Out of the darkness grows a heavy breathing like a caged tiger. The last soldier is lowered into the depths, joining a squad of faceless warriors. The breathing skips like a warped record as it mingles with digital noise. Silently they brave the strange corridor to find its source. The gunmen pass a table of science equipment. It seems to be recently used. An abrupt ledge overlooks a wide cavern. Peering down, the soldiers behold nine metallic orbs, one of them wearing the iconic rings of Saturn. Eight of the orbs revolve clockwise around the biggest one in the center. Directly below this metallic sun stands a figure of colossal proportion. Thick horns curl from its head above spiked shoulders. A sickly yellow light creeps up from below, illuminating two floating bovine legs which appear to be mechanical in nature. The colossus raises three cubes, one in each hand and a third in the center. All the while, a laser sight from one of the solders’ guns lingers on the beast’s forehead, reminiscent of a third eye. As it raises its arms outstretched, the cubes, the planets, and the beast itself are torn apart into dust. The other tactical lasers rest on the back of a human form, now noticeable at the bottom of the cavern. Lex Luthor snaps out of a trance, visibly traumatized. His nose is running; his lips and eyes quiver with disgust and fear. He turns feebly and gazes up toward the intruders. Luthor is shoulder-deep in a sea of coagulating blood.
So goes one of the most visually meaningful scenes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Titled “Communion,” the scene was cut from the theatrical release but made available through the Warner Bros. Pictures YouTube channel. Fans have feverously debated over the comic book identity of the demonic figure. Many say it should be Steppenwolf, a “New God” and military leader of Darkseid’s forces. Others say it might be Darkseid himself, supreme leader of the one-world government of Apokolips. But the figure in the deleted scene most closely resembles the horned Yuga Khan, Darkseid’s father. All of these characters appear in the Fourth World comic book series created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s. While most viewers are speculating over the comic book origins of the scene, there remain more ancient and mysterious origins to explore.
The objects held by the figure may therefore be Mother Boxes, living technology from the planet Apokolips. Among other things, these beings can manipulate matter, summon transportation between dimensions, and even practice mind control. They are most often represented as cubes. Esoterically, the shape of a cube is known as the perfect Ashlar (an ashlar, being a hewn stone for precise masonry), which Albert Pike describes in his 1871 tome, Morals and Dogma: “The rough Ashlar is the People, as a mass, rude and unorganized. The perfect Ashlar, or cubical stone, symbol of perfection, is the State” (Pike, p. 5). Where there is no law, there is chaos. According to Pike, it is the privilege of the privileged to subdue the chaos and form a functioning society. “Produced by Force, acting by Rule; hammered in accordance with lines measured by the Gauge, out of the rough Ashlar, it is an appropriate symbol of the Force of the people, expressed as the constitution and law of the State” (p. 5-6). Humanity is always wary about giving up freedoms in exchange for safety. Force is often employed to ensure that safety.
Back to Lex Luthor, the poor, traumatized mortal who experienced communion with an other-worldly spirit. It would be Luthor’s greatest wish to wield the powers of the perfect Ashlar. With money and power, he manipulates human beings and governments to his will. But there is one who is above his control: Superman. Luthor pridefully resents the worldwide adoration of Superman, fearing that the man from the heavens is not subject to his own law. In desperation, he summons the help of a god more powerful. A father god. A “New God.”
The nine orbs levitating above the deity’s head are immediately recognizable as celestial bodies. At the bottom left of the cluster, one orb appears to be orbiting another, rather than the designated sun in the center. Another riddle. If the Sun and Earth’s Moon are represented among this set of nine, it cannot be the textbook solar system taught in elementary school. Only seven planets are represented. It could be a Kryptonian or Apokoliptic solar system. But why the visual similarity to our Saturn, Sun, and Moon? The answer comes from the Mithraic mystery cults of old:
“The ancients counted seven planets, thus arranged: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn” (as seen by first century astrologers without the aid of telescopes)…
“The Mithraic Mysteries were celebrated in caves… and the seven planetary spheres were represented, which souls needs must traverse in descending from the heaven of the fixed stars to the elements that envelope the earth; and seven gates were marked, one for each planet, through which they pass, in descending or returning” (Pike, p. 10).
That makes seven celestial bodies with Earth on the bottom and one above the rest. Our home planet forms the base of this metaphorical ladder, “and at the summit and eighth one, that of the fixed stars” (Pike, p. 11).
Lex Luthor sums up the timeless mythology from the earliest hieroglyphs to the latest comic book adaptations: “The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world: God versus man; day versus night; Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!” Homer gave us such epics nearly 3,000 years ago, with countless retellings ever since. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) is one of our most current epics, updated with references to the God and gods who stood the test of time. Superhero film currently holds the birthright to classical mythology. And with this right come all the ancient religious ideologies.
