'Zack Snyder's Justice League' teases two big DC superheroes absent from 2017 version

'Zack Snyder's Justice League is out in the world, as fanservice to all the DC Universe loyalists who demanded to restore and watch Zack Snyder's version of the 2017 debacle. Read the full review of 'Snydercut' here.

The recently released saga not only revisits and retells prominent events that shaped the formation of the Justice League in the DC Cinematic Universe but also teases the presence of two prominent superheroes who were cut from the 2017 theatrical release of the movie.

The 'Snyder Cut,' which runs over four hours long, features a plethora of unseen footage that was left on the cutting room floor in 2017.  The film features a surprise superhero - one that was originally supposed to be in 'Justice League,' but ended up being cut from the movie.

In the film, we see Kai Zheng as Star Labs scientist and researcher Ryan Choi. In most of his scenes, we see Choi as a foil to Silas Stone, who is the scientist father of Cyborg. Although the scenes were cut by director Joss Whedon, who took over the ill-fated film after Snyder's daughter died by suicide, Snyder restored these scenes in his version of the film.

And there could be a particular reason for adding Choi into the "Snyder Cut." In his final scene of the lengthy film, Choi reveals that his specialty in scientific research is actually nanotechnology. This is a significant reveal for comic book fans because, in the DC comics, Choi is actually one of several characters who take on the mantle of the famous superhero The Atom. Atom's superpowers include the power to shrink down to the size of an atom, hence the relevance of the nanotechnology reveal.

In the comics, Choi is the protege to Ray Palmer, who actually appeared in the TV show 'Arrow,' played by ex-Superman actor Brandon Routh. This potential reveal of an eighth superhero suggests that Choi could be seen in future sequels.

Another super seventh that makes a cameo in Snydercut is Martian Manhunter - a part of the comic's original Justice League. While almost all of 'Zack Snyder’s Justice League' was built from footage that Snyder shot when the film was originally in production in 2016 and 2017, there were two major additions: Another vision of an apocalyptic future for Batman, and Harry Lennix as Martian Manhunter. These bits were shot specifically for this HBO Max release.

Snyder has been teasing Martian Manhunter since 2019 when he shared on the obscure social network Vero what he said were his old storyboards for one of Martian Manhunter’s two Snyder Cut scenes — the one in which Martha Kent and Lois Lane have a heartfelt conversation, but then it turns out that Martha was actually J’onn J’onzz in disguise. The part with Martha and Lois is definitely footage from before, but Martian Manhunter’s part was filmed last year.

'Justice League' elevated the DC universe to a cosmic level with space alien bad guys Steppenwolf and Darkseid. Alien heroes were sure to follow, and J’onn J’onzz is one of many possibilities that could fit that bill since his comic book story had him living on Earth. 

As the name implies, the Martian Manhunter is originally from Mars. He’s an ancient character, old enough to have been alive when Mars was a habitable planet — but he’s been living on Earth, in secret, for a million years.

While there has been no official word on whether or not there will be any 'Snyder Cut' sequels, the film does end on a cliffhanger, involving Martian Manhunter. Henry Mannix, who plays the character, told Insider that he doesn't think 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' is the "end of the story."