully enslaved their world, along with Superman, using the Anti-Life Equation.

While the DCEU and MCU are very different in several ways, the nature of the two franchises – given they are both pertaining to famous superheroes – naturally means they are often compared with one another, both in terms of characters and storylines, and in terms of which appears to be doing better of the two. While the comparative lack of ensemble cast films means the DCEU is often considered to be trailing behind Marvel in this aspect, the original timeline for the films could have resulted in the exact opposite – with Zack Snyder’s Justice League appearing more initially innovative as it couldn’t have been compared to the likes of Infinity War or Endgame.