The Zack Snyder version of Martian Manhunter in Justice League may have been revealed. A new variant cover for Justice League #59 by the legendary comics artist Jim Lee shows a DCEU style cover that includes the Martian hero. The cover features the on-screen accurate Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and standing between them is none other than a tall green Martian Manhunter himself.
In the comics, Martian Manhunter, whose real name is J'onn J'onzz, is the last surviving member of his species from Mars. After being marooned on Earth, he uses his shape-shifting abilities to disguises himself as a police detective. A founding member of the Justice League, Martian Manhunter possesses a variety of powers including, but not limited to, shapeshifting, telepathy, flight, and super strength. Although the recent trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League showed off some unseen and remastered footage that included characters like Darkseid and Granny Goodness, Martian Manhunter was nowhere to be seen.
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Technically the character has already made his first appearance in the DCEU films. It’s now been confirmed that the character General Swanwick (Harry Lennix), who made his first appearance in Snyder’s 2013 superman film Man of Steel, is actually J'onzz in disguise. Back In 2019, Snyder revealed storyboards that showed a scene where Martian Manhunter visited Lois Lane disguised as Martha Kent. According to Snyder, most of this scene was shot, but after the director was forced to leave the film in 2017 and replaced by director Joss Whedon, it was scrapped. However, after Snyder returned to the director's chair after a long and intense fan lead campaign to "Release The Snyder Cut", he was finally able to shoot the rest of the scene with Lennix using motion capture.
It’s unclear as to whether the variant cover version of Martian Manhunter will be an exact replication of what remains to be seen in Snyder's version of Justice League, but it’s a good indication of what he will probably look like in his original form. Unlike Superman, who is also an alien but instead hails from the destroyed planet of krypton, J'onzz has a distinct extraterrestrial appearance. He’s tall, green, and generally depicted with bright red eyes. To the average person, his appearance is quite intimidating, which may explain his use of shapeshifting to blend in.
Zack Snyder's Justice League will mark the first time the character has appeared in a live-action feature film. He was also portrayed by David Harewood on The CW's Supergirl. In that show, he also spends most of the first season in disguise before revealing himself to be the Martian Superhero. However, instead of being a military general, this incarnation of J'onzz disguised himself as Hank Henshaw, director of The D.E.O., a fictional government organization that monitors extraterrestrial life on earth. Martian Manhunter has also consistently appeared in the DC Animated Universe, most notably in the Justice League animated TV series and its spin-off Justice League Unlimited. In the animated universe, he is typically voiced by veteran actor Carl Lumbly, who also played the character's father in Supergirl.
Martian Manhunter is usually portrayed as calm, wise, and extremely intelligent. With an array of unique powers and abilities, Martian Manhunter is a valuable asset to any superhero team.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League arrives on HBO Max on March 18th, 2021.
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Source: DC Comics