Zack Snyder Sneakily Planted The Seed For Doomsday Early On In Man Of Steel

"Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" not only featured the titular characters going at it but also introduced a classic DC Comics villain to the big screen. Despite only being the second film in the franchise, Superman (Henry Cavill) battled Doomsday, the monstrous alien life form destined to kill the Man of Steel. Zack Snyder may have pulled the trigger too soon by including the antagonist, but his appearance had been on the filmmaker's mind for quite some time. Long before his theatrical, live-action debut in the ill-fated sequel, Snyder teased the existence of Doomsday in "Man of Steel."

In "Batman v. Superman," Doomsday was a product of Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) mutating General Zod's body using his own DNA in the crashed Scout Ship in Metropolis. On Krypton, Doomsdays existed before cross-breeding was outlawed by the Law Council, which speaks to how dangerous they are since the same council didn't care about their own planet dying. I mean, the last one was able to kill the indestructible Superman before its own demise. Although "Man of Steel" does not mention Doomsday directly, a sneaky Easter egg alludes to the aftermath of creating the disastrous mutation.

The opening of "Man of Steel" on Krypton includes a wide shot of the planet, in which a destroyed moon is visible in the background. Years later, it's now very clear what could have done that kind of damage. During a "Man of Steel" watch party hosted by VERO, Zack Snyder confirmed that the Easter egg was meant to set up Doomsday:

"You notice up there is the broken moon, which in the comic book, Laura, that moon was broken by – we all know who it was [...] a long time ago by Doomsday, and so this Doomsday concept I wanted to plant early that Doomsday is a thing that exists and could be brought into this universe [...] plant some little Easter eggs that allow us to harvest those ideas for later."

Although the Doomsday we meet in "Batman v. Superman" is not the same one that destroyed the moon, Snyder's blink-and-you-miss-it easter egg makes sense. A planet known for its obsession with controlling birth and death, Krypton testing the waters with cross-breeding does indeed track with their modus operandi. The scene pays homage to the source material while not tying down any strict origin for the villain. In fact, a comic-accurate Doomsday would have entailed telling an even darker past.

While both are still planet-destroying death machines, the version in the "Death of Superman" comic book was a singular, Kryptonian experiment that went haywire. A scientist named Betron intended to speed up evolution by repeatedly cloning a humanoid baby after letting it die in a harsh environment. With each clone, a more monstrous version was formed. And the memories of its suffering were instilled into the fabric of the creature. Its hatred extended far past his maker, leading him to destroy several planets before making its way to Superman. Instead of Lex Luthor experimenting on Zod, Doomsday was stuck in a pod deep under the surface of the earth when it makes its grand return.

Although there are some key differences, it's clear Snyder took inspiration directly from the source material for the "Man of Steel" tease. And "Batman v. Superman" is not the only film to have altered Doomsday's origin, either. Both Syfy's "Krypton" and "Superman and Lois" changed up the "Death of Superman" storyline. In fact, the latter switched out Doomsday for Bizarro, for whatever reason. However, neither looked like a big cave troll, so "Batman v. Superman" wins in that department.