Justice League Dark: Apokolips War took a lot of inspiration from Zack Snyder's original DCEU plans to create its apocalyptic future. The final DC Animated Movie shocked the audience with its gloomy vision of Earth's fate under Darkseid (Tony Todd) and marked the culmination of a 15-movie journey that started with 2013's Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. The animated film dealt with dark subject matter, and, fittingly, borrowed elements from the DCEU's gloomiest movies.
Superman (Jerry O'Connell), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), and Batman (Jason O'Mara) kickstart the events of Apokolips War with their plan to gather all Justice League members and attack Darkseid in his homeworld before he has the chance to invade Earth. To their dismay, Darkseid is spying on them through Cyborg's (Shemar Moore) body and retaliates with a horde of bloodthirsty monsters called Paradooms that slaughter the League when they arrive. Two years later, the few survivors left on Earth assemble to defeat Darkseid before he finishes his mission. Likewise, director Zack Snyder had a 5-movie DCEU plan that told a similar story on the silver screen.
The DCEU maintained the promise of a bleak cinematic universe in which iconic DC heroes had to fail miserably before they fixed their mistakes and made another attempt to prevent Darkseid from breaking the League and conquering the universe. Since its inception with the solemn Man of Steel in 2013 to the chaotic Justice League in 2017 and next year's Justice League Snyder Cut, the DCEU always went aimed at a desolate destination — one that heavily inspired Apokolips War.
2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice introduced the Knightmare timeline to the DCEU through a dream sequence. In the future, Superman (Henry Cavill) has succumbed to Darkseid's Anti-Life Equation after Lois Lane's (Amy Adams) death at the hands of Darkseid, becoming an evil dictator with no hesitation to kill and no concern for the fate of the Earth. Batman (Ben Affleck) gets framed for the murder, but he works alongside the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to travel back in time and warn himself about the tragedy.
In Apokolips War, Superman and Batman's Knightmare roles are swapped. While every beloved Justice League hero is being brutally slaughtered in the first battle, Batman is gently pushed around by Darkseid's Paradooms. This isn't an arbitrary decision, however, since Darkseid captures the Caped Crusader and brainwashes him into being his loyal minion. As the villain's right hand, he's in charge of executing his conquest. Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), secretly a sleeper agent for Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn), is under his jurisdiction.
Throughout the entire movie, Batman wears a modified version of his iconic suit and sits on the Moebius Chair, a device that grants him nigh-omniscient powers. But even with the twisted genius staying one step ahead, a weakened Superman fights his way to the top of LexCorp tower and uses Luthor's Boom Tube to teleport to Apokolips and face Darkseid. This time, it's Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan) who makes Darkseid's pawn come to his senses, and Batman breaks off his mind control to join the resistance.
Darkseid's conquest of Earth in the DCEU is set up in Batman v Superman and Justice League with hints to Superman and Cyborg as his essential pawns. Both of these heroes are set up as key parts of the DCEU since their introduction, although most of Cyborg's presence was cut for the theatrical cut of Justice League. From what director Zack Snyder has explained, Darkseid would later hijack Cyborg to use the Mother Box technology in his body or even rip it away from him altogether. As for Superman, his shift to the dark side would be part of Darkseid's scheme to keep the heroes from messing with his conquest.
In Apokolips War, Batman isn't the only hero that Darkseid forces to switch sides. Superman's retelling of the Justice League massacre at Apokolips shows — among others — the dismemberment of Wonder Woman, the scorching of Martian Manhunter, the dismantling of Cyborg, the execution of Hawkman, and the incredibly graphic moment before Mera's head is torn apart. In addition, Damian Wayne's flashback of the massacre at Titans Tower also shows the corpse of Starfire split in half. Two years later, Darkseid has turned them all into cyborgs and mind-controlled them into being his personal assassins — the "Furies."
Both Batman and Cyborg play essential roles in Darkseid's plan. Similar to Cyborg's original role in the Zack Snyder's Cut, the technology in his body becomes a crucial tool for Darkseid in his conquest of the universe. In Apokolips War, John Constantine (Matt Ryan) and the last remaining heroes find a deconstructed Cyborg converted into a living battery. On the other hand, Batman takes the place of Superman as Darkseid's subordinate who commands his demonic forces on Earth.
The infamous "Martha moment" in Batman v Superman is the most criticized scene from the 2016 film. After a grueling fight between the two titular heroes, Superman's mention of his mother's name when Batman is about to finish him defuses the whole fight. The fact that both of their mothers shared the same name reconciles them in a matter of seconds — a very unrealistic solution, but one that helps them join forces against Doomsday shortly after.
Following the release of Batman v Superman, other films such as Joker avoided having their own "Martha moment". Apokolips War isn't one of them. After Superman, Constantine, Raven (Taissa Farmiga), and Damian teleport to Apokolips through LexCorp's Boom Tube, Damian confronts his brainwashed father. Batman confesses to him that he never wanted him as his son and they begin fighting while Darkseid watches. Batman wounds Damian, takes his Kryptonite sword, and prepares to deliver the final blow when he has a flashback to Joe Chill pointing a gun at him the fateful night of his parents' death. He overrides Darkseid's mind control and throws the sword at the villain, hitting him in one eye.
This scene in Apokolips War manages to replicate the same twist from Batman v Superman in a more subtle way. Instead of a piece of trivia, the element that twists Batman's frame of mind is the fact that the roles of murderer and victim are now reversed. In this crucial moment, Batman has become the very thing he once swore not to become, and that's what makes the scene have a cohesive yet impactful twist.
Man of Steel showed Superman at his most personal with scenes like Martha Kent (Diane Lane) protecting a bullied young Clark in his Smallville days and Superman's first flight. The genuine love of Clark for his parents also made him vulnerable, so when General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his soldiers go to Martha's barn and intimidate her, Superman skips all the formalities and flies right into him, punching him in the face and dragging him through Smallville — all while yelling "You think you can threaten my mother!?"
In the final battle of Apokolips War, Trigon (John DiMaggio) possesses Superman after escaping Raven's mental prison. Batman and Cyborg contact Lois Lane to calm him down. Superman struggles for a moment but doesn't break free from the demon until she detonates LexCorp tower to fend off a horde of Paradooms, blowing up the remaining members of the Suicide Squad and herself in the process. This is the tipping point that makes Superman shake off Trigon and attack Darkseid in a fit of anger. Superman punches the villain almost exactly like he punches Zod in Man of Steel — down to his impassioned movements, the camera showing every punch with its respective reaction from both parties, and the emphasis Superman does on each word with each hit, crying out "You took everything from me!".
The sequel to the DCEU's first ensemble film never had a script written. However, Zack Snyder's original plan for Justice League 2 included a vital moment that was set up with Cyborg's introduction. Originally intended to be the key to Darkseid's victory and subsequent defeat, Victor Stone has the ability to open Boom Tube portals that represent a powerful tool for the evil conqueror and his quest to dominate the universe. After correcting the timeline through time travel, a broken-down Cyborg would use this ability against him at some point and help the League take the advantage and save the world.
In Apokolips War, Constantine breaks Darkseid's mind control on Cyborg when the team teleports to Apokolips. While Superman fights Darkseid, Cyborg explains to them that he can create one portal to return them to Earth and one portal to "send Apokolips to no destination at all", trapping Darkseid and the Paradooms forever. Constantine and Raven unleash Trigon one last time in order to distract Darkseid. They escape, but Cyborg is unable to go with them since he is permanently connected to Apokolips as a living battery.
In Man of Steel, General Zod brought with him the World Engine — an ancient Kryptonian terraforming device — to reshape Earth into a new version of the ill-fated Krypton. Its gravity-altering power causes an immeasurable amount of destruction that adds to the Battle of Metropolis and begins to replace the Earth's atmosphere to Krypton's so that Zod's legacy can live on. Barely achieving it, Superman flies right into its beam and destroys it, but its wreckage is abandoned at sea and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) manages to retrieve Kryptonite from it.
Darkseid uses three of the same machines in Apokolips War, only this time they're called "Reapers" and he intends to mine the Earth's core to extend his reign of Apokolips throughout the universe. Lois Lane gathers three teams of heroes and sends them to attack each machine, one in the North Sea, one in Congo, and one near the Great Wall of China. Most of them die in their attempt, but Constantine convinces Swamp Thing (Roger R. Cross) to defend the environment by destroying one of the Reapers all by himself, giving the surviving heroes a much-needed advantage.
Despite his notable absence in the DCEU, Darkseid is still a big part of Zack Snyder's original vision. Actor Ray porter has even confirmed his appearance in the Snyder Cut, and many traces of his existence in the cinematic universe remain onscreen and offscreen. One of these elements is Darkseid's Fortress. The dystopic palace is usually depicted as his base of operations in Apokolips, but some pieces of Snyder's plan suggest he could move his headquarters to Earth, as implied by the Knightmare timeline.
The Fortress plays a big role in Apokolips War. It's the place from which Batman and Darkseid execute their scheme. Besides, having Cyborg as an accessible tool allows them to exploit his powers without having to move. However, it's that same convenience that brings Darkseid's demise when Constantine reboots Cyborg's mind. With one of the most powerful characters thirty for justice and stuck to the wall of his home, Darkseid brings upon himself his own defeat.
In many senses, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War seems like the movie Zack Snyder wanted to make before several unfortunate obstacles impeded him from executing his vision. Although many fans were appalled by its ruthlessness, the animated film dared to explore a bold destiny for the DC heroes. Now, with the Snyder Cut coming out in 2021, the DCEU can demonstrate how well this grim concept works on the big screen.
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