What We Learned From The Dawn Of The Justice League

After the overly expository trailer for Batman v. Superman, is there really anything left to learn about the whole cinematic Justice League thing? For thirty minutes, Kevin Smith hosted the TV special DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League. Smith did his best sweaty, oblivious fanboy impression while he talked to Geoff Johns, one of the head honchos at DC Comics. While much of the Dawn of the Justice League special was comprised of rehashed trailers, it still dropped a few new milliseconds of films, and some hints about what we can expect from the collective world of DC Films. Here are a few more things that we'll be seeing on screen soon.

The biggest reveal of the evening was that DC Films will officially be incorporating not only Green Lantern, but the entire Green Lantern Corps into their cinematic world even sooner than expected. After the Ryan Reynolds flop in 2011, the whole Green Lantern thing has been a bit toxic, but it's undeniable that a real Justice League always needs a Lantern. Geoff Johns made the big reveal about the GLC, but this doesn't mean that the green guys will be making an appearance in 2016's Dawn of Justice. They will, however, be appearing in the standalone Justice League film in 2017, a full three years before their solo film in 2020. Who can think that far ahead anyhow?

Despite the Dawn of Justice media blitz, and Ezra Miller's inclusion in the special's interview portion, we're still not much closer to knowing how the Flash actually comes into this film. Miller, who plays the speedster, seemed to imply that he has at least a couple of scenes in the film, but if there's one actual mystery left after the numerous trailer reveals, it's how all of these superheroes actually get it together. The only other clue we have from this special is some concept art of the Flash (with fingerless gloves) and Cyborg, but it's not a whole lot to go on. At least there are some surprises left.

It's always been implied that the cinematic Lex Luthor hates Superman for a hundred different reasons, but Jesse Eisenberg also made it clear that Lex also really doesn't like Bruce Wayne. The revelation makes sense, as the two are both billionaire industrialists, and it's very likely that they've butted heads in the business world before. That, and Bruce Wayne is way more handsome than Lex. Lex is like a rat-faced Martin Shkreli, and Bruce Wayne is, well, Ben Affleck. As Lex plots under the weight of a thousand jealousies, it's even more obvious that he knows both Batman's and Superman's secrets. And he probably wants to kill them both.

Not only does Lex seem to have a Doomsday monster at his command, but now we see that he also has a watermelon's worth of kryptonite, the space rock that renders Superman powerless—or at the very least, less powerful. Perhaps Lex has it as insurance against Superman or his own monstrous Kryptonian creations, or maybe it's some kind of reagent that makes experimental Doomsdays, or maybe he gives it to Batman so he can give Superman a proper beatdown. Whatever its use, now we know that it's in play. If the Dark Knight-inspired Superman-fighting suit didn't imply it, this completely lays it on the table.

For what it's worth, DC Films doesn't seem to be completely rewriting comic history as DC Comics did with its New 52 stuff. Aquaman will still be the son of a lighthouse keeper and an Atlantean woman; the Flash will still be a guy who got caught in a lighting-infused chemical disaster; Wonder Woman will even be from a mythical island. Though, DC Films' Amazons seem to be a race created to protect man, who just kind of gave up their post because mankind wasn't worth saving. Wonder Woman's solo film will be a full origin story, released a year after her first appearance in Dawn of Justice, so we'll get to know the real deal as that film approaches.

Previous trailers for Dawn of Justice seemed to show Wonder Woman showing up just as Batman was about to get a big ol' Doomsday blast to the face, but a quick clip from Dawn of the Justice League appears to show Wonder Woman, in her civilian slinky dress, show up at the same Lex Luthor bash that Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne attend. This begs the question: why does Diana show up at a fancy party? Does Lex know her secrets also? Has she been watching these guys from afar? We know that nothing that happens around Lex is a coincidence, so there's something afoot.

DC's graphic designers have been working overtime. Revealed during the course of Dawn of the Justice League were logos for all of the Justice League's heroes' solo outings, from Aquaman to Cyborg. It might not seem like a lot, but a good logo is a solid way to encapsulate a brand, in this case, taking cues from what we should expect the heroes to look like, as well as the tone of their films. While the Green Lantern Corps' logo won't be used until 2020 and still reflects the logo used in the comics, Aquaman's logo is a lot more moody and dark, while Wonder Woman's is tough and intricate, as if made by hand. These may change over time, but it's a small insight into what DC expects from the future.