However, there are currently no plans for any sequel to the HBO Max version of Justice League. This was confirmed by Snyder himself on the I Minutemen podcast, in which the director said, “the reality is, as far as I know, there’s no interest and/or appetite to do more of these movies from Warner Bros. With me, anyway.”

He later admitted, however: “There is a suggestion of course in the film, as there would be within any of these movies, of a larger universe that’s still out there.”

This is far from the only piece of evidence that seems to suggest that the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) as envisioned by Snyder in Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman and now Justice League is dead.

In a New York Times profile on DC Films president Walter Hamada in December 2020, it was written that “at least for now, Mr. Snyder is not part of the new DC Films blueprint, with studio executives describing his HBO Max project as a storytelling cul-de-sac—a street that leads nowhere.”

In January, meanwhile, Snyder said on the ComicBook Debate YouTube channel: “The DC universe has gone and branched off and done its own thing and that’s fine…It’s well known that I planned on more movies—five movies or something—but I’m busy. I’ve got a lot going on.

“Is it cool that the fans have so much faith in the trajectory? Yes, it’s amazing, and I couldn’t be happier and I’m excited for them to see Justice League so they can really drink the entire elixir of Justice League. But would I continue? I have no plan to. But like I said, I didn’t think I’d be here, so who knows?”

In the future, DC seems to be moving away from the Marvel way of doing things (or the way the DC TV Arrowverse works), with all their films linking together into a wider timeline and narrative, and more into standalone adventures which are less interconnected.

In practice, this means that while movies like Wonder Woman 1984 and the upcoming The Flash and Aquaman 2 take place in the same universe, they are unlikely to reference each other at any great level.

That DC was not wedded to a single canon was also seen when it released Joker, which featured Joaquin Phoenix as an entirely different version of the character than that played by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad. Similarly, Robert Pattinson’s Batman will be an entirely new Bruce Wayne to that played by Ben Affleck—and is also not believed to be linked to Phoenix’s Joker.

Snyder, meanwhile, has already moved onto new products. His zombie movie Army of the Dead comes to Netflix in May 2021, and the director has announced he is working on a new version of the King Arthur myth and a movie adaptation of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead—though a March New York Times interview with Snyder revealed that was currently “on the back burner.”

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is streaming now on HBO Max.