With a subtitle likeDawn of Justice, we knewBatman v Supermanwould be giving us a tease of what’s to come in the imminentJustice Leaguemovie, which starts production in a few short weeks. What we didn’t know was how directorZack Snyderwould be incorporating looks at these other Justice League members, which includeEzra Milleras The Flash,Jason Momoaas Aquaman, andRay Fisheras Cyborg, withGal Gadot’s Wonder Woman filling a supporting role in the film.
But now thatBatman v Supermanis in theaters, we can start digging deeper into the how and whys of these cameos, and I imagine the one most folks are curious about is Ezra Miller’s The Flash. His character actually gets two appearances, one alongside the other Justice League members when Wonder Woman is going through Lex Luthor’s computer files, and another much earlier in the film, when future-Flash appears to be givingBen Affleck’s Batman an urgent message to do with his preconceived notions about Superman and the importance of Lois Lane.
So how did this cameo come about? Did Snyder and Co. shoot the scene with the intention of figuring out how it would fit into the larger universe later on, a laBreaking Bad, or was there an overall plan already in place? Steve posed these questions to producerDeborah Snyderat the film’s press day, and she says Flash’s future scene actually came about in the middle of production:
“This was kind of the opposite [ofBreaking Bad] because we had the script and it wasn’t in the script. As we started then we worked on our script, I think we were in the middle of shooting and we started working on the outline for the next movie and where they go, and Zack said, ‘Oh my God let’s add this moment that is gonna pay off down the road, and we’ll find out more information.’”
So it’s safe to assume that Flash’s message from the futurewillbe explained, probably in next year’sJustice Leaguemovie, as opposed to this simply being a tease that has to be retrofitted into some future film. Speaking about the DC Cinematic Universe in general, Snyder said this wasn’t an uncommon practice, and brought up how aWonder Womantease inBatman v Supermanarose in a similar fashion:
“We’ve kind of done that a little bit with all the films as we’re developing them and as the scripts come, because it is this connected universe. For instance, the Wonder Woman daguerreotype photograph where we see her for the first time, we shot that and then we actually reshot it. We just shot it and then when they were working on the script [forWonder Woman] we were like, ‘Wow what if we put in the script the actual taking of the photograph?’ But it’s totally different people because we shot it on our set, so when [Wonder Womandirector] Patty [Jenkins] was doing camera tests, we were back and forth because we were prepping that movie and editing and startingJustice League. On one of the days we just got the group together, brought over—because it’s shot on these beautiful glass plates—we brought Steven over, who is a friend of Zack’s from Arts Center, he’s a professor over there and he shoots this beautiful glass plate photography, and we shot it with all the cast. So sometimes it just kind of happens and you kind of change gears, and you realize that there might be an opportunity as you’re working on your process.”
So when theWonder Womanmovie hits theaters next summer, we’ll get to see the scene in which this specific photograph was taken. And Snyder teased that if you look closely enough, you may be able to spot Zack Snyder making a cameo in the superheroine film during this scene:
“If you look carefully, Zack’s an extra in the background. That’s a little Easter Egg, not in our movie but in theWonder Womanmovie.”
Yet another reason whyWonder Womanis quickly becoming one of the most highly anticipated superhero movies around. For more onBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, peruse our recent links below.
