Zack Snyder’s DCEU Finale Copying Ideas From Avengers: Endgame?

Zack Snyder recently shared his vision for the grand climax of the DCEU, but it sounds very similar to the finale of the MCU’s Infinity Saga.

Zack Snyder shared his vision for the DCEU‘s finale, and it sounds a little too similar to the MCU’s Infinity Saga finale. One of the downsides of Zack Snyder’s Justice League is that it teased an epic battle that will never happen. After defeating Steppenwolf, the Justice League came face-to-face with Darkseid, who was then headed to Earth. Unfortunately, the DCEU’s climactic battle with Darkseid isn’t going to happen, but Snyder had plans for it. In a recent interview with GQ, Snyder revealed how his Snyderverse would have ended, specifically what would have happened to Superman.

“He (Superman) was going to have to succumb to the Anti-life, be destroyed, turn the clock back, and then get his chance for this battle against Darkseid that would have finished his trilogy of becoming this guardian, and sort of, return him to his humanity.”

That sounds like a fantastic battle between Superman and Darkseid. However, it also sounds like the narrative behind the MCU’s finale of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The DCEU was often playing catch-up with Marvel, and it would not have been good if the DCEU’s finale was too similar to Endgame, as it would have led to endless comparisons.

Zack Snyder’s DCEU Vision Sounds Even Closer To Avengers: Endgame

Snyder’s vision for the battle between Darkseid and the Justice League would have included Superman losing to Darkseid and succumbing. This would lead to the apocalyptic Knightmare future that Bruce Wayne envisioned before Superman figured out a way to turn back the clock and defeat Darkseid, eliminating that future. While this sounds cool, it’s also way too close to how the MCU wrapped up its Infinity Saga. The Avengers lose to Thanos in Infinity War, with half of the world’s population being eliminated.

Five years later, in Endgame, the remaining heroes figure out how to time travel and stop Thanos before he gathers the Infinity Stones and snaps his fingers. While there would have been many significant differences between the DCEU’s finale and Endgame, the narrative template is too close to Marvel, and it would have been a bad look for DC to create something so identical to its rival company.

Snyder Already Had An Excellent Time Travel Scene In Justice League

Superman has traveled through time before, going back to the controversial moment in 1978’s Superman where he saved Lois Lane by flying around the Earth in the reverse direction, causing it to go back in time. However, Snyder created a fantastic time-travel sequence in Justice League when Barry Allen traveled through the speed force to stop the mother boxes from uniting. It’s a great moment that visually captured the speed force perfectly but also served as emotional character development for Barry.

Since this scene is so memorable, it would be repetitive to throw in another time-travel scene to defeat Darkseid. If time travel is used too often, it can create many plot holes about why characters don’t travel in time to stop other problems, and it’s also lazy writing. It can be exciting when used well, but it’s a plot point that the DCU was right to use sparingly.