Justice League (2017 film)



Justice League is a 2017 film in the DC Extended Universe. It was noted for having reshoots done by Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder stepped down from director due to his daughter Autumn's suicide. Zack Snyder's Justice League, which is Snyder's original version, was released on HBO Max in March 2021 and is considered a better version.

The mixed reception of the theatrical cut resulted in a redirection with the DCEU starting with 2018's Aquaman. Despite this, Joss Whedon was credited as co-writer and Zack Snyder was credited as the sole director. Junkie XL's music was scrapped in favor of having Danny Elfman reuse the 1989 theme for Batman and the John Williams theme for Superman.

After Superman's death in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, mysterious winged creatures begin to kidnap people around Gotham. Those creatures turn out to be servants of Steppenwolf, an alien god hellbent on conquering Earth using the Mother Boxes, mysterious devices that were taken from his invading forces during a previous attempt to conquer Earth.

Once one of those boxes is taken from the Amazons, Queen Hippolyta sends a message indicating that the box was taken to his estranged daughter, Diana, Wonder Woman. Incapable of stopping Steppenwolf and his troops alone, Diana convinces Bruce Wayne, Batman, that they need to form a group of heroes to stop Steppenwolf. Batman easily recruits, Barry Allen, The Flash, a lonely genius, to their group, but Victor Stone, Cyborg, refuses Diana's offer, as does Arthur Curry, Aquaman.

Cyborg eventually accepts joining after his father is kidnapped by Steppenwolf, as does Arthur after confronting Steppenwolf in person. Once he learns how Victor's father Silas used the box to save his son's life of certain death, Bruce decides to make a dangerous stunt, hoping this will turn the odds for the heroes: resurrecting Superman.


 * Ambiguous Disorder: The Flash is implied to be autistic given his fixations on brunch and Pet Sematary.
 * Anal Probing: An old woman getting reported by the news is afraid getting probed.
 * Back from the Dead: Once he understands the potential of the Mother Box, Batman wants to use it to resurrect Superman. Diana is very wary of it because Superman didn't die on friendly terms with Bruce, and Barry is concerned because of the Came Back Wrong trope.
 * Big Bad: Steppenwolf, who is after the three Mother Boxes and has the objective of both re-shaping and conquering Earth.
 * Bigger Bad: While not seen, Darkseid is the driving force for his uncle Steppenwolf.
 * Brick Joke: Barry Allen starts talking about brunch to Bruce Wayne and talks about it again in the first post-credits scene with Superman.
 * Cluster Bleep Bomb: The old woman rants about getting probed with this.
 * Driven to Madness: The cop Gordon talks to about the Parademons' kidnappings suggests Batman may have gone crazy to justify him kidnapping someone as he notes the creatures' resemblance to Batman.
 * Genius Bruiser: Victor is stated to have been both a stellar athlete and a genius before his accident, and with the loss of his athletic organic body he uses his brilliant mind to seek some clue about the technology used to rebuilt him. With his new mechanical body he is no weakling in the physical department anyway.
 * Jumped At the Call: Barry immediately agrees to join since he needs "friends".
 * Legion of Doom: Lex Luthor suggests to Deathstroke to make their own Injustice League.
 * Lighter and Softer: The movie is notably more lighthearted than the previous DCEU films. The coloring is also brighter.
 * Meaningful Name: Victor. As Victor Frankenstein, and just like Adam Cyborg is very resentful towards his creator, which in case of this father it means both in a genetic and a mechanical sense.
 * The Mole: Thanks to being saved from death using Mother Box technology, the other members are distrustful of Victor and think he may be this trope. Aquaman outright calls it out before the final act after Cyborg's self-defence systems almost kill Superman, though that it's thanks to the Lasso of Truth.
 * Mythology Gag: Cyborg says his Teen Titans Catch Phrase "Booyah" after Steppenwolf was defeated.
 * Political Correctness Gone Mad: Barry is so paranoid in all senses that the first thing he thinks when Cyborg refuses to bro-fist him is that it's "racially charged", despite being very clear Cyborg is only reluctantly part of the team and doesn't want to fraternize.
 * Reality Ensues: The League is a bunch of vigilantes without any legal authority. To get Clark's body back, they literally commit grave robbing.
 * Red Herring: In-universe, as people in Gotham mistake Parademons which kidnap people for Batman. Some cops believe he got insane, but Gordon is wiser.
 * Shock and Awe: Averted. Barry runs so impossibly fast that the friction with solid objects creates electrical currents, but he is unable to use it as weapon, at best he can charge things by touching them with his body.
 * Shout-Out: The Flash compared the resurrection of Superman to Pet Sematary.
 * Stating the Simple Solution: Barry says he could unbury Superman in seconds, but he also explains he is very afraid of messing with a dead body, so he and Cyborg do it at normal pace.
 * The Stinger:
 * Superman and the Flash start a race.
 * Lex Luthor meets up with Deathstroke and came up with an idea of make an Injustice League.
 * Truer to the Text: Superman is more of the "Big Blue Boy Scout" from the comics in this film than a Jesus metaphor.
 * Verbal Backspace: Martha Kent mentioned to Lois that she is the thirstiest or rather hungriest woman.
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Averted. Barry seems to think he is some kind of superhero Horror film, which seems initially only to show he is paranoid, but the Parademons do act like horror monsters with a specific set of rules and Superman's resurrection goes wrong as he feared..