Justice League didn't hold back on any of the big moments.
We got a planet-threatening disaster, a team of superheroes determined to stop it, and
a good old-fashioned race between Superman and Flash.
Now that justice has been served on the big screen, we're doing justice to the little
moments and small details you may have missed in Justice League.
Spoilers ahead.
Crisis cameo
Early in the film, you may have caught that newspaper headline from the Metropolis Post
asking if a bunch of fallen heroes returned to their own planets.
What you may not have noticed was the smaller headline beside the main story—"Citywide
Crisis."
In the DC universe, a crisis is kind of a big deal, and DC doesn't throw the C-word
around casually.
It started in Justice League of America #21 with the Crisis on Earth One story line.
In the very next issue, there was Crisis on Earth Two.
Later, 1985's game-changing Crisis on Infinite Earths story arc put the entire multiverse
in peril.
Various crises even popped up after that, like Infinite Crisis, Identity Crisis, and
Final Crisis.
Basically, most of DC comics' history has been defined by crises, so name-dropping the
word in a DCEU movie is definitely a piece of fan service.
Smooth finish
For the majority of the movie, Cyborg had a notably different look than he does in the
comics.
Most versions of Cyborg in the comics have a smooth, aerodynamic exterior.
In Justice League, however, Cyborg had sharp edges sticking out everywhere, like a sentient
pile of cutlery.
But at the end of Justice League, Vic uses his growing control over the Mother Box tech
to give himself a makeover, ditching the RoboCop 2 vibe for a polished shell lifted straight
from the comics.
And while we're on the topic of Cyborg…
Booyah
Throughout Cyborg's run on Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!, Sparky has had one distinguishing
catchphrase:
"Just practicing my Booyahs."
Boo Boo Boo Ya Ya Ya :Booyah."
It takes most of Justice League to get there, but right at the end he drops his big line,
giving at least some of the audience a reason to get out of their seats with a smile.
"Booyah"
If you've never come across Cyborg in any form before Justice League, you'd never know
what all the fuss was about.
"Booyah."
Mera
Amber Heard's character, Mera, didn't get a ton of screen time in Justice League, but
the costume designers definitely paid homage to Mera's comics wardrobe.
From her crown to her green-scaled armor, the likeness is exact.
Unfortunately, Justice League left the fate of Mera—and the nature of her relationship
with Aquaman—up in the air, but since Amber Heard is slated to star in the upcoming Aquaman
film, it looks like we'll get to see what finally happens with the future queen of Atlantis.
Red sky of doom
Leading up to the climax of Justice League, Steppenwolf takes the Mother Boxes back to
that little Russian town to start his Apokalips terraforming picnic, and the sky turns blood
red.
On the surface, that red sky is pure Apokalips—Steppenwolf's turning Earth into a version of his reddish
world, after all.
But under the surface, that red sky represents very DC-specific levels of doom.
Leading up to and during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, DC comic artists started
coloring the skies red in their other comic books.
Most of the time, that was the only tie-in, which is the reason panels like this showed
up in comics like Swamp Thing.
So while those red skies made sense in the movie, they also represented DC's classic
way of saying, "Big things are going down."
Gorilla sign language
If you could give the Flash an iconic nemesis that wasn't another speedster, it would undoubtedly
be Gorilla Grodd, a hyper-intelligent ape who's got a hyper-personal vendetta against
the Flash.
Obviously, there weren't any giant gorillas in Justice League, but there was a mention
of that classic villain, albeit briefly.
When Bruce Wayne tracks down Allen, the super-speedster tries to convince Wayne that he's not really
the Flash, which leads to this line:
"Fluent in sign language.
Gorilla sign language."
For fans of the comics, it was immediately obvious that Allen was referring to Grodd,
the greatest gorilla in the DC universe.
At least, outside of Jackanapes, the Joker's adopted gorilla son.
But this was much more likely a sly reference to Grodd.
Cold resistance
In that same scene where Bruce Wayne first meets Barry Allen, there are a ton of things
going on in the background.
If you weren't paying attention to the Rick & Morty episode, you might have noticed something
else on one of those screens.
Look closely at the monitor directly behind and to the left of Ezra Miller, and pay attention
to the words at the top: Cold resistance.
Clearly, Barry has been testing his suit's tolerance for a chill, and one particular
Flash villain comes to mind when you think of cold—Captain Cold, aka Leonard Snart,
one of Flash's deadliest villains.
Does this mean that Flash has already defeated Captain Cold in this universe?
Or was he gearing up for a confrontation when Steppenwolf, uh, stepped on everyone's plans?
We just don't know!
Ace Chemicals
There were a good handful of Easter eggs emblazoned on the buildings throughout the film, one
of which was a small neon sign advertising Ace Chemicals.
And if you know your comics history, you know where this is going.
Yup, Ace Chemicals is the chemical plant where the Joker fell into a toxic vat and became,
well, the Joker.
It's gone by different names in different versions of the origin story—it was called
Axis Chemicals in 1989's Batman and, oddly, Monarch Playing Card Company in the original
run of Detective Comics—but Ace Chemicals is now DC canon for the name of the birthplace
of the Joker.
In Justice League, the sign is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail, but it's a nice touch on the world-building
of the movie.
Gotham gargoyle
Nothing says Batman like standing on a gargoyle high above Gotham on a dark, stormy night.
If you could put that image in a bottle, it'd smell like the inside of Batman's cowl, guaranteed.
So the shot of Batman on a Grim Reaper gargoyle in the Justice League Comic-Con trailer was
a definite crowd pleaser.
If you've done your homework and read all gazillion issues of Detective Comics, you
might recognize that Reaper image.
The shot is a direct homage to the cover of Detective Comics #682.
Ancient king
After Steppenwolf's first invasion of Earth, the three Mother Boxes were split among the
races.
The Atlanteans and Amazons built cool little shrines for their boxes, but the Men, being
men, decided that they couldn't trust anyone, so they buried theirs out in the woods.
IMDb only lists the main guy there as the "Ancient King of Men,", but there's one particular
ancient king of men who definitely plays a role in the DC universe: King Arthur.
Most of the mythological lore of King Arthur is kept intact in the DCU, so it's definitely
possible that he was the one who would be entrusted with the Mother Box after a war
that happened hundreds of years ago.
Super plaid
Superman is the worst at disguises.
But that's part of who he is, so we're all okay with that by now.
Then, somewhere along the line, live-action adaptations of Superman decided that he also
needed to add plaid to his repertoire of implausibly common wardrobe choices.
Maybe it's because he grew up on a farm in Kansas, and that's what farmer's wear?
Whatever the reason, ol' Clark's been putting on plaid whenever he visits the family farm
ever since 1978's Superman.
It's usually red, but not always.
It was white in Superman IV ["four"] and white again in Superman Returns.
Man of Steel got nervous and put his mom in plaid, but, oh, there's Clark wearing plaid
again in Batman versus Superman.
All the way in Metropolis too.
"Some of his shirts have some of the plaid in them as a little reminder of the midwestern
boy from Kansas."
And who can forget the CW's Smallville, a show that spent more on plaid than Sister
Act's entire budget for nun costumes?
Which brings us back to Justice League, where Clark heads out to the farm in Smallville
to talk to Lois.
In plaid.
Even though she totally knows who he is, and he can just wear the suit with the big S.
She just called him Clark in front of a dozen policemen while he was Supermanning the Super
Friends.
So why did he change to plaid?
Because it's an Easter egg.
Look, the bottom line is: if you ever see a guy anywhere wearing plaid, there's a 30%
chance it's Superman.
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