On July 23, Comic Con's Hall H housed an exciting revelation of some impressive bits of news in regards to DC and Warner Bros' upcoming events, including 2017's Wonder Woman, as well as the highly anticipated Justice League film, which will star Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck reprising their roles as Superman and Batman, respectively. Joining them are Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, who is following up on her minor but ass-kicking role in Dawn of Justice, as well as Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg, and Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash. At the panel, audiences and fans were treated to a pair of trailers for 2017's features, and the consensus seems to be that neither trailer failed to intrigue. If you’ve seen these clips, chances are you were confused as to everything you saw, so if you’re unfamiliar with the decades worth of mythology present in the DC universe, worry not; I’ll do my best to catch you up on everything you need to know going into The Justice League.

We can begin this faux analysis at the dawn of the The Justice League, Batman v Superman. In this film, Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne is unbridledly disturbed by Kryptonians, however this has more to do with a mistrust of unchecked power than with Superman. As foreshadowed by visions that Wayne has of future events, it would appear that the world is due to become a dystopian one. A brief glimpse of the Flash in the film reveals that “Lois Lane is the key,” and that Bruce was “always right about him,” seemingly tying to a concept in the Injustice Universe in which Lois Lane is murdered, which in turn breaks Superman’s mind, and leads him to police (conquer) the earth on more lethal terms.

Perhaps the even more confusing scene, however, is the controversial “Knightmare” sequence of Bruce’s, which begins with a panorama of an apocalyptic cityscape. Mysteriously laid across a barren field, the Greek letter Omega. In this vision of Batman’s, we see Superman in charge of what appears to be an army against humanity. Most obscure of all, however, would be the hundreds of giant, armored bug-men flying through the air. The peculiarity of this scene lead many to jump to the conclusion that the film was a confusing mess. Now, the film isn’t perfect. However, with an expansion on what we’ve seen, this entire sequence will make more sense. The Omega symbol, and the armored bugs known as parademons, both allude to the infamous Darkseid, ruler of Apokalips.

Here’s where Warner Bros has the chance to redeem the universe that is majorly considered to be below-par: The Justice League. The trailer we received seems to have a completely different tone from either Man of Steel, or Dawn of Justice, both seemingly suffering from the radiative gloom of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight franchise. Shown in two and a half glorious minutes are Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg, all of whom seem set to join the (new) Dark Knight’s alliance against the forces of evil he witnessed in his dreams. Also shown in the trailer is a crowd of random viking-looking dudes burying a box, probably with no relevance. Probably with relevance, though, as these viking-esque men are likely New Gods, a race of aliens from the planet New Genesis from the comic book lore of DC. Rivals of Darkseid and Apokalips, the New Gods are everything the evil overlord is not. What are they burying, exactly? Most likely a mother box, a piece of equipment from the comics with the potential to open portals between our world and other dimensions, notably Apokalips. Another one of these boxes was actually seen in Dawn of Justice; forming itself with Victor Stone (Cyborg), seemingly becoming the cybernetics that make the young athlete into a superhero. So, it’s possible that there are multiple mother boxes. It’s possible that DC will tap into a grand collection of characters found in the stories revolving around the New Gods, and more than likely, the threat that Batman is so eager to equip himself against, is the mighty Darkseid.

It is clear that a vast amount of effort and ambition is being put into quickly creating an expansive universe for DC's legends. By 2017, we're expected to have appearances from many of the heroes and villains of the DC lore, including nearly every founding member of the Justice League, as well as the ensemble of baddies in Suicide Squad. Apparently, DC’s intentions are to establish their universe as something that’s been around awhile. Perhaps origin stories are getting old? Who knows. I’ll leave you with this: DC’s got some great stuff in store for us. And hopefully, you can walk into Justice League a bit more informed after reading.

Suicide Squad hits theaters next week, August 5th. Wonder Woman and Justice League follow in 2017.