Justice League: Darkseid

***Justice League: Darkseid*** is a 2013 superhero film, a sequel to *Justice League* and *Justice League: Siege* and a crossover between/sequel to *Suicide Squad*, *Superman: Doomsday*, *Green Lantern: Blackest Night*, and *The Flash: Flashpoint*. It is the nineteenth installment in the DC Cinematic Universe.

It was directed by Ron Howard and stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Stephen Amell, Jason Momoa, Ryan Reynolds, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Blake Lively, Viola Davis, and Julian Lewis Jones. A back-to-back sequel, *Justice Legaue: Crisis on Infinite Earths* was released in 2014.

## Plot

Six months after the events of *The Flash: Flashpoint*, the Justice League (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Star Sapphire) prepare for Darkseid's invasion of Earth. Barry is still reeling after learning everything that has changed; Robin left Batman after being injured and later became Nightwing, Martha Kent is dead, Diana and Carol never had an encounter with the New Gods, Barry is married to Patty Spivot instead of Iris West, Arthur was raised by his mother in Atlantis and never left Mera, Hal is now a gay man who became a Green Lantern to avenge his fiancee's death. Green Arrow is based in Seattle and had never met Black Canary before both being drafted into the Justice League.

Amanda Waller finds Darkseid's ship in orbit. The League goes after him but recruit the Suicide Squad and Teen Titans to help them. Batman and Robin fight over what happened three years ago but they stop once Darkseid hits their jet and the two parties crash onto Starhaven. The three hero teams seek shelter in Starhavenites homes but they are thrown out when they find out Darkseid is there and they evacuate. The Squad realizes their head explosives can't be active in Space and agree to make their way to the jet and get back to Earth. Rick Flag shows up, revealing he has their activators. The Titans are confronted by Granny Goodness, who attacks them. Beast Boy transforms into a bird and flies to the League to tell them what happened. The League arrives and find Nightwing and Starfire injured. They take them back to the jet where they are healed.

Diana, Carol, and Steve are found by Lashina and her Female Furies. The Furies realize their opponents have no memory of their encounter together on Apokolips. After grouping together the League, Squad, and Titans begin to ask Barry why certain things seem out of place to them and Barry. Barry reveals he went back in time to prevent his mother's death but when he came back, things were different. The three teams learn certain things in their life are different. Diana learns she fell in love with Orion and leaves to find him on New Genesis. Nightwing forgives Bruce for leaving him for dead but now blames Barry. Diana arrives on New Genesis and learns that they thought she abandoned them. She apologizes, saying she was pulled away unwillingly. She finds Orion, however, he is not really alive, just a ghost. She remembers everything she lost and kisses him before he fades away. Diana tells the New Gods she needs to kill someone before she can return.

Darkseid finds the three teams and as he is about to kill Superman, Diana arrives and stabs him through the back. Desaad, Granny, Lashina, and the Female Furies try to fight back but the three teams combined stop them. However, as Desaad dies he triggers and alarm of sorts but nothing comes. The teams agree to take him prisoner to question him but he kills himself. After returning to Earth, the Titans return to Jump City, the Squad to Belle Reeve, and the League go their seperate ways for now. Diana remembers her promise and just as she is about to leave Steve kisses her and she realizes she belongs here.

In a mid-credits scene, the Anti-Monitor flows through space before something begins to buzz and his eyes open wide. In a post-credits scene, Hal is in Coast City, not destroyed in this timeline and he meets with Guy Gardner, an old high school friend. Hal reveals he is gay and Guy kisses him as they enter the house.

## Cast

* Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
* Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
* Stephen Amell as Barry Allen/The Flash
* Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
* Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
* Rick Cosnett as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
* Danielle Panabaker as Dinah Lance/Black Canary
* Blake Lively as Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire
* Will Smith as Floyd Lawton/Deadshot
* Margot Robbie as Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
* Alexander Gould as Dick Grayson/Nightwing
* Anna Diop as Starfire
* Chris Pine as Steve Trevor IV
* Betty White as Granny Goodness
* Jai Courtney as Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang
* Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
* Meta Golding as Lashina
* Minka Kelley as Raven
* Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag
* Steve Byers as Desaad
* Brenton Thwaites as Garfield Logan/Beast Boy
* Ewen Bremner as John Peril
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Waylon Jones/Killer Croc
* Karen Fukuhara as Katana
* Saïd Taghmaoui as Dale Gunn
* Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
* Julian Lewis Jones as Darkseid

## Reception

### **Box office**

The film grossed $1,276,480,335 worldwide.

### **Critical reception**

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 225 reviews, with an average score of 7.7/10.