What do you know? The Joker was in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, after all. Well, kind of.
Director Zack Snyder has endorsed a fan theory today that links the much-discussed Knightmare sequence from the 2016 DC movie to Batman’s nemesis, as well as the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game. The dream – or rather, a flash-forward to an alternate future – saw a darker Superman attack Batman as he blamed him for death of “his world,” Lois Lane. Bruce Wayne then awoke from the violent vision when the Man of Steel punched him through the chest.
Fans have noticed that this is a close match for the backstory of Injustice, which sees a similarly vengeful Clark Kent kill the Joker in the same way. The reference goes deeper than that, though, as Batman also has a Joker card attached to the firearm he uses during the sequence in BvS.
All in all, it seems that the filmmakers were deliberately encouraging fans to make the connection to Injustice. Or at least, it sure looks like that’s the case, as Snyder liked a post on social media site Vero this week which outlined this particular theory. The director has taken to the platform quite frequently in recent months to respond to questions and theories, which has helped bring to light many hidden meanings and easily-missed references within BvS.
As for this latest find, you can check out the Tweet below:
Remember when Judas said Joker was referenced in BvS
And y’all all laughed
As I laughed
As we laughed
Zack gave me the last laugh
— King J (@JAscariat) April 16, 2018
As we hinted at above, Snyder also recently confirmed that the Knightmare sequence was intended to be a genuine peak at the future of the DCEU. Going by the presence of Parademons and Darkseid’s Omega symbol scorched into the Earth, this would likely have been cleared up in either Justice League 2 or perhaps even Snyder’s original cut of the first film, before Joss Whedon revamped the movie after WB removed Snyder from the production.
While the director’s full plans for the franchise were unfortunately never realized, at least fans can take a bit of solace in the fact that there’s still much to be uncovered in the movies that he did get to make, like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
