Justice League: Darkseid

**Justice League: Darkseid** is a 2017 superhero film based on characters from DC Comics. The film is a sequel to *Justice League* and *Justice League: Brainiac* and a sequel to/crossover between *Batman v. Superman*, *Aquaman: The Lost King*, *Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2*, *Blue Beetle & Booster Gold*, *Wonder Woman: New Gods*, and *Green Lantern*. It was directed by Zack Snyder and stars Tom Pelphrey, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Andrew Garfield, Tessa Thompson, Charlie Hunnam, Emma Stone, Jace Norman, Zachary Levi, Joivan Wade, Genesis Rodriguez, Kylie Bunbury, Chasen Parker, Alden Ehrenreich, Brie Larson, Evan Peters, Mark Wahlberg, Sterling K. Brown, Chris Pine, Keri Russell, Angela Bassett, and Josh Brolin. It was released on April 28, 2017 and grossed $2.048 billion against a $350 million budget. It ran 149 minutes and received praise from critics for Snyder's direction and screenplay, visual effects, action sequences, acting, and musical score.

## Plot

Darkseid and his remaining batallion storm the New Gods' ship heading to New Genesis. Onboard the ship is Diana Prince, Big Barda, Scott, and Himon, along with all the other Gods. They defend themselves, but when they begin to realize they are outnumbered, Diana has Barda, Scott, and Himon get the citizens out. Diana takes on Darkseid, but knowing he is coming to Earth, sends a message to Steve Trevor, informing him of Darkseid's arrival and to get Amanda Waller. Diana's sword, a Mother Box, is taken by Darkseid, who destroys the ship, and leaves Diana unconscious and stranded in space.

In Metropolis, Billy Batson/Shazam and Freddy Freeman have tracked an enemy to the city. A portal into the Speed Force opens, and Barry Allen/The Flash arrives and warns them that Darkseid has travelled to 2017 and is preparing to invade to collect the Mother Boxes. Batson reveals that one of the Mother Boxes was contained in Shazam's staff, which he now posesses. Allen claims they must destroy it, but Batson does not want to, as it would take away his power. Suddenly, Glorious Godfrey arrives and attacks Batson to give him the Box. Clark Kent/Superman, Mari McCabe/Vixen, and Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle come to the scene and help. Godfrey is overpowered and must escape, but Reyes places a tracker on his ship. Allen and Batson reveal what is going on, and Clark decides they must go into space to stop Darkseid before he can invade. He, Reyes, McCabe, and Batson board an A.R.G.U.S. jet, while Allen stays on Earth to protect the third Mother Box, which is contained in Victor Stone/Cyborg.

Bruce Wayne/Batman, Barbara Gordon/Oracle, and Oliver Queen/Green Arrow have finally located the prison that Dinah Lance/Black Canary and Stone are being kept in. They raid the facility and break out their allies, reuniting. On their escape out, they are found by Trevor and Waller, who reveal that Darkseid is coming. They receive a messge from Barry Allen, asking them to meet him at the Justice League headquarters in Metropolis. Allen arrives there first and is confronted by Cindy Reynolds/Gypsy, who eventually recognizes him. He informs her of Clark's journey into space, but as they catch up, the Outsiders arrive, and Reynolds is forced to trust them. Stone wants them to destroy the Mother Box, which would kill him, but Wayne refuses to let him die and they decide to go to Atlantis to find a suitable replacement for the Mother Box, and then they can destroy it.

In space, Diana is found by Hal Jordan and John Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps. She tells them of Darkseid's plan beginning, and they decide to return to Oa. The Legion from the 31st century arrive in 2017 and discover Darkseid already has one Mother Box, and he has sent Godfrey, Granny, and Desaad to collect the other two. Imra Ardeen deduces he is going to Oa, as the Green Lantern Corps have the only item strong enough to hold all three Mother Boxes. They go to Oa, which they find in destruction, due to Darkseid raiding the place. They learn that the holder has already been taken, but Darkseid ambushes them. Imra learns that Lashina was accidentally teleported to 2017 months years ago, and she was taken as a prisoner by the Green Lantern Corps by mistake, but was freed in the battle. Darkseid overpowers all six of them, and takes Lashina and Imra, though the former manages to tell them to go to Earth's moon before being taken. Diana, Jordan, and Stewart return to Oa before the Legion leaves and learn of Darkseid's destruction. Jordan and Stewart tell Diana they cannot help her on Earth as they must help the Green Lanterns. Diana goes with the Legion, and she, Brainiac 5, and Tinya Wazzo head for Earth, while Rokk Krinn and Garth Ranzz go to the Moon.

Darkseid takes Imra and Lashina to the remnants of Titan, Imra's home planet to convince them to join him instead of dying. Lashina feigns loyalty, but once Darkseid has his guard down, she stabs him in the leg and steals his ship, taking it to the Moon. Imra tells Darkseid that she will never serve him, causing him to murder him, which clearly affects him. Clark, Reyes, McCabe, and Batson follow Godfrey to the Moon, where Darkseid has set up a command center in case of emergency. Crash landing, Godfrey is killed in the blast, while the heroes are met by Rokk and Garth, who learn they are there to kill Darkseid as well. Lashina arrives and warns them that Darkseid is coming. Just after saying that, Darkseid appears and attacks the group. Rokk realizes that Darkseid murdered Imra and attacks him, though he easily defeats him. Having defeated everyone except Batson, who was hiding due to having the staff. Darkseid finds him and rips Batson out of Shazam's body, splitting them into two beings, before taking the Mother Box and leaving.

On Earth, the heroes go to Atlantis, where Arthur Curry openly accepts them, apologizing for taking Clark's side. Nuidis Vulko begins work on removing the Mother Box from Stone's body, which Gordon oversees. When Granny and Desaad arrive in Atlantis, Arthur and Mera ready the troops, and the heroes take their places. As the battle begins, Vulko realizes he cannot finish Stone's replacement in time, forcing Stone to be a target, though he fights back. Soon, Diana, Brainiac, and Wazzo arrive, increasing their odds of winning. However, Darkseid arrives, with the other Mother Boxes in hand and diminshes the forces, before destroying Stone and taking the Mother Box. Now, with all three, he combines the power, and uses it to turn half of all life into his zombie-like slaves, transporting them to Apokolips, where he goes.

In Atlantis, Wayne, Diana, Queen, Lance, Allen, Curry, Gordon, and Brainiac watch as Wazzo, Reynolds, Mera, Trevor, and Waller—who manages to send a message first—disappear, while on the Moon, Rokk, Garth, McCabe, Shazam, and Reyes perish, leaving Clark, Lashina, and Batson behind. Darkseid returns to Apokolips, where his newfound slave army awaits his rule. In a post-credits scene, Waller's phone is seen on the ground, while the signal to "Kara Zor-El" goes through.

## Cast

* Tom Pelphrey as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
* Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
* Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
* Andrew Garfield as Barry Allen/The Flash
* Tessa Thompson as Dinah Lance/Black Canary
* Charlie Hunnam as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
* Emma Stone as Barbara Gordon/Oracle
* Jace Norman and Zachary Levi as Billy Batson/Shazam
* Joivan Wade as Victor Stone/Cyborg
* Genesis Rodriguez as Cindy Reynolds/Gypsy
* Kylie Bunbury as Mari McCabe/Vixen
* Chasen Parker as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle
* Alden Ehrenreich as Rokk Krinn
* Brie Larson as Imra Ardeen
* Evan Peters as Garth Ranzz
* James McAvoy as Brainiac 5
* Pom Klementieff as Tinya Wazzo
* Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lashina
* Mark Wahlberg as Hal Jordan
* Sterling K. Brown as John Stewart
* Neil Patrick Harris as Desaad
* Ryan Gosling as Glorious Godfrey
* Betty White as Granny Goodness
* Adrianne Palicki as Mera
* Kevin Bacon as Nuidis Vulko
* Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
* Keri Russell as Lois Lane
* Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller
* Josh Brolin as Darkseid

## Reception

### **Box office**

**Justice League: Darkseid** grossed $678.8 million (33.1%) in the United States and Canada and $1.370 billion (66.9%) in other territories for a total of $2.048 billion. Worldwide, it is the highest-grossing 2017 film. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $640.5 million. *Deadline Hollywood* calculated the net profit of the film to be $500 million, making it the most profitable release of 2017.

### **Critical reception**

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average score of 8.05/10, based on 442 reviews.