It's been more than a year since the groundwork for Justice League was established in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Since then, we have seen Batman pop up in Suicide Squad, and we have seen Diana Prince earn her spot as DC's top hero in Wonder Woman. Now, both characters are set to return to the screen in Justice League, and they won't be alone. Joining them will be Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg. The first trailer for the movie got everyone excited about the team-up movie, but the second trailer, released at San Diego Comic-Con, gave us more insight into the story.
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Such a massive, highly-anticipated movie is bound to be under heavy scrutiny, from pre-production to release. Both fans and news outlets are looking to know everything about the film and that can sometimes lead to many rumors. As the ramp-up to the November release of the movie approaches, there will be dozens more reports and rumors that will surface. In a bid to get ahead of that coming storm, today, CBR lists eight things we definitely know about Justice League, things that have been confirmed by producers, press releases and trailers, but also seven rumors we desperately hope are true.
15 KNOW: BRUCE AND DIANA FORM THE LEAGUE
Dawn of Justice ended with a Bruce Wayne inspired by Superman's ultimate sacrifice to keep fighting the good fight, to believe in humanity and hope for the future. And so, fearing what may be coming for Earth, he teams-up with his ally Diana Prince to unite the world's heroes. They have Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller's files and videos on Arthur Curry, Victor Stone and Barry Allen, so they know exactly who to find.
The trailers of the movie have shown us that some of these characters will be easier to convince than others. Starting out as two, it seems like Aquaman will be a hard no to start things off, while Barry Allen is an easy yes. We can't wait to see where this will all lead and how the others will joint the ranks of the Justice League!
14 RUMOR: GREEN LANTERN IS THE 7th MEMBER OF THE LEAGUE
Before the groundwork for the creation of the Justice League was layed in Batman v. Superman, there was a picture released of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and it came with the caption “Unite The Seven.” While some thought this caption meant the seven seas, others though it more appropriately meant the seven original members of the Justice League.
Speculation quickly ran amok, and Green Lantern was one of the few names quickly dropped by everyone, seeing as Hal Jordan is the only missing Leaguer, going by the New 52 Justice League: Origin, a story that serves as inspiration for the Justice League movie. With all six other members of the League taking part in this movie -- and "Lanterns" outright mentioned in the newest trailer -- we sure hope the team reaches the rank of seven memberswith its very own Green Lantern!
13 KNOW: STEPPENWOLF IS THE MAIN VILLAIN
Dawn of Justice left us with a promise that the forces of Apokolips were coming for Earth. Taking some inspiration from the New 52 Justice League: Origin storyline, it would be the invading forces of Darkseid that would lead to the world's heroes uniting. But these invading forces need a leader, a general to organize their attacks.
That responsibility falls on the shoulders of Steppenwolf, the villain of the piece. Not much is known of the villain yet, but from what we have seen from him in the trailer, he looks to be a powerful fighter able to bring an entire planet down by himself. And from what little dialogue we have heard from him, it sounds like he did just that, many times before.
12 RUMOR: DARKSEID IS THE REAL VILLAIN
Back in Batman v. Superman, we caught our first glimpse at the Omega symbol -- the symbol of Darkseid. We also caught a glimpse of the Parademons, Darkseid's legion of foot soldiers. The general consensus is that, with Justice League, Earth's heroes would be going up against the evil lord of Apokolips himself. But then, it was announced that the movie's villain would actually be Steppenwolf.
But that hasn't stopped fans from wondering if Darkseid really is in this movie. After all, Steppenwolf is but a general of Apokolips, but were he to fail, be defeated, or perform poorly in his invasion, there's a solid chance that Darkseid could descend upon the Earth as the final villain of the movie for an epic confrontation, similar to Doomsday's role in Dawn of Justice.
11 KNOW: ATLANTIS/THEMYSCIRA/HUMANS EACH HAVE A MOTHERBOX
We don't know much about the main story of Justice League, save that Darkseid has set his sights on Earth and that the Motherboxes are partly to blame. We have already seen a Motherbox in Dawn of Justice, in a video that saw Dr. Silas Stone use the alien technology to save the life of his son Victor.
It was later confirmed by the movie's producers that there are in fact three Mothboxes on Earth: one that belongs to the humans, another to Atlantis and the third to the Amazons of Themyscira. In the latest Justice League trailer, we saw the Amazons' Motherbox lead to the arrival of Steppenwolf, and we also saw the villain come to attack Atlantis. It's a safe bet that he is after these Motherboxes and if he gets both, there is only one left for him to find...
10 RUMOR: THE NEW GODS WILL APPEAR
Steppenwolf and the forces of Apokolips are coming to invade the Earth. That much we know. They are the driving force of this movie, the reason Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Cyborg and Wonder Woman all unite together to protect the world. And while we can only hope the Darkseid rumors are true, there's also another group of characters some people think we might catch a glimpse of in this movie.
The New Gods inhabit the neighboring planet to Apokolips, New Genesis, and they are a force for good compared to Darkseid and his evil minions. We wouldn't expect to see much of them, but a quick cameo appearance as we hear the story of the eternal struggle between the two planets would be a great way to widen this expanding DC universe.
9 KNOW: CYBORG'S STORY IS TIED WITH THE MOTHERBOX
In Dawn of Justice, we saw a desperate Silas Stone use a Motherbox to save the life of his son, an event that directly led to Victor Stone's transformation into the superhero known as Cyborg. While this was not Cyborg's origin in the original comic books, his story was changed and directly tied to the Motherbox in the New 52's Justice League comic series.
With a Motherbox at his core, there is no telling what Cyborg's limits will be in the movie, but we know he will be an invaluable asset in the fight against Apokolips. The real question is how exactly did Silas come to have a Motherbox in his possession. We have a feeling it has something to do with S.T.A.R. Labs, where Silas works. And we can't wait to find out.
8 RUMOR: LEX LUTHOR HAS A ROLE TO PLAY
Lex Luthor was the primary villain of Dawn of Justice, and he caught a glimpse of what was coming for Earth thanks to Superman's Kryptonian ship. While he was left in prison by the end of the movie, there is a chance that we will see Jesse Eisenberg again in Justice League. In fact, the actor did make a few mentions that he could possibly be in the movie.
While that is far from a confirmation, and while there have been no official announcements or even glimpses of Luthor in any of the movie's trailers, an appearance by Lex could still prove to be true. Eisenberg's off-beat, equally scary and driven Luthor was a highlight of Batman v. Superman and we hope to see a lot more of him going into Justice League.
7 KNOW: AQUAMAN'S SUPPORTING CAST IS IN THE MOVIE
While Justice League is a movie that will establish DC's most powerful team of superheroes, it will also be a vehicle for the introduction of most of these characters on the screen. First among these new characters is Jason Momoa's Aquaman. We've actually caught a glimpse of the Atlantean in Batman v. Superman, but this will finally be the movie where we see him cut loose before starring in his own solo movie.
Of course, Aquaman isn't the only member of his currently-in-production movie that will appear in Justice League. As a matter of fact, it's already been confirmed that both Willem Dafoe and Amber Heard will appear in the team-up movie, as Nuidis Volko and Mera, respectively. Both characters hail from Atlantis and will no doubt have a small part to play before their roles are greatly expanded in the Aquaman solo feature.
6 RUMOR: DEATHSTROKE HAS A CAMEO
When the Justice League cameras were rolling, fans everywhere were looking for every bit of information they could get from the set of the movie. But the production team did us one better by releasing an official video of someone in a Deathstroke armor on the Justice League set. Later, it would be revealed that this was only a screen-test for the costume for Ben Affleck's upcoming Batman movie.
Actor Joe Manganiello was later confirmed to portray Slade Wilson in Ben Affleck's untitled Batman film, but that still hasn't stopped fans from speculating that Deathstroke has a small role to play in Justice League – that he could, for example, have been hired by Lex Luthor to take out Batman at the start of the movie. Either way, with plans of the Batman movie changing and Matt Reeves coming onboard as director, we sure hope to see Deathstroke on the big screen, even if only a little.
5 KNOW: BARRY ALLEN ISN'T A SUPERHERO YET
While we have seen that Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are all very experienced when it comes to crime-fighting and using their powers to help others, Barry Allen is very different. A brief cameo in Dawn of Justice showed us that he already has his super-speed and that he can use it to save people, but he is nowhere near being a superhero.
As he says in the recently released trailer, all he does is push people and run away. While we aren't sure where his Suicide Squad cameo and takedown of Captain Boomerang fits into the DCEU timeline, it appears that his time with the Justice League will help him become the superhero he is meant to be. These older, more experienced fighters will show him the ropes, and inspire him to be all that he can be.
4 RUMOR: WE WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT THE KNIGHTMARE VISION
In Batman v. Superman, Bruce Wayne had a vision of a terrible future where Superman reigned supreme and where Darkseid's forces had established a foothold on the planet. This vision was followed by the appearance of Flash from the future, warning Bruce about events to come. This led to a lot of questions for fans of the film, and they are looking at Justice League to provide the answers.
When Justice League was originally announced as two movies, producers revealed that we would learn more about this vision and the Flash's trip to the past. But then, Justice League was cut back to one movie, so far as we know, and there are no more guarantees that this part of the story is still in the plans. But we sure hope so, because we, just like many others out there, want answers about this vision.
3 KNOW: THE AMAZONS ARE BACK
Much like the titular character herself, the Wonder Woman movie crashed through the gates and became an instant and beloved hit. Diana's journey was inspirational and it left us eager to see her return to the screen. But she isn't the only Amazon coming back. In fact, we now know that Diana's mother Hippolyta and dear mentor Antiope, not to mention an army of Amazons, are all back.
We don't know the circumstances of their involvement yet. There's a strong possibility for a flashback showing the Amazons coming into possession of a Motherbox, but there also seems to be a lot more for Themyscira going forward. The Amazons, Hippolyta and Antiope were all standouts that we wanted to see more of in Wonder Woman, so we are glad to see them back. It also helps that we might be looking at a full-blown war between Apokolips and Themyscira.
2 RUMOR: JUSTICE LEAGUE PART 2
When Batman v. Superman was nearing its release, it was announced that the plan going forward would be to have a Justice League movie that would be separated into two parts. Two movies, to tell one massive story. But then, after the lukewarm reception to Dawn of Justice, these plans changed, and the two-parter was apparently cut back down to just one movie.
But that might not necessarily be the case. Even if Justice League now works as a standalone film, it hasn't stopped speculation that it could end with a cliffhanger and lead to a sequel. Perhaps Warner Bros. just preferred to wait for the release of the movie before officially announcing a sequel. Either way, a lot of fans out there really hope that the story of the invasion of Earth actually unfolds over two movies.
1 KNOW: SUPERMAN IS DEFINITELY IN IT
You might find this hard to believe, from all of the Justice League marketing, from the trailers and the official posters, but Henry Cavill's Superman is definitely a part of the movie. Sure, Superman was dead at the end of Dawn of Justice, after sacrificing himself to defeat Doomsday, but even the final scene of that movie hinted at the superhero's return.
From Cavill's own Instagram account to set reports, we know for a fact that Clark Kent will be in this movie. We don't know what the circumstances of his return will be, but we were already hinted at it in the final seconds of the SDCC trailer, where we saw a distraught Alfred talking to “someone” who had returned. And he “hoped” he wasn't too late. Right, what does that "S" on Superman's chest stand for again? Oh yeah...
What are you most excited to see in Justice League? Let us know in the comments!