Zack Snyder’s Justice League will witness the introduction of numerous iconic new gods in the DCEU. The Justice League has an array of villains that they have fought in the comics for several years. But in the DCEU version, the Justice League will go up against the evil forces of Apokolips. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice revealed early on that Darkseid and his world would be a future threat, with Bruce having premonitions of Earth’s fateful and eventful future. Bruce Wayne saw that not only would Darkseid rule Earth, but Superman would also be turned into this evil’s b*tch. This became known as the Knightmare timeline where Batman and a handful of remaining warriors would go up against the forces of Apokolips. For our readers who are not aware of what or who Apokolips is, it is the planet that is ruled by Darkseid. Darkseid’s relentless pursuit had brought him to earth several times over centuries and this movie might mark his first arrival in the DCEU chapter, but may have several storylines which would say otherwise.
Originally, Darkseid and various New gods should have been seen in November 2017’s Justice League which was officially supposed to come out as Snyder’s first version. But after Zack Snyder had to step away towards the end of production of the movie post a tragic family loss, Warner Bros., along with Joss Whedon, revised the entire film into something completely different. Almost all of Snyder’s original plans were excluded as the studio did not agree with his tone or visualization. In the altered version Darkseid was nowhere to be seen, only referenced and the viewers got to see a very different Steppenwolf instead. But the Snyder Cut will give the new gods their long-awaited credit with this movie becoming their cinematic debut. There may be even more new gods set to appear in Justice League Snyder cut as surprises. But as of now, here is a list of every confirmed new god so far.
Darkseid
The most well-known New God is the Noble of Apokolips himself, Uxas a.k.a. the iconic DC villain Darkseid. In the 2017 cut, Darkseid never appeared in the 2-hour version of Justice League with his name being referenced just once, and that was the entirety of the film’s insertion of him in the narrative. What has already been recognized with the DCEU version of Darkseid is that he has attempted to conquer Earth before as well. When he was still known as Uxas, he tried to discover the Anti-Life-Equation that would give him the ultimate control over any being in the universe.
But Earth fought back with Atlanteans, Amazonians, Green Lantern Corps, and more uniting to halt Uxas’s invasion, which will be heavily discovered in the history lesson flashback. Ray Porter will be the actor playing Darkseid on the silver screen, as he both voiced the character and did the animated motion capture for him as well. Darkseid has been known for his tracer laser beams which he shoots from his eyes, which for some reason can pursue any target anywhere. The concept has yet to be cleared in the DCEU, but just like Superman, he can shoot heat rays from his eyes. These beams are known to bend the laws of physics and change direction mid path to hit their opponent regardless of the number of times the opponent doges the beams.
Steppenwolf
While Steppenwolf was in the 2017 premiere cut, the Justice League Snyder Cut will have a different take on the new god. Despite being a minion of Darkseid, Steppenwolf enacted by Ciarán Hinds was the main antagonist of the 2017 Justice League film. Although Darkseid is the ruler of Apokolips, eventually the ruler of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also Darkseid’s uncle, who is trying to redeem himself to his nephew.
The 2017 movie didn’t entirely explore his dynamics of the character and gave Steppenwolf a distinct design, as Warner Bros. deemed the original to be too scary for the screen. Snyder has described Darkseid and Steppenwolf’s relationship as being very complicated, thus the latter’s dedication in finding the Mother Boxes and complete the original mission was filled with many shortcomings and for some reason, it seemed that Steppenwolf wanted to use that power for some other purpose after taking over the earth.
DeSaad
Another member of Darkseid’s Elite forces that will be seen in the Snyder Cut is DeSaad, portrayed by Peter Guinness. Who, similarly to Porter’s Darkseid, voiced and performed motion capture for the same character. In the DCEU construal of him, he’s one of the older New gods as well as an Apokoliptian priest. But just like Darkseid, he was erased from the theatrical cut in 2017. DeSaad’s comic past is a very dark one as he from a very young age was persuaded to switch over to the dark side and has served Darkseid ever since. For the longest time most versions of him, DeSaad has been Apokolips’s master torturer. This take on DeSaad will be more accurate than Smallville’s DeSaad, played by Steve Byers who looked as least Apokoliptian as one possibly could.
Granny Goodness
Another well-known character that is making her cinematic debut which had not been previously announced to show up in Snyder’s Cut is Granny Goodness. In one of the latest Justice League Snyder’s Cut trailer, she is seen for only a few seconds standing next to Darkseid and DeSaad. In the comics, Granny was intended to be one of Darkseid’s ultimate soldiers, but she ended up impressing Darkseid so much that he gave her a higher rank.
Granny’s approach to training new-fangled warriors comprises a lot of brainwashing as well as torture. One of her other errands is to lead the Female Furies as well as running orphanages. Where she takes abandoned children to transform them into future fighters for Apokolips. This would be the second live-action version of Granny Goodness after Christine Willes played her role as the Granny on Smallville in the final season. So far it has yet to be clarified who will be playing Granny Goodness in the Snyder Cut or if she has a big storyline in the film.
Given that Steppenwolf was the most featured New God in the last Justice League, it’s possible that she has a major role in this one. With numerous iconic characters like the above mentioned showing up in Snyder’s Cut Justice League, it wouldn’t be a shock if there are cameos of other characters like Gordon Godfrey or other characters that could be big players in DuVernay’s new gods. The new gods have existed in DC Comics since the 1970s and given their big folklore, it’s exciting to see them get their physical action sequence. A Justice League 2 by Zack Snyder as of now may not be in the cards but could be given a follow-up which would give the villains even more exposure. Even if a sequel doesn’t happen, at least those characters will be explored as the new gods, even if they are not the same version as seen in the Snyder Cut.
