Warning: spoilers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ahead, so proceed with caution if you have not seen the film.

Lex Luthor's general disappearance halfway through Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a bit of a baffler for both diehard fans and moviegoers alike. Now, a recently-released deleted scene featuring the CEO of LexCorp might account for Lex's motives and sudden departure in the film — or they could actually make it even more confusing.

The deleted scene, titled "Communion," depicts Lex Luthor inside the Kryptonian ship as soldiers break in — and then cuts to Luthor in front of what can only be called a minotarian-alien hybrid holding three large cubes. The cubes then disintegrate — and so does the figure. Lex then seems to break out of a trance, and then turns around to the shell-shocked soldiers, all of whom have their weapons aimed at the supervillain-in-the-making.

So, what exactly is the scene telling us? Here's what the Hollywood Reporter said:

"So ... what is going on here, exactly? It's possible that all that's happening is that this is the interface between Luthor and the Kryptonian ship's core computer, given that audiences later see Luthor sharing information that he otherwise wouldn't have had. Except, of course, BvS shows Luthor interacting with the computer in other scenes and it looked nothing like this."

Obviously, whatever "communion" Luthor has with the figure is completely telepathic, which doesn't give us many more clues, leaving us to decipher exactly what the floating boxes are and/or mean. As THR points out, another scene in the movie shows another floating box in the film — when Dr. Stone's young son, Victor, comes in contact with another type of floating box and is soon after transformed into a cyborg. As THR then explains:

"Zack Snyder confirmed that the box in the Silas Stone scene is a Mother Box, technology related in comic book mythology to the villain Darkseid, who is also teased in the 'Knightmare' sequence of the movie. Given that 'Communion' shows Luthor interacting with a character with three Mother Boxes, it would follow that the 'he' Luthor promises is coming at the end of the movie is Darkseid — but does that mean that the mysterious figure is Darkseid himself?"

This seems like the obvious answer, except for the fact that the Mother Box in the Silas Stone/Victor scene looks completely different from the possible Mother Boxes in "Communion." To top it all off, the figure in the deleted clip looks very little like Darkseid has previously been depicted in the DC Universe.

So, is this the coming of Darkseid, or is it another character entirely? Only time — or another DC movie — will tell.

Check out "Communion," the deleted scene from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice featuring Lex Luthor, in the video clip below.

Source: YouTube | The Hollywood Reporter