Batman v Superman is already dense with teases, dreams and visions about the future of the DC cinematic universe, but Warner Bros. is already giving fans more glimpses at what is to come by releasing one of the film's deleted scenes on YouTube.
Spoilers for Batman v Superman below! Read on at your own risk!
The scene involves Lex Luthor "communing" with ... something. It's not exactly clear what (or who) this alien creature is. Also unclear is what all those boxes floating around are.
All we know is that Lex is in the crashed Kryptoninan ship, and he's talking to something far, far away. Presumably this is after the final battle in the movie but before Lex is locked up in prison. This matches up with the character's comments at the end of the film, in which Lex tells Batman that "god is dead" and that the "bell has been rung." He says something is coming, and that he's hungry.
That seems to tease none other than DC universe's big bad Darkseid. He's teased during Batman's "knightmare" dream sequence as well, but this deleted scene seems to confirm that Lex had closer dealings with Darkseid (or his representative) than previously shown. In the theatrical cut of the movie, it wasn't exactly clear how Lex learned about Darkseid and his plan, but this scene seems to shine some light on the subject and further points toward Darkseid arriving in the Justice League movie.
Questions, however, still remain. What is the creature that Lex is talking to, and what are those boxes? Some fans believe the creature to be the DC comics character Steppenwolf. In the comics, Steppenwolf is one of Darkseid's most trusted and powerful generals. That would certainly make sense, and the horned appearance of the "thing" in the deleted scene does invoke Steppenwolf's horned helmet. According to a commenter on iO9, the creature could also be a representation of Yuga Khan, Darkseid's father. He, too, has massive horns that match those sported by the monster in the scene.
As for the floating cubes, those might be Mother Boxes, superpowerful computers created by the New Gods that serve all kind of roles in the DC comic universe. Darkseid uses them often, so it seems like that is how Lex is communicating across the galaxy.
None of this is confirmed, of course, but if all of this can be found in just 40 seconds of the supposedly 30 extra minutes being added to the R-rated extended version of Batman v Superman set for home release, fans should have plenty of theories to discuss in the months ahead.
