After DC Comics’ two month detour into a Future State during January and February, the publisher’s main line of titles will return this March. Zack Snyder’s Justice League gets a comic make-over in new variant covers for Justice League #59. These series of variant covers will launch ahead of the movie.
With the revamped Snyder Cut HBO Max film barreling towards its 18 March 2021 debut, and with the acclaimed writer Brian Michael Bendis beginning his run on the title on 16 March 2021, it is very much the year of the Justice League, and DC is celebrating these huge events by bringing them together in style. Martian Manhunter is one of several new characters appearing in Zack Snyder’s Justice League who wasn’t in the original theatrical release. Thanks to DC Comics, we now have a better idea of what actor Harry Lennix will actually look like as J’onn J’onzz.
The covers come from three of DC Comics’ star artists: DC publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee, Lee Bermejo (Joker, Batman: Damned), and Liam Sharp (The Green Lantern, The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman), and feature characters from the four-hour film, including fans’ first look at Martian Manhunter. The cover suggests a fairly comic book-faithful approach to Martian Manhunter, though this one emphasizes his gangly Martian form rather than his more rounded and muscular superhero look.
The main story introduces a brand new Justice League roster: Superman, Batman, the Flash, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Hippolyta, Naomi, and Black Adam. The issue also launches a new Justice League Dark backup story by Ram V and Xermanico starring Zatanna and John Constantine (the latter also has an HBO Max project on the way).
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) marked the debut of Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by Zack Snyder, the movie showed the character in a dark place as he has faced multiple tragedies, including the killing of his sidekick, Robin, at the hands of the Joker. However, the subplot was never explored, keeping fans wondering about the topic. Now, Snyder disclosed that he indeed planned to depict the story as a comic book but his idea was denied.
Snyder revealed that he pitched a comic book miniseries to DC Comics which would have revealed how The Joker killed Robin prior to the events of 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Snyder didn’t clarify when the publisher turned down this idea, but if it was prior to the “Snyder Cut” becoming a reality, then this might just be a result of Warner Bros. wanting to move on from his vision for these characters.
However, viewers are currently eager to see Jared Leto as Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The recently released teaser gave a glimpse of the sequences where Joker will appear in the Knightmare scene and will have a one-on-one conversation with Batman and fans went gaga over it. We will also get to finally know the backstory behind the killing of Robin.
As for the variant covers, they will be available in full colour and black and white versions at participating comic book stores with a $5.99 cover price.