Zack Snyder Shows What Martian Manhunter Will Look Like In His Justice League

Martian Manhunter

Zack Snyder has been reunited with his DC toys, and now he just can’t wait to share everything that he is building once again in the SnyderVerse. We have known for a while that Snyder has been working on additional photography for his Justice League cut that will be coming to HBO Max in 2021. Some actors have been unexpected, including Jared Leto reprising his role of The Joker from David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. And then there’s Martian Manhunter, who we knew we’d see in one scene (because Zack Snyder shoots what he draws), but weren’t quite sure what he’d look like.

Well, Snyder stopped by the League of Mayhem stream on Tuesday and surprised the all-female panel with the first look at concept art for what his Martian Manhunter is going to look like in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. And it looked like this:

Zack Snyder and Martian Manhunter

Not the cleanest glance, but Zack Snyder was being pretty cheeky, flashing the phone and then quickly burying it again, refusing to give people another glance. It’s almost as if Snyder simply can’t wait to reveal all of the cool stuff that he’s able to complete (and even add) in his Justice League now that he’s able to complete the work that he had to abandon in 2017.

What do we know about J’onn J’onzz in the SnyderVerse? Quite a lot, actually, given the fact that this member of the Justice League hasn’t yet been seen on screen before… well, kind of. Martian Manhunter is a shapeshifter from Mars who has been stranded on our planet. Zack Snyder has actually made it clear that Manhunter has been masquerading in the SnyderVerse as another key character: Harry Lennix’s General Swanwick from both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Man of Steel

From details that have been hinted at, Martian Manhunter is going to disguise himself as Martha Kent in Justice League, and go to visit Lois Lane (Amy Adams) following the death of Superman. They’ll converse over coffee, and when Martha leaves, she’ll shapeshift first to J’onn J’onzz, and then to General Swanwick, thereby revealing that Martian Manhunter has been the military leader this whole time.

That has to be why Snyder included the shot of Martha and Lois in the Justice League trailer that he brought to DC FanDome.

What do you guys think of the character design? It’s going to look a whole lot cooler when we can see it in high definition on HBO Max, when Snyder is able to share the entirety of his Justice League vision with the fans who fought so hard to make it a reality. When will that be? For God’s sake, HBO Max, can we get a release date? Just so we can block off our calendars?

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.