“Superman Was Meant to Kill Him” — Zack Snyder’s Lost Justice League Sequel Plans Are Finally Exposed

A Decade Later — And the Pain Still Hits

Nearly ten years after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice detonated the DC Extended Universe into chaos, Zack Snyder has once again pulled the curtain back on a future that was brutally taken away. By sharing long-buried Justice League sequel storyboards from 2016, Snyder didn’t just spark nostalgia — he reignited the most polarizing “what if” in superhero cinema. And at the center of it all? A Darkseid-controlled Superman… killing Lex Luthor.

This wasn’t fan fiction.
This was the plan.

Why These Storyboards Change Everything

1. Superman Was Never Meant to Stay Pure

Snyder’s vision leaned unapologetically into mythic tragedy. His sequel breakdowns reveal Superman fully corrupted by Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation, no longer Earth’s savior but its executioner. The most jaw-dropping panel? Superman killing Lex Luthor with his bare hands — a final, merciless act that cemented his fall from grace.

This wasn’t shock value.
It was destiny, Snyder-style.

2. Lex Luthor Was Always Disposable

In a move that would have shattered traditional superhero tropes, Lex Luthor wasn’t the endgame villain — he was collateral damage. His death symbolized something far more terrifying: human intellect meant nothing against cosmic tyranny. Once Darkseid won Superman, even Luthor became irrelevant.

3. Justice League Was Building Toward an Apocalypse

These storyboards confirm what fans long suspected — Justice League was never a standalone story. It was Act One of a grim saga inspired by The Lord of the Rings, complete with:

• A devastated Earth

• Heroes hunted and broken

• A future ruled by Darkseid

• Batman is on a suicidal path toward redemption

This was DC’s Infinity War before Infinity War existed — only darker, bleaker, and far less forgiving.

4. Jim Lee’s Art Proves How Serious This Was

Concept sketches by Jim Lee weren’t just ideas tossed around — they were visual blueprints for the future of the DCEU. Warner Bros. didn’t just cancel sequels. They walked away from a fully mapped mythology.

5. Warner Bros. Panicked — And history Was Rewritten

When Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad triggered backlash, the studio hit the eject button. Enter Joss Whedon, reshoots, tonal whiplash, and one of the most infamous course corrections in blockbuster history. What followed wasn’t compromise — it was creative amputation.

6. The Snyder Cut Proved the audience Was Right

With Zack Snyder's Justice League, fans finally saw the original intent — and it worked. But it also reopened the wound. Because now we know: the real story was only half told.

The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement didn’t die.
It evolved into #RestoreTheSnyderVerse — and these storyboards just poured fuel on the fire.

The Tragedy of What Never Was

Love it or hate it, Snyder’s Justice League trilogy was bold, uncompromising, and mythologically ambitious. The fact that it may never be adapted — not even as an animated film or prestige DC comic — feels less like a business decision and more like a cultural loss.

Because in an era of safe, formula-driven superhero movies, Snyder dared to make gods fall, heroes fail, and hope cost blood.

And now, ten years later, a few images have reminded fans of the Justice League they were never allowed to see.