Darkseid will make a prominent appearance in the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Yet when Justice League arrived in November 2017, he was completely absent aside from a single name-drop from Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds).
In the midst of the subsequent grassroots campaign for the Snyder Cut, it would later come out that Darkseid was portrayed by Ray Porter in the movie, while Zack Snyder has released a handful of images of Darkseid's appearance in the unseen film. Snyder has also offered the occasional comment regarding where Darkseid fits into the larger picture of the Snyder Cut, while analysis of various aspects of the movie has revealed that his role was much more than a mere cameo. However, with the Snyder Cut now officially set to debut on HBO Max in 2021, there is even more reason to re-examine just what Darkseid's role in the movie is all about.
While Snyder's social media activity has revealed a chasm of difference between the theatrical version of Justice League and the Snyder Cut, plenty remains unknown about Snyder's original vision. Its 214-minute runtime, compared to the theatrical cut's 120-minute runtime, indicates just how massive the differences are. Even for all that is now known about Darkseid's presence in the movie, including a new color image released by Snyder, the full extent of his role is still a mystery waiting to be solved when the Snyder Cut is finally released next year. More to the point, a recent comment made by Snyder also forces the examination of Darkseid's role in the film to switch gears once again.
The History Lesson Shows Darkseid As "A Baby"
Some of the information Snyder has revealed indicates that the Snyder Cut involves a somewhat younger take on Darkseid and could even dive into his origin. In the comics, Darkseid was born as Uxas, the son of Yuga Khan, who was ruler of Apokolips and Heggra. Uxas later stopped his brother Drax, who was next in line for the throne of Apokolips, from getting hold of the power of the Omega Force, with Uxas claiming the power, assuming rule over Apokolips, and taking on the name Darkseid. In DC lore, Darkseid's major goal is to uncover the Anti-Life Equation and use it as a means of eliminating free will, with Darkseid believing that much of it could be retrieved on Earth and also found within the minds of its human population.
Snyder has previously referenced Darkseid as Uxas within the context of his movie and recently referred to him as "a baby in this part" in Justice League 2 being an obvious candidate. The idea of the movie depicting Darkseid in his supervillain infancy also offers a bit clearer of a picture with what is already known about his role in the Snyder Cut.
Darkseid Has A Significant Role In The Movie
It is now known that Darkseid has a far more substantial role in the Snyder Cut than a cameo or even a background appearance. The obvious comparison is to the role of Thanos within the Darkseid's role in the Snyder Cut, the movie will provide him with significantly more of a set-up and history.
Snyder's version of the history lesson features Darkseid, as Uxas, going toe-to-toe with Ares, with the legend of the first invasion from Apokolips being depicted on wall paintings seen by Diana (Gal Gadot). The movie will also provide another glimpse into the Knightmare future of Batman v Superman in which Darkseid will appear this time, while the ending also features the Justice League seeing Darkseid through a Boom Tube. Snyder alternately describing Darkseid as Uxas and a baby heavily imply that his role won't end there, but the real question is just how much still remains unknown about Darkseid's presence in the Snyder Cut along with how much of a foundation the movie builds for him.
What Does This Mean For Zack Snyder's Justice League (And Beyond)?
The descriptions that Snyder has offered for Darkseid provide strong evidence that he has intentionally been designed as a not fully realized version of the character for at least part of the Snyder Cut. At the same time, Darkseid's pursuit of the Anti-Life Equation would seem to indicate that he will be seen as ruling over Apokolips and in possession of his Omega powers. The Knightmare in Batman v Superman included Darkseid's Omega symbol burned into the desert, and points to Darkseid operating at the full extent of his power by that point. Taken together, these offer evidence that Snyder's plan from the outset was to depict the entire scope of Darkseid's history and rise to becoming the greatest cosmic threat faced by Earth. This also sheds a bit more light on how Snyder envisioned Justice League 2.
While the League seeing Darkseid on the other side of a Boom Tube is an obvious sequel tease (with Snyder's plan to have Darkseid kill Lois Lane being an even bigger one), Snyder's description of Darkseid's appearance in the movie shows that he had an upgrade for him in mind. Both the history lesson and the Knightmare demonstrate that Darkseid's purported infancy doesn't simply refer to his comparatively young age, but also that the power level he was intended to exhibit and the threat he was meant to represent would build greatly. Considering that threat he already posed from his formal introduction in Justice League, it's fair to say that the full scope of Darkseid's godhood was something that Snyder intended to both elongate and build up over the course of his intended five-film arc.
For everything that has been pieced together about the Snyder Cut over the past two and half years, Darkseid remains possibly one of the movie's biggest enigmas. Though it is now verifiable that he holds a major, Sauron-like presence in the movie, Snyder's newest comment in relation to Darkseid instantly throws another unexpected element into the mix while adding more mystique to Snyder's plans for him in Justice League as well as Justice League 2. Furthermore, while there is no news on any new development on the latter, the fact that Zack Snyder's Justice League is now on the way means that even it can't be written off as the outright impossibility it was just a year ago.
