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Poster Description: The poster is black and white, with “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” written at the top in white. The JL symbol is surrounded by a square with a star-shaped gap between the letters. Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman, and Cyborg stand side by side. |
You can read my thoughts on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 here.
PART 5: All the King’s Horses
Major spoilers ahead (more than previous parts, anyway!)
1) The one thing Atlanteans and Amazons have in common!
We come into Part Five with Barry and Victor bonding, digging up Clark Kent’s coffin. Nice. We will never know how that deal came about, but we learn that Superman was Barry’s hero, making the situation much more heart-breaking. Meanwhile, Diana and Arthur stand around, waiting, and chatting.
They establish that Atlanteans and Amazons went to war in the past. Will we ever see it on film? From my limited knowledge of Aquaman (again, I still need to rewatch it) and Arthur’s bitter musings, Atlanteans are very old-fashioned in their beliefs, suggesting plenty of room for misogyny. As for the Amazons, Diana’s impressive scope of language and culture hints at far broader minds. Unfortunately, both Wonder Woman films don’t offer a whole lot on what Amazon life is like! Nevertheless, they and the civilians of Atlantis share a saying: None are taken back from the darkness without giving one up in return.
If that’s not foreshadowing, I don’t know what is.
2) Will Bruce ever listen to Alfred’s advice?
Er, probably not. For once, both sides of this particular argument are fantastically valid. Superman is dead, ergo, he should stay that way, and Alfred tries to use the analogy of Humpty Dumpty to sway Bruce to see some kind of reason.
Yet, with stakes this high – Darkseid/Thanos Lite© is on his way, guys – so there isn’t a lot else to do to stop Steppenwolf. So, the League brings Clark’s body to the Kryptonian ship, leading me nicely onto…
3) Victor’s terrifying vision.
As Arthur lowers Clark’s body into what I can only describe as alien apple juice, Victor interfaces with the ship’s computer. The Mother Box needs an extraordinary amount of power to bring Clark back, to which Barry bravely volunteers, at the risk of travelling faster than the speed of light and, er, messing with time. The ship computer protests, almost arguing with the League. Coupled with Victor counting Barry down before he can start running, it’s a taut scene.
Also, will someone please retrieve Clark’s photograph of his father? His human father that is. It might not survive the apple juice.
Then, for some reason, Victor has a vision, and my goodness, there is so much death. We see Diana’s body on a funeral pyre; Darkseid laying waste to Atlantis with laser eyes. (I can’t be the only one who immediately thought of Yondu’s arrow in Guardians of the Galaxy). Worst of all, Superman clutches Lois’s blackened corpse, being apparently comforted by Darkseid, followed by Superman holding what looks like (gulp) Batman’s head.
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Images Descriptions: (Above) With gold coins on her eyes, Diana’s body burns on a funeral pyre. (Below) The sun rises in a sky thick with alien ships above a desolated city. Superman floats in a black suit, holding Batman’s cowled head in one hand. A stone sign with Justice League written on it appears broken on the ground. |
Victor’s reaction is far quieter than mine on first viewing, let me tell ya.
4) He’s back! Uh, oh…
(Alternative title: Amnesia? *Sigh* Alright, fine…)
Superman’s resurrection plays out the same way it did in Justice League. Big explosion, Clark loses his shirt, and there’s a massive fight because Victor’s built-in defence mechanisms have a mind of their own. Clark goes through the League like a knife through butter because he can’t remember who he is, giving Diana a nasty headache. Not many people can say they were nearly killed by their hero during their first meeting, but this is where Barry finds himself, also getting on the wrong side of Arthur by colliding with him. Because Clark is just that fast.
It's Bruce who receives the full force of Clark’s fury; after the events of Batman VS Superman, this is hardly surprising, but isn’t it a remarkable coincidence that Lois happens to be at the right place at precisely the right time? She intervenes, and Clark appears to recognise her, smelling her hair.
“Just
go,” Lois whispers, holding him close. They fly away, oblivious to the panicked
humans with their guns and the destruction Clark has created. Phew. Panic averted.
5) Silas’s valiant sacrifice.
Justice League treated the moment Steppenwolf acquired the last Mother Box like it was no big deal, something that happens in the near distance. When Clark is brought back to life, he explodes into the air with the Mother Box. It smashes the bonnet of a car, near to a crowd of people – one of which happens to be Doctor Silas Stone, who knows exactly what to do with it.
Steppenwolf arrives in his portal, and immediately slams his way into Silas’s lab. Dr. Stone stands defiant in a glass booth, plugging the Box into a machine. Then, just as it looks like Steppenwolf is going to kill him, Victor arrives. Father and son stare at each other, Silas presses a big, red button, and whatever power the Mother Box is now absorbing turns Silas to dust.
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Image Description: Blue lasers attack the Mother Box on all sides. Silas Stone stands stoic, though his nose trickles blood. His hair is starting to burn at his temple, and his skin is beginning to blister. |
Oh my God. Oh my God.
It would be natural to react with an overdramatic “NOOOO!” (á la Darth Vader), but Ray Fisher plays it quietly, and it is just devastating. As that single tear fell to the floor – again, I was in pieces.
But all is not lost. Silas understood the Mother Box better than anyone, and Victor explains to the rest of the League that it is now super-heated. It can now be traced, and it just so happens Bruce Wayne has six (SIX!) satellites at his disposal. Huh. Another coincidence.
Though the fifth part closes with tragedy, the League has the emotional push to fight. We don’t know where Clark and Lois have gone or how he will join the fight. It’s slightly troubling, as Steppenwolf has the three Mother Boxes to start the Unity. Out of all of the parts so far, I have enjoyed it the most. The sequence in the Kryptonian ship and Victor’s vision is changes everything, giving the whole thing so much urgency and tension. It also explores the League’s different views without losing their camaraderie. However, the amount of convenient coincidences – Lois choosing to visit Superman’s memorial on the exact day he is resurrected, most notably – does leave a bad taste in the mouth. Let’s see what the sixth part and big battle has in store…
My Sources:
Zack Snyder’s Justice League poster - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12361974/
Image: the funeral of Diana - https://news24viral.com/justice-league-snydercut-what-does-cyborgs-vision-mean/
Image: Superman’s got nothing left to lose - https://dcextendeduniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Knightmare
Image: Dr. Stone sacrifices himself - https://screenrant.com/justice-league-snyder-cut-trailer-silas-stone-death-spoiled/
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