In a 5,000-word article detailing the complex story of the “Snyder Cut” from Justice League, one sentence sent fans into a mild frenzy: “He filmed the ending again with a hero cameo that will wow fanatic fans.”
That quote comes true Vanity Fairis recent, extensive article about the film and movement, which will culminate with its March 18 release Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a four o’clock completion of a Snyder project left in 2017 and has since returned to, after a tidal wave of encouragement from fans. But that’s another story
This story is about that haunted cameo. The line was picked up on blogs around the Internet and there was speculation as to what DC Comics character it might be – many leaning towards one of the Green Lanterns. The theory became so extensive that a potential candidate, Ryan Reynolds, even addressed it on Twitter.
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Well, io9 spoke to a resource with knowledge of the movie and we know who the cameo actually is. It’s cool, yes, but you might want to lower your expectations just a little bit.
According to our source, the cameo is none other than DC’s J’onn J’onn, aka Martian Manhunter.
Now fans might be thinking, “Wait, it can’t be him. We already knew Martian Manhunter was in the movie. The actor himself has confirmed it. “That’s true. You might remember actor Harry Lennix who played General Swanwick in 2013 Man of Steel and 2016’s Batman vs SupermanSnyder had intended that the character would eventually transform into the shape-shifting green hero. H.e also cooperated Justice League director Joss Whedon Dollhouse
In recent weeks Lennix even spoke with Variety to reveal that he was filming motion capture for Snyder’s Justice League[I got a call from Zack that said] “Hey, when can you come in and shoot?” So that was great, ”Lennix told the trade. “I discovered it was a possibility, or at least that Martian Manhunter would be in it, when he revealed through the storyboard that Martha Kent is coming by visiting Lois, and after she leaves, she reveals herself as, in fact, Calvin Swanwick , or the Martian Manhunter. That’s how I knew about it. “
The actor is referring to Snyder’s storyboards unveiled in October 2019 from the scene with Martian Manhunter reveals itself. Snyder had previously shot half of the scene, but only needed the Lennix part. It seems possible that this is the scene in question. So if all of this was already in the universe, why was it referred to as something that “will blow the mind of hardcore fans”? As far as we can tell, Vanity Fair was just spoiler averse to a readership unaware of the latest superhero news. But we can confirm that the reference pertains to Martian Manhunter’s appearance.
To be fair, not everyone reads Variety. Not everyone saw Zack Snyder’s Vero two years ago. Quite a few people won’t know it’s coming and those people will certainly be surprised (that’s why we’re posting this reveal behind a spoiler bar today). Obviously, it’s not Ryan Reynolds’ type of stunning, the newly cast Supergirl, or some other fun, multiverse forecasts that have dominated social media in the last 24 hours. But it is still pretty cool. Another example of Snyder finally completing a vision he’s been planning for years.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max March 18.
Correction 2/23/2021, 1:35 PM ET: The original version of this post incorrectly stated that the film would be in black and white. Snyder’s original rough cut was in black and white, but the final version won’t be. Lennix also worked with Whedon on Dollhouse and not Justice League. We regret the mistakes and have corrected them.
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