New Justice League trailer reveals the Snyder Cut's strangest Easter eggs

Darkseid is... finally entering the DC Extended Universe. In a new teaser trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League released only on Twitch (thus far), the big bad ruler of Apokolips makes his presence known, alongside new scenes that confirm a continuation of the most eyebrow-raising moments from Zack Snyder's 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

What Happened? — On March 8, a new 30-second teaser for Zack Snyder's Justice League premiered only as a pre-roll advertisement on Twitch. The trailer was immediately uploaded to YouTube by user DeeVee_TV, who wrote in the video's description: "Sorry for the overlay. I recorded quickly when I saw it again. I haven't been able to get a new recording."

Until Warner Bros. officially releases this "Twitch teaser" for Justice League, this YouTube link is the best way anyone can see the new commercial. You can also watch it in the embed below.

The trailer spotlights Darkseid, one of the most feared bad guys in the entire DC Universe created by legendary comics icon Jack Kirby. As Darkseid's ominous voice-over narration indicates, he has a real flair for the dramatic.

"I'm looking for those who robbed me of my glory," Darkseid says in the trailer. "I will stride across their bones, and all of existence shall be mine."

Long before the "Snyder Cut," the filmmaker's plans for Justice League involved Darkseid as the eventual primary villain. Batman forms the Justice League (and resurrects Superman) as a direct response to Darkseid's incoming threat.

Darkseid's arrival in the Snyder Cut isn't exactly news, but there's something else in this teaser that will excite fans of the DC Extended Universe...

The Knightmare Cometh — As revealed in the teaser, there is a continuation of the apocalyptic "Knightmare" first seen in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Not only do we see the return of Ben Affleck's "Knightmare Batman," coat and goggles galore, but also the return of Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke (who appeared in the original Justice League's post-credits scene), Jared Leto as Joker in new scenes filmed for Zack Snyder's Justice League, and the same armored Flash (Ezra Miller) who appeared to Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman.

How does all of this tie into the Snyder Cut? This look at the "Knightmare" still doesn't make it clear. But while everything related to the Knightmare and Flash's still-mysterious cameo in Batman v Superman are still, well, mysterious, the teaser confirms fans will get to see more of the outer rims of the DCEU in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Whether any of it will still make sense is up to viewers when they finally see the "Snyder Cut" for themselves.

For what it's worth, Snyder himself offered up a lot of insight into these Batman v Superman scenes last year in 2020. As Snyder said in a live commentary on Vero, the situation results in the Flash going back in time to assure Bruce Wayne that he "was always right about him" and that Lois Lane was "the key." As Snyder put it:

"There's this idea I had that in the future, when they're talking about sending Flash back in time to warn him, that Cyborg who's doing the calculations to send him back, would say, 'This is where—I have two possibilities of where to send Flash back in time.' The numbers point to two moments to warn you. And you really want the warning to be closer to the moment where Bruce needs the information. If it's right near the moment where this event might happen where Lois might get killed or Bruce isn't able to stop it, or however that's happening, it would be important if Flash came closer to that moment so Bruce would understand the reality of it."

The Inverse Analysis — The "Knightmare" segments of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice served a few key purposes that weren't so obvious back in 2016. First, it establishes Bruce Wayne's paranoia over Superman, which creates the reason for the movie's showdown of the two DC Comics titans. Secondly, it set up a story for sequels, back when Snyder was positioned as the shepherd of the DC cinematic universe. Anyone who played the DC Injustice video games, where Superman goes berserk and a Justice League from a parallel universe are brought in to stop him, could maybe guess what Snyder was trying to set up.

With Zack Snyder's future in the DC franchise unknown, it's unclear if this story — if it indeed is the story Snyder always intended to tell — will ever be explored in more movies. For now, there's only the "Snyder Cut" to look forward to, and that miracle alone is a dark victory.

Zack Snyder's Justice League will stream on HBO Max on March 18, 2021.