The Snyder Cut has a superhero cameo "that will blow hard-core fans' minds"

DC fans will want to avoid social media as soon as the "Snyder Cut" of the 2017 movie Justice League begins streaming on HBO Max in March.

A new, emotional story about Zack Snyder's Justice League published by Vanity Fair reveals the film contains a huge surprise at the end. But just what, or who, could that surprise be?

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What Happened? — On Monday, Vanity Fair published a new feature story written by Anthony Breznican exposing the emotional behind-the-scenes story of Zack Snyder and his troubled 2017 DC superhero movie Justice League.

Late in the story, Vanity Fair reports that Zack Snyder's Justice League has a new, reshot ending that contains a surprise superhero cameo. "He has reshot the ending with a hero cameo that will blow hard-core fans' minds," reports Vanity Fair.

Naturally, there is a lot of curiosity over the unidentified "hero cameo." Shortly after Vanity Fair's article went live, "Green Lantern" started to trend on Twitter as fans speculated the movie will introduce Green Lantern, a Justice League mainstay left off the 2017 movie. (A brief moment in the theatrical cut of Justice League shows fallen Green Lanterns.) Whether the Green Lantern is played by Ryan Reynolds, who starred in the 2011 bomb or played by the lead of HBO Max's Green Lantern series (set to begin shooting this spring) or even an entirely different actor altogether is another question all its own.

(Update: Reynolds has confirmed on Twitter that he will not be appearing in Zack Snyder's Justice League, though he clearly likes the idea in theory: "It’s not me. But what a cool pirate flag to cameo as Hal. Maybe it’s another GL? But for me, the suit stays in the closet. I mean, computer.")

But what if the secret cameo isn't Green Lantern? What if, and we're just speculating here, it's not necessarily the character, but the actor who will blow fans' minds?

Who could the "hero" be? — Reported elsewhere in Breznican's piece is further confirmation that Michael Keaton will return as Batman alongside Ben Affleck in the 2022 movie The Flash. While it's been reported elsewhere, DC and Warner Bros. were mysteriously reluctant to say the words "Michael Keaton is back" last summer during the virtual DC FanDome event.

While the continuity of Zack Snyder's Justice League as it relates to the "DC Extended Universe" is also up in the air, it's not impossible to imagine the $70 million price tag for the Snyder Cut accommodating the needs of the DCEU's future. That means the multiverse.

So, what if the "hero cameo" is an actor from a past DC franchise, like Michael Keaton's Batman? Maybe Robert Pattinson in his first appearance as the Caped Crusader before 2022's The Batman? Here's a wild one: what if it's Nicolas Cage as his unmade Superman?

Could the "hero cameo" also be actors/characters yet-to-be-seen from the DC franchise? Dwayne Johnson recently shared his new workout regimen for Black Adam, a movie that is set to begin shooting this April. Though Johnson was busy throughout 2020, a year that included acquiring his own professional football league, could the blockbuster actor have snuck in a secret day to shoot for Snyder's Justice League?

These are all just possibilities with nothing known outside to those who've worked on Zack Snyder's Justice League, a movie with as much mythology surrounding its creation as the DC mythology contained within.

The Inverse Analysis — Whoever the cameo of Zack Snyder's Justice League will be, it's bound to be a major one with important repercussions for the DC franchise as it moves forward. While Snyder's movie has a seemingly non-canonical place in the DC tapestry, that doesn't mean it's immune from the multiverse, in which characters from any dimension — and actors from any era — can show up.

Zack Snyder's Justice League premieres on HBO Max on March 18.