Zack Snyder's Justice League originally included Green Lantern, but Warner Bros. had other plans

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John Stewart could have been in the Snyder Cut

Zack Snyder's Justice League still
(Image credit: Warner Bros./DC)

Warning: the following will have major spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League, so turn back now if you haven't seen the movie yet!

A Green Lantern was originally in the Snyder Cut, director Zack Snyder has revealed.

Right at the end of the movie, Bruce Wayne has a vision of what's to come – this is a glimpse at the Knightmare timeline, a dystopian future where Darkseid has succeeded in conquering Earth, and Superman is under his mind-control via the Anti-Life Equation. This was the scene added by additional photography, and includes Jared Leto's Joker and Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke.

When Batman wakes up and goes outside, he's greeted by Martian Manhunter, played by Harry Lennix. It turns out General Swanwick, who appeared in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, was the alien all along. Martian Manhunter offers Batman his help, and the movie ends.

Originally, though, this wasn't Martian Manhunter at all, but John Stewart – a Green Lantern.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Snyder explained: "We shot a version of this scene with Green Lantern, but the studio really fought me and said, 'We really don’t want you to do Green Lantern.'" He added: "So I made a deal with them, and they let me do this [instead]."

As for which Green Lantern, Snyder confirmed it would have been John Stewart, then said, "They were like, 'We have plans for John Stewart and we want to do our own announcement.' So I said all right, I'll give you that. So [Martian Manhunter] was the compromise."

There is a Green Lantern in both versions of Justice League, who dies in the History Lesson sequence detailing the invasion of Earth, but no other appeared. It's a shame John Stewart didn't make it into the movie in the end, but still, seeing Martian Manhunter was definitely cool – and it's exciting that there's a Green Lantern project apparently in the pipeline. 

If you've watched all four hours of the Snyder Cut, check out our deep dives into the movie here:

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Molly Edwards
Molly Edwards
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.