It's Time To Talk About The Martian Manhunter Scenes In Zack Snyder's Justice League
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Contains spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League!
The Snyder Cut of 2017's Justice League is finally here after years of fans begging Warner Bros. to allow Zack Snyder to finish his version of the superhero team-up film. Among the most notable differences in Zack Snyder's Justice League are a host of characters who didn't even show up in the previous version, including Darkseid (Ray Porter) and DeSaad (Peter Guinness). Jared Leto's Joker also makes an appearance in a new Knightmare sequence that was specifically filmed for the HBO Max exclusive; however, that scene doesn't close out the film. That honor belongs to a character who hasn't shown up in any live-action DC movies until this moment – Martian Manhunter (Harry Lennix).
The Justice League may only have six members throughout the film, but it's clear Snyder had grand plans for the lineup going forward in the future. We know the broad strokes of what Justice League 2 and 3 would have entailed, and the director wanted to bring in characters like Green Lantern and Atom to fight alongside DC's Trinity. With what we have, Snyder has effectively confirmed a fan theory that General Calvin Swanwick (Lennix), who was first brought in during Man of Steel, is actually the green alien many people may have seen in the likes of Justice League Unlimited and Supergirl. Now it's time to break down all that Martian Manhunter does in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Martian Manhunter enters the fray
The first scene that introduces us to the newest version of J'onn J'onzz occurs after Martha Kent (Diane Lane) talks with Lois Lane (Amy Adams), who's been having a tough time in the aftermath of Clark Kent/Superman's (Henry Cavill) death. Martha advises Lois that she still needs to be part of society, which allows her to be in the right place at the right time when the League revives Superman. Of course, after Martha leaves the apartment and no one's around, she transforms into Martian Manhunter, who then turns into Calvin Swanwick, implying that he's been on Earth for quite a while.
It offers a taste of his power set, which, in the comics, has traditionally consisted of shapeshifting and the ability to alter his density, but the movie only gives us the slightest hint of this. He's not done yet, as he shows up for the very final scene in Zack Snyder's Justice League, when he appears to Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck), who's completely nonplussed with seeing an alien show up outside his bedroom. Martian Manhunter confirms to him that the war between Earth and Darkseid isn't over yet, so he needs to be ready to fight once again. When that time comes, J'onn will be there to fight alongside him.
In addition to making it clear that he has a stake in Earth, J'onn introduces the concept of the Anti-Life Equation to Bruce, which sets up where the characters would've been for the sequel. Justice League 2 likely would've started with the League trying to track down the formula and having to go toe-to-toe with Steppenwolf's boss, with the Martian providing more insight into the cosmic side of things in this universe. We'll probably never get to see this version of Martian Manhunter again, but for what little we did see, it certainly made it exciting to think about what could've been.
Fans loved seeing Martian Manhunter (and brought up an interesting plot hole)
Martian Manhunter's time in Zack Snyder's Justice League may have been brief, but it made quite the impression on fans, who quickly turned to social media to express how awesome it was to see a character introduced all the way back in 2013 playing a larger role in the DC Extended Universe. On Twitter, plenty of people announced their excitement at seeing the fan-favorite character get a chance to show up in the franchise, with @CajunDunn writing, "My dad just called me to tell me how excited he was to see his favorite character, Martian Manhunter!" Other comments include "I want a Martian Manhunter film" and "Those Martian Manhunter and Joker scenes! Brilliant!" However, others couldn't help but point out a bit of an inconsistency with the character's role.
Considering that the alien's been around since at least the events of Man of Steel, @MFDAMO points out, "LMAOOO Martian Manhunter was around this whole time and thought 'not my problem,'" in reference to Zod (Michael Shannon) and Doomsday wreaking all kinds of havoc previously in these movies. While his absence may seem like an inconsistency, it makes sense to an extent. After Superman first revealed himself, there were plenty of people, including Batman, who were hesitant to have an all-powerful alien flying around. J'onn J'onzz doesn't even look human, so he was probably hesitant to reveal himself, particularly since he's typically depicted as the last of his kind.
After seeing the world come around on the idea of Superman, as well as new threats on the horizon with Darkseid's forces being imminent, he likely decided that he could no longer be a passive observer. It would've been great to see him actually get in on the action, but fans will have to be content with what they have in Zack Snyder's Justice League.