The DC Extended Universe has had a fascinating tenure in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. Filmmaker Zack Snyder kickstarted the property up with Man of Steel, before further expanding it with Batman v Superman and Justice League. Superman's origin story might have been a contained story free of crossovers, but it turns out that Snyder was already doing set up for other characters, including the villainous Doomsday. Luckily, Snyder recently explained some of the easter eggs he added on the down low.
Zack Snyder is a director whose projects often contain even more content than audiences can notice on first glance. Snyder recently participated in a digital watch party for Man of Steel, where he was able to peel back the curtain on the DC blockbuster's development. While watch the sequences set on Krypton, the filmmaker revealed that the planet's moon was damaged as a nod do Doomsday's eventual introduction. As he put it,
Notice up there is the broken moon. Which in the comic book lore that moon was broken a long time ago by Doomsday. So this Doomsday concept we wanted to plant early. That Doomsday is a thing that could exist, that could be brought into the universe. Because I really like that character. From the beginning I thought it would be cool to have Doomsday involved somehow in the movies.
Mind blown. It looks like Doomsday's appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was inevitable, as Zack Snyder was eager for an opportunity to bring the hulking DC villain to the big screen. That's exactly what he did, with Doomsday providing a foe that would unite Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman for the very first time.
Zack Snyder's Man of Steel revelation comes to us from the watch party he did over on Vero. He regularly uses the social media to directly communicate with the fans, often teasing the contents of the mythical Snyder Cut of Justice League. That's exactly what he did when doing a re-watch of Man of Steel, revealing that Doomsday was a character planned to appear in the DCEU since its inception.
Doomsday is a character that's had a long tenure on the page. The evil being of destruction and rage goes back to prehistoric times on Krypton, where the living weapon was called "The Ultimate." Its destructive powers were proven early on, as he even damaged one of Krypton's moons. If you look closely during the opening sequence of Man of Steel, you can see said moon in the top right corner of the frame-- including some visible damage.
Zack Snyder knew he couldn't introduce Doomsday in Man of Steel, but hoped that more movies would follow the Superman origin story, allowing him to further expand the franchise. That's exactly what came to pass, with Batman v Superman bringing in the likes of Doomsday and Wonder Woman for one final epic battle.
As a reminder you can check out the opening scene from Man of Steel, and look out for the damaged Kyrptonian moon, courtesy of Doomsday.
Did you catch it? This is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment from Man of Steel, which the majority of moviegoers likely didn't on their first (or second) viewing of the movie. But the Doomsday easter egg is there, and Zack Snyder didn't have to wait long before introducing the Superman-killing monster to the DC Extended Universe.
It's also notable that the Doomsday that was in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice likely isn't the same monster that damaged Krypton's moon back in the day. The one who battled the DC trio in BvS was a creation of Lex Luthor's, which combined ancient Kryptonian tech with General Zodd's corpse and Lex's own blood. In the comics, the Doomsday that causes chaos on Krypton is ultimately jettisoned into space, eventually landing on Planet Earth.
The next installment in the DCEU is Wonder Woman 1984 on August 14th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Double majored in theater and literature during undergrad. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his famous actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid.
