The Omega symbol ... the Parademons ... that post-apocalyptic vision. You don’t need a Masters degree in DC Studies to know that Batman v Superman laid down some pretty heavy hints that Darkseid was right around the corner, just in time for Justice League in 2017.
Well, it turns out the main villain of Justice League will be from the nightmarish planet of Apokolips, but it won’t be Darkseid leading an army of Parademons against Earth. Nope, instead, the League will do battle against one of Darkseid’s elite servants: Steppenwolf.
This is all according to a visit that Aint it Cool and other media outlets made to the Justice League set last week. Here’s how AICN described the basic skeleton of the movie’s plot:
“Bruce Wayne is a little like a born again Superman acolyte now. Superman's death impacted Batman in a profound way. He feels guilty for picking a fight with him and not believing in his goodwill and a sense of duty to protect the Earth from something that is coming. That something is Steppenwolf, one of Darkseid's Elite, and he's got an army of winged creatures called Parademons with him. Steppenwolf will be played by an actor, but Deb Snyder said she couldn't tell us who was playing him because they haven't completely closed his contract.”
Now, Steppenwolf is no pushover, but the table was seemingly set for a full-on brawl with Darkseid himself. It’s easy to say that he might be held off for the next Justice League movie; however, producer Deborah Snyder told the site, “We were only ever planning and we are only doing just Justice League. One movie.”
Maybe Deborah and Zack Snyder are only doing one, with the follow-ups getting a new director? Possibly with Darkseid as the focus? Or maybe they’re just not ready to reveal Darkseid’s true role this early in production. There’s still a lot of time before the movie hits theaters, after all. I’m sure the studio isn’t giving too much away during one press tour.
For right now, though, it appears that Steppenwolf is the big-bad on whom the studio is placing all its chips. Remember, he was already shown ever-so-briefly in this deleted scene from Batman v Superman, so he was apparently the plan all along:
We’ll see if it all pays off when Justice League hits theaters on Nov. 17, 2017.
