'Batman v Superman's' Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg Cameos, Explained

The first movie to unite iconic DC superheroes Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman isn’t simply “a movie.” It’s a springboard for a decade of them. Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is intended to set up the DC Cinematic universe. And it’s engineered to launch more movies starring more superheroes, four of whom — The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Green Lantern — get the briefest of introductions in BvS.

In a quick two-minute segment late in the film, Snyder introduces the superheroes through security footage stored on a hard drive belonging to Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). Wonder Woman watches the clips in vague shock, but audiences will have been waiting for their appearances. Here’s a look at the heroes teased in the film.

Aquaman

Long (and unfairly) derided as corny, Dawn of Justice reboots Aquaman hardcore with Game of Thrones star Jason Mamoa as the oceanic superhero.

Though Aquaman has gotten several origin stories over the years, the most widely-accepted is of Orin, born to Queen Atlanna of the undersea kingdom of Atlantis and the wizard Atlan. Abandoned because of his blonde hair — a bad omen to the superstitious Atlanteans — Orin grew up feral, alongside ocean life when he’s taken in by a sailor, Arthur Curry, who raises him like a human. Orin returns to Poseidonis, a city in Atlantis, where he’s arrested and held prisoner and is taught the ways of Atlantean by a fellow prisoner, Vulko. When Orin breaks out, he returns to the surface world and emerges as the superhero Aquaman, and soon claims his place as King of Atlantis.

In Dawn of Justice, Lex Luthor possesses footage of a rather terrifying undersea expedition that shows Aquaman fight off the invaders with his signature trident.

The blonde hair stuff won’t factor with the dark-haired Mamoa, but expect something similar when the Aquaman movie hits July 27, 2018.

Cyborg

Cyborg, played by Ray Fisher, makes his cinematic debut in Dawn of Justice.

Victor “Vic” Stone is the rebellious, high school athlete son of S.T.A.R. Labs scientists Silas and Elinore. One day, visiting his folks at work, an experiment goes awry and unleashes a vicious monster that kills Elinore and leaves Vic on the cusp of death. To save Vic, his father outfits him with super advanced prosthetics, like a futuristic Frankenstein.

Unable to rejoin society, a radical friend-turned-terrorist tries to use Vic to attack the United Nations. After he stops him, Vic accepts his true calling as a superhero and joins the Teen Titans, the super group composed of teenage superheroes in.

Here, Luthor’s classified security footage of the metahumans shows the early stages of Cyborg, with a half-alive Vic undergoing the extreme treatment from his father (played by Joe Morton). DC’s Cyborg is scheduled for release on April 3, 2020.

The Flash

Though The Flash TV series starring Grant Gustin is sublime, the speed demon of the DCU is will be portrayed by Ezra Miller.

When he was a child, Barry Allen’s mother was murdered and his father was arrested and jailed. Vowing to prove his father’s innocence, Barry grows up to become a forensic scientist until one day, he struck by lightning surrounded by chemicals. The effects grant him unbelievable super speed, allowing him to become The Flash.

In Dawn of Justice, Ezra Miller’s first cameo as Barry Allen is during the “Knightmare” sequence, when an armored Flash costume warns Bruce that “he was right about him.” Later, while snooping through Lex’s files, Wonder Woman watches a convenience store’s security video of Barry Allen stopping a robbery, this time looking casual in an IDGAF hoodie.

The Flash will be directed by Pride & Prejudice & Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith and will open on March 16, 2018.