History AbortedArc / DCExtendedUniverse

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'' had a military officer called Captain Farris appear as a minor supporting character. It was later confirmed her first name was Carrie, causing some fans to speculate [[CanonCharacterAllAlong that she might be]] the Comicbook/GreenLantern villain Star Sapphire (whose real name is a Carol Ferris in the comics). Ultimately she was forgotten about after two movies, and Green Lantern never appeared in the franchise before it was rebooted.

* ''Film/SuicideSquad'''s post-credits scene shows Bruce Wayne confronting Amanda Waller (who it's implied knows he's really Batman), and warning her to shut down the Squad before he and his new friends do it for her. Nothing further ever came from this, as Waller's team was still operating [[Film/TheSuicideSquad several years later]] without any interference from the Justice League, and if she did know Bruce's secret, Ben Affleck's departure from the role rendered that plot point moot anyway.
* ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}''

* ''Film/{{SHAZAM|2019}}'' had Mr. Mind appear in two scenes, the latter of which showed him offering an allegiance with Dr. Sivana. While it seemed like this might pave the way for the Monster Society of Evil, Creator/DavidFSandberg pushed that plot aside in favour of creating some original villains in [[Film/SHAZAMFuryOfTheGods the sequel]].

** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''[[Script/JusticeLeague2 Part II]]'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains multiple direct lead-ins to the next installments: Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} shares a brief but ominous staredown with the heroes, Batman begins turning the ruins of Wayne Manor into a headquarters for the Justice League, both Bruce and Comicbook/{{Cyborg}} experience premonitions of the post-apocalyptic "Knightmare" future with an evil Superman, and the final scene has Comicbook/MartianManhunter arrive with a warning about another invasion from Apokolips. All of these were meant to be explored in the two sequels, but were instead LeftHanging. The cancellation of Creator/AvaDuvernay's planned ''Comicbook/NewGods'' film also stymied any chance at expanding upon the rest of the Fourth World, while Intergang's connection to Apokolips was completely ignored in ''Film/BlackAdam''.
** A pregnancy test is briefly glimpsed in Comicbook/LoisLane's drawer, which was meant to foreshadow the major revelation that she was pregnant with Bruce Wayne's child.
** Ryan Choi also receives a suspiciously prominent scene at the end of the film, which Snyder confirmed was meant to tease a solo ''Comicbook/TheAtom'' SpinOff that was ultimately rejected by the studio.
** Comicbook/LexLuthor is last seen recruiting Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} to take down Batman, directly setting up Creator/BenAffleck's solo ''Batman'' film, which was planned to feature Deathstroke as the main antagonist. Due to Affleck stepping away from the project in 2017 amidst personal issues and CreativeDifferences, ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' was subsequently reconfigured by Creator/MattReeves into a complete ContinuityReboot with no relation to Zack Snyder's planned arc. Part of this ReTool meant abandoning Deathstroke as the villain.
** Related to this, while the aforementioned scene in the theatrical cut where Lex mentions forming a team to take down the Justice League was a Whedon reshoot, the idea was based on Snyder's original plan for the sequel, which would have seen the Injustice League as the main antagonists, with Luthor as the group's leader. Even though ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'' ended with Black Manta and Ocean Master (both planned to return as part of Snyder's Injustice League) defeated but alive, additional members Captain Cold and the Riddler were originally going to be introduced in ''The Batman'' and ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}'', respectively, before being recruited by Lex. However, as mentioned, ''The Batman'' was reconfigured into a completely unrelated project with a radically different version of the Riddler after Affleck's departure, while ''The Flash'' was heavily delayed and extensively rewritten into an adaptation of ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'', removing Captain Cold as the villain in the process.
* ''Film/BlackAdam'' ends with Adam being confronted by Creator/HenryCavill's Superman, directly teasing a future battle between the two characters. However, due to a combination of ''Black Adam'''s underperformance at the box office and Creator/JamesGunn and Peter Safran rebooting the character of Superman, this plot thread was abandoned, with Cavill later confirming on social media that he would no longer be playing Superman going forward.

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'' had a military officer called Captain Farris appear as a minor supporting character. It was later confirmed her first name was Carrie, causing some fans to speculate [[CanonCharacterAllAlong that she might be]] the Comicbook/GreenLantern villain Star Sapphire (whose name is a Carol Ferris in the comics). Ultimately she was forgotten about after two movies, and Green Lantern never appeared in the franchise before it was rebooted.

** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''[[Script/JusticeLeague2 Part II]]'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains multiple direct lead-ins to the next installments: Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} shares a brief but ominous staredown with the heroes, Batman begins turning the ruins of Wayne Manor into a headquarters for the Justice League, both Bruce and Cyborg experience premonitions of the post-apocalyptic "Knightmare" future with an evil Superman, and the final scene has Comicbook/MartianManhunter arrive with a warning about another invasion from Apokolips. All of these were meant to be explored in the two sequels, but were instead LeftHanging. The cancellation of Creator/AvaDuvernay's planned ''Comicbook/NewGods'' film also stymied any chance at expanding upon the rest of the Fourth World, while Intergang's connection to Apokolips was completely ignored in ''Film/BlackAdam''.

* As much of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' was originally written and shot before the drastic shakeup of the franchise that occurred after the underperformance of ''Batman v Superman'' and the outright failure of the 2017 theatrical ''Justice League'' cut, the movie contains a number of {{Sequel Hook}}s for projects that never came to fruition. Due to WB subsequently confirming that their 2021 release of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' was intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, as well as Creator/JamesGunn and Peter Safran subsequently taking over as the heads of Creator/DCStudios in late 2022 and immediately rebooting multiple key characters, all of these plot threads will likely be LeftHanging:

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'' had a military officer called Captain Farris appear as a minor supporting character. It was later confirmed her first name was Carrie, causing some fans to speculate [[CanonCharacterAllAlong that she might be]] the Comicbook/GreenLantern villain Star Sapphire (whose name is a Carol Ferris in the comics). Ultimately she was forgotten about after two movies.

** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''[[Script/JusticeLeague2 Part II]]'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains a direct lead-in to a sequel, with Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} preparing to attack Earth and Comicbook/MartianManhunter arriving to warn Batman that the conflict isn't over. The cancellation of Creator/AvaDuvernay's planned ''New Gods'' film also stymied any chance at expanding upon the rest of the Fourth World, while Intergang's connection to Apokolips was completely ignored in ''Film/BlackAdam''.

** Comicbook/LexLuthor is last seen recruiting Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} to take down Batman, directly setting up Creator/BenAffleck's solo ''Batman'' film, which was planned to feature Deathstroke as the main antagonist. Due to [[CreatorBreakdown Affleck stepping away from the project in 2017 amidst his struggles with alcoholism]], ''Film/TheBatman2022'' was subsequently reconfigured into a complete ContinuityReboot with no relation to Zack Snyder's planned arc. Part of this ReTool meant abandoning Deathstroke as the villain.
** Related to this, while the aforementioned scene in the theatrical cut where Lex mentions forming a team to take down the Justice League was a Whedon reshoot, the idea was based on Snyder's original plan for the sequel, which would have seen the Injustice League as the main antagonists, with Luthor as the group's leader. Even though ''Film/{{Aquaman}}'' ended with Black Manta and Ocean Master (both planned to return as part of Snyder's Injustice League) defeated but alive, additional members Captain Cold and the Riddler were originally going to be introduced in ''The Batman'' and ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}'', respectively, before being recruited by Lex. However, as mentioned, ''The Batman'' was reconfigured into a completely unrelated project with a radically different version of the Riddler after Affleck's departure, while ''The Flash'' was heavily delayed and extensively rewritten into an adaptation of ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'', removing Captain Cold as the villain in the process.

** Additionally, thanks to ''Black Adam's'' underperformance, any plans to expand upon the Comicbook/{{Justice Society|Of America}} or show Adrianna and Amon becoming Isis and Osiris are effectively stillborn.

** Additionally, to ''Black Adam's'' underperformance, any plans to expand upon the Comicbook/{{Justice Society|Of America}} or show Adrianna and Amon becoming Isis and Osiris are effectively stillborn.

** Related to this, while the aforementioned scene in the theatrical cut where Lex mentions forming a team to take down the Justice League was a Whedon reshoot, the idea was based on Snyder's original plan for the sequel, which would have seen the Injustice League as the main antagonists, with Luthor as the group's leader. While ''Film/{{Aquaman}}'' ended with Black Manta and Ocean Master (both planned to return as part of Snyder's Injustice League) defeated but alive, additional members Captain Cold and the Riddler were originally going to be introduced in ''The Batman'' and ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}'', respectively, before being recruited by Lex. However, as mentioned, ''The Batman'' was reconfigured into a completely unrelated project with a radically different version of the Riddler after Affleck's departure, while ''The Flash'' was heavily delayed and extensively rewritten into an adaptation of ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'', removing Captain Cold as the villain in the process.

* As much of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' was originally written and shot before the drastic shakeup of the franchise that occurred after the underperformance of ''Batman v Superman'' and the outright failure of the 2017 theatrical ''Justice League'' cut, the movie contains a number of {{Sequel Hook}}s for projects that never came to fruition. As the studio subsequently confirmed that their 2021 release of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' was intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, as well as Creator/JamesGunn and Peter Safran subsequently taking over as the heads of Creator/DCFilms in late 2022 and immediately rebooting some of the key characters, all of these plot threads will likely be LeftHanging:

* ''Film/{{SHAZAM|2019}}'' had Mr. Mind appear in two scenes, the latter of which showed him offering an allegiance with Dr. Sivana. While it seemed like this might pave the way for the Monster Society of Evil, Creator/DavidFSandberg pushed that plot aside in favour of creating some original villains.

** A pregnancy test is briefly glimpsed in Comicbook/LoisLane's drawer, which was meant to foreshadow the revelation in the sequel that she was pregnant with Bruce Wayne's child.

* As much of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' was originally written and shot before the drastic shakeup of the franchise that occurred after the underperformance of ''Batman v Superman'' and the outright failure of the 2017 theatrical ''Justice League'' cut, the movie contains a number of {{Sequel Hook}}s for projects that never came to fruition. As the studio subsequently confirmed that their 2021 release of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' was intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, all of these plot threads will likely be LeftHanging:

** The original script that was scrapped before Zack Snyder even began filming had [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} teleporting via Boom-Tube in the Batcave where Lois is sheltered and killing her, making Superman snap and causing his FaceHeelTurn with the Anti-Life Equation, explaining Superman's anger at Batman.]]
** Lex Luthor's connection to Steppenwolf, and his involvement in helping the Apokoliptan invasion, and how exactly he came to learn about the other metahumans and unearth their SecretIdentity is left unaddressed. [[spoiler:In the film, Batman mentions reading up "Luthor's notes" indicating research of a mysterious event in the past tied to Mother Boxes, and Steppenwolf mentions offhand that "the Kryptonian's" death plunged the world into despair and fear, and allowed him and his parademons to return to earth, but it's not made clear if this was a deliberate conspiracy between him and Luthor or not.]]

* As much of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' was originally written and shot before the drastic shakeup of the franchise that occurred after the underperformance of ''Batman v Superman'' and the outright failure of the 2017 theatrical ''Justice League'' cut, the movie contains a number of {{Sequel Hook}}s for projects that never came to fruition:
** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''[[Script/JusticeLeague2 Part II]]'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains a direct lead-in to a sequel, with Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} preparing to attack Earth and Comicbook/MartianManhunter arriving to warn Batman that the conflict isn't over. The studio subsequently confirmed that their release of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' was intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, meaning all of these plot threads will likely be LeftHanging. The cancellation of a planned ''New Gods'' film also stymied any chance at expanding upon the rest of the Fourth World, while Intergang's connection to Apokolips was completely ignored in ''Film/BlackAdam''.

** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''[[Script/JuticeLeague2 Part II]]'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains a direct lead-in to a sequel, with Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} preparing to attack Earth and Comicbook/MartianManhunter arriving to warn Batman that the conflict isn't over. The studio subsequently confirmed that their release of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' ws intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, meaning most of these plot points will likely be LeftHanging. The cancellation of a planned ''New Gods'' film also stymied any chance at expanding upon the rest of the Fourth World, while Intergang's connection to Apokolips was completely ignored in ''Film/BlackAdam''.

** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''Part II'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains a direct lead-in to a sequel, with Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} preparing to attack Earth and Comicbook/MartianManhunter arriving to warn Batman that the conflict isn't over. As of now, Warner Bros. maintains that ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' is intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, meaning this likely won't be followed up on. The cancellation of a planned ''New Gods'' film also stymied any chance at expanding upon the rest of the Fourth World and Intergang's connection to Apokolips was completely dismissed.

* ''Film/{{SHAZAM|2019}}'' had Mr. Mind appear in two scenes, the latter of which showed him offering an allegiance with Dr. Sivana. While it seemed like this might pave the way for the Monster Society of Evil, Creator/DavidFSandberg pushed that plot aside in favour of creating some original villains.

** Related to this, while the aforementioned scene in the theatrical cut where Lex mentions forming a team to take down the Justice League was a Whedon reshoot, the idea was based on Snyder's original plan for the sequel, which would have seen Lex's Injustice League as the main antagonists. While ''Aquaman'' kept Black Manta and Ocean Master (both planned to appear as part of Snyder's Injustice League) alive, additional members Captain Cold and the Riddler were originally going to be introduced in ''The Batman'' and ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}'', respectively, before being recruited by Lex. However, as mentioned, ''The Batman'' was reconfigured into a completely unrelated project with a radically different version of the Riddler after Affleck's departure, while ''The Flash'' was heavily delayed and extensively rewritten into an adaptation of ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'', removing Captain Cold as the villain in the process.

* As much of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' was originally written and shot before the drastic shakeup of the franchise that occurred after the underperformance of ''Batman v Superman'' and the outright failure of the 2017 theatrical Justice League cut, the movie contains a number of {{Sequel Hook}}s for projects that never came to fruition:

** Due to ''Black Adam's'' underperformance, any chance to expand upon the Justice Society or show Adrianna and Amon becoming Isis and Osiris are effectively stillborn.

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'' had a military officer called Captain Farris. It was later confirmed her first name was Carrie, causing viewers to speculate that she might be Star Sapphire. Ultimately she was forgotten about after two movies.

** Back when ''Justice League'' was first announced in 2014, it was originally titled ''Justice League: Part I,'' with plans for ''Part II'' to be released in 2019, and a hypothetical third installment following some time after that. As such, ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' contains a direct lead-in to a sequel, with Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} preparing to attack Earth and Comicbook/MartianManhunter arriving to warn Batman that the conflict isn't over. As of now, Warner Bros. maintains that ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' is intended to be the end of Snyder's story arc rather than the start of a Justice League trilogy, meaning this likely won't be followed up on.

* ''Film/BlackAdam'' ends with Adam being confronted by Creator/HenryCavill's Superman, directly teasing a future battle between the two characters. However, due to a combination of ''Black Adam'''s underperformance at the box office and Creator/JamesGunn rebooting the character of Superman, this plot thread was abandoned, with Cavill later confirming on social media that he would no longer be playing Superman going forward.

* ''Film/BlackAdam'' ends with Adam being confronted by Creator/HenryCavil's Superman, directly teasing a future battle between the two characters. However, due to a combination of ''Black Adam'''s underperformance at the box office and Creator/JamesGunn rebooting the character of Superman, this plot thread was abandoned, with Cavill later confirming on social media that he would no longer be playing Superman going forward.

* ''Film/BlackAdam'' ends with Adam being confronted by Creator/HenryCavil'ss Superman, directly teasing a future battle between the two characters. However, due to a combination of ''Black Adam'''s underperformance at the box office and Creator/JamesGunn rebooting the character of Superman, this plot thread was abandoned, with Cavill later confirming on social media that he would no longer be playing Superman going forward.

* ''Film/BlackAdam'' ends with a cameo from Creator/HenryCavill as Superman, directly teasing a future confrontation between the two characters. However, due to a combination of ''Black Adam'''s underperformance at the box office and Creator/JamesGunn rebooting the character of Superman, this plot thread was abandoned, with Cavill later confirming on social media that he would no longer be playing Superman going forward.

* ''Film/BlackAdam'' ends with a cameo from Creator/HenryCavill as Superman, directly teasing a future confrontation between the two characters. However, due to a combination of ''Black Adam'''s underperformance at the box office and Creator/JamesGunn rebooting the character of Superman, this plot thread was abandoned, with Cavill later confirming on social media that he was no longer attached to the role of Superman.

** Comicbook/LexLuthor is last seen recruiting Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} to take down Batman, directly setting up Creator/BenAffleck's solo ''Batman'' film, which was planned to feature Deathstroke as the main antagonist. Due to [[CreatorBreakdown Affleck stepping away from the project in 2017 amidst his struggles with alcoholism]], ''Film/TheBatman2022'' was subsequently reconfigured into a complete ContinuityReboot with no relation to Zack Snyder's planned arc. Part of this ReTool meant abandoning Deathstroke as the villain.

** Comicbook/LexLuthor is last seen recruiting Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} to take down Batman, which was meant to lead directly into Creator/BenAffleck's solo ''Batman'' film, which was planned to feature Deathstroke as the main antagonist. Due to [[CreatorBreakdown Affleck stepping away from the project in 2017 amidst his struggles with alcoholism]], ''Film/TheBatman2022'' was subsequently reconfigured into a complete ContinuityReboot with no relation to Zack Snyder's planned arc. Part of this retool meant abandoning Deathstroke as the villain.

* As much of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' was originally written and shot before the drastic shakeup of the franchise that occurred after the underperformance of ''Batman v Superman'' and the outright failure of the theatrical Justice League 2017 cut, the movie contains a number of {{Sequel Hook}}s for projects that never came to fruition:

** Comicbook/LexLuthor is last seen recruiting Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} to take down Batman, which was meant to lead directly into Creator/BenAffleck's solo ''Batman'' film, which was planned to feature Deathstroke as the main antagonist. Due to [[CreatorBreakdown Affleck stepping away from the project in 2017 amidst his struggles with alcoholism]], ''The Batman'' was subsequently reconfigured into a complete ContinuityReboot with no relation to Zack Snyder's planned arc. Part of this retool meant abandoning Deathstroke as the villain.
** As mentioned below, the ending sequence includes multiple hooks for films that were originally intended to be launched out of ''Justice League''. These include [[spoiler: Darkseid preparing to attack Earth and Bruce having further premonitions of the Knightmare BadFuture]], both of which were intended to be explored in the two proposed sequels, as well as [[spoiler: a solo ''Comicbook/TheAtom'' movie featuring Ryan Choi and a solo ''Batman'' movie with Deathstroke as the antagonist]]. Due to the studio taking the official position that ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' is the conclusion of the Snyderverse rather than the halfway point, as well as ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' having been [[DivorcedInstallment reconfigured into a standalone film]] [[ContinuityReboot set in a new continuity]], these plot threads will seemingly be unfulfilled for the forseeable future.