‘Justice League’ Villain Revealed? Why It Could Conflict with ‘Avengers 2′

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

There are a lot of things riding on Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ upcoming Justice League movie – and a lot of pieces to that puzzle still need to be fit together in just the right way to work for both longtime fans of the property, and the wider audience of moviegoers who need proper introduction to the hall of justice.

Beyond questions like whether or not to reboot Batman, what characters should be included in the league and what story should be told, there is the big question of who these DC superheroes should battle. Well, today we may have an answer – one that many of you (assuming you are eagerly digesting these words) – probably already guessed, and have long wished for.

[Warning!!! Potential Justice League SPOILER Below!!!]
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Latino Review is reporting that they have it from close sources that iconic DC Comics arch-villain Darkseid is who the Justice League will fight in the 2015 blockbuster film – which is still without a confirmed cast or director. Screenwriter Will  Beall (Gangster Squad) has been working on the Justice League script for some time (even before the release of Marvel’s The Avengers, supposedly), so it’ll be interesting to see how he incorporates so many superhero origins with arguably one of the most massive (and respected) villains in the DCU.



For those who don’t know, Darkseid (one of the “New Gods”) has an almost Shakespearean background: born to the royal family of the hellish world of Apokolips, Darkseid attempted to slay his own older brother and seized the “Omega Force,” a power which transformed him into a stone-like man who mercilessly rules Apokolips and is one of the most powerful beings in the DCU. Darkseid is a schemer and conqueror on a cosmic scale, and throughout his 40-plus years in DC Comics, he has gone so far as to best Superman in combat (if only temporarily) and even seemingly killed Batman. Needless to say, when many fans think of a foe worthy enough to see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other DCU superheroes unite, Darkseid is at the top of the wish-list.

Of course, a lot of fans hold the villain in such high regard that they may not be satisfied with this rumor. By jumping into a superhero team-up film first, before launching each hero in solo films, DC/WB is already taking a risk: launching a shared universe without viewers already invested in each hero. Now they would in essence be doubling-down by also having to fit in a villain that many believe deserves a two-film buildup (at least!), and would best serve as the “big baddie” at the end of a trilogy.



Indeed, Darkseid is one of the richer DC villains, and it would be a monumental misstep if the Justice League movie didn’t give him proper room to develop. It’s hard to imagine one film being able to introduce several protagonists, develop a relationship dynamic between them, and still have time to delve into a fascinating villain – but it’s not impossible. The Avengers balanced its heroes well enough, and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki certainly got time to develop and stand out; but this inclusion of Darkseid in Justice League brings up another problem – one directly related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Avengers 2 and Justice League both arrive in 2015, and both films are now strongly rumored to feature villains who may be too similar for the average viewer to distinguish. On the Marvel side, their “Phase Two” initiative is reportedly set to culminate in Avengers 2 with the team facing the cosmic threat of Thanos, the smiling purple villain revealed in the Avengers mid-credits scene. As comic fans will tell you, Thanos (a.k.a., Thanos of Titan) was actually created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, based on “the inspiration” of DC’s New Gods. After coming up with something initially different, Starlin was advised to convert Thanos into more of a Darkseid-esque character, resulting in the stocky, muscled purple conqueror we know today. You see where this bit of history now leads to a bigger issue…



To the untrained moviegoer (read: non-comic geeks), Darkseid and Thanos could pretty much end up looking like the same bad guy; meaning these two major superhero team-up films could get accused of being “the same thing.” Will that stop millions upon millions of people (and billions of box office dollars) from getting funneled into the respective studios’ pockets? Certainly not. Will it spawn endless Internet chatter, arguments, “which one is better” debates, copycat accusations and the like? It’s already happening.

Finally, will spring of 2015 be filled with endless promotional featurettes and specials from both Marvel and DC, telling us why their villain (and film) is unique from the competition’s? We don’t have a crystal ball handy to confirm… but if rumors about each film’s villain turn out to be true… yes. Yes it will.

Do YOU want to see Darkseid in Justice League, or is introducing the villain now (while trying to introduce so many heroes at the same time) a waste of a good villain?

[ed_ification]

I really don't want to see Darkseid.  There are other JLA villains that could work well...  Prometheus, The White Martians, Amazo (which would allow DC to get the jump on Ultron)...  heck, they could go the Kingdom Come route, and use Magog...

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I really don't want to see Darkseid.  There are other JLA villains that could work well...  Prometheus, The White Martians, Amazo (which would allow DC to get the jump on Ultron)...  heck, they could go the Kingdom Come route, and use Magog...

Apparently, that's the consensus on the net at the moment, Not all that thrilled to see DC just following in line

You obviously know more about DC than I do but isn't Darkseid supposed to be the one villain the JL can never seem to get rid of; nearly unbeatable, correct?

DC needs to step away from the "Cosmic" aspect, people have already seen an alien invasion so Staro would be out and Darkseid and Thanos are too similar.

Prometheus would be great since he's pretty much the evil batman, which is terrifying, something that I think the new DC movie verse needs going forward; show the people that you don't need to be a god or cosmic entity to be a super villain.

[ed_ification]

Apparently, that's the consensus on the net at the moment, Not all that thrilled to see DC just following in line

You obviously know more about DC than I do but isn't Darkseid supposed to be the one villain the JL can never seem to get rid of; nearly unbeatable, correct?

DC needs to step away from the "Cosmic" aspect, people have already seen an alien invasion so Staro would be out and Darkseid and Thanos are too similar.

Prometheus would be great since he's pretty much the evil batman, which is terrifying, something that I think the new DC movie verse needs going forward; show the people that you don't need to be a god or cosmic entity to be a super villain.

Darkseid is one of the New Gods - and he's pretty much unkillable, yes.  He gets beaten, but even so, his plans move forward.  If they used Darkseid's henchmen, Kalibak, Granny Goodness, Metron, etc., it would be too similar to Loki and the Chitauri acting as shock troops for Thanos.

Starro is really kind of a silly alien menace, not all that scary.

Amazo is a created android who can mimic the powers of those he comes in contact with.  So, a way to show that all the power means nothing without others to assist you.

Kingdom Come was a great 90s series - great art, and a good story...  Magog is one of the main villains.  Magog is at first a hero of Metropolis, who challenges Superman and the Justice League, and states that their morals allow supervillains to escape and kill far more often than if they were simply taken out.  He leads to a rise of superbeings who care little for the people of Earth...

[TheHobbitofDune]

Darkseid is to Superman as Joker is to Batman. He is one of his arch-nemesis and nobody has fought Superman more than Darkseid has (except for Luthor and Brainiac). It's pretty much all he does... Come up with an evil plot, lure in Superman and Supergirl, beat the ever-living crap out of Superman and Supergirl while they beat the ever-living crap out of him, gets defeated, comes back. Rinse and repeat.

I personally think it would be awesome to have Darkseid as the main villian. Every DC fanboy in the world knows who he is and he has given the JLU a run for their money a couple of times before. Besides, it would be easy to flesh his character out a bit considering how he is Superman's arch nemesis.

Though Prometheus works too, for the reason Kham mentioned.

It would be awesome to see Amazo. I LOVE Amazo. Still, at this point in time, he wouldn't have been converted to the light side yet and we would end up getting an entire movie focused around the JLU getting their butts handed to them by the most OP comic book character ever created.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I'm going to post this here, IDK were else to put it and it doesn't need a thread but it is technically JL related as Man of Steel will pretty much start the DCMU.

Brand new, Man of Steel, poster.


I really like this poster, it's been stated before by Warner that they want to keep the same grounded feeling to their new universe by taking a page from Marvel's book and signing on Chris Nolan to be their overseer for them. Kal knows he's incredible but also frightening to the humans, to make them feel safer he willing wears the handcuffs, I mean from this picture alone I get the feeling the tone of the film has been set in my mind. I see a lot of responsibility and maturity, In my head this looks like right after he first reveals himself to the world and the world wants to know, the Man of Steel has to go explain himself.

Anyway...

[RLYHYPERGUY]

There's also a rumor that John Blake will be Batman in the Justice League movie. I honestly don't like this project at all. I want Nolan's Batman to be a standalone thing, not a shared universe. I like being able to speculate on what Blake would do without the interference of any official canon.

I also had some great ideas on how to continue Nolan's Batman movies, which I would make after I graduate (I'm a Film major). This would put a huge dent in my plans. Oh well, I could always settle with a Nightwing TV show, which would also be awesome. 

Either way, I'm not excited for this Justice League movie at all.

[TheHobbitofDune]

It's not going to be a shared universe. Nolan already stated that his vision of Batman was going to stand alone. What the JL movie is going to bring is a whole new Batman. Makes me wish Nolan never made his version of Batman since everyone is now sick of Batman and also because they'll have to start over from scratch in order to make a new Batman. Ugh. Darn you Nolan.

Also, this had to happen eventually. DC fanboys, like myself, need a Justice League movie. We deserve a Justice League movie. I just wish they would take the time to set it up right with movies for each individual hero. I also wish they had taken the time to make Green Lantern a good movie. This is what the DC fans don't deserve but we get it anyway. Where is the love for us? Ugh.

Also, I really don't like the idea of TV shows for super heroes. Never did.

[RLYHYPERGUY]

It's not going to be a shared universe. Nolan already stated that his vision of Batman was going to stand alone. What the JL movie is going to bring is a whole new Batman. Makes me wish Nolan never made his version of Batman since everyone is now sick of Batman and also because they'll have to start over from scratch in order to make a new Batman. Ugh. Darn you Nolan.

Also, this had to happen eventually. DC fanboys, like myself, need a Justice League movie. We deserve a Justice League movie. I just wish they would take the time to set it up right with movies for each individual hero. I also wish they had taken the time to make Green Lantern a good movie. This is what the DC fans don't deserve but we get it anyway. Where is the love for us? Ugh.

Also, I really don't like the idea of TV shows for super heroes. Never did.

There are still rumors of John Blake being the new Batman. Yes, Nolan still said his universe is stand-alone, but he also never said that he would have a Robin in his movies. Anything could happen, I just hope that a John Blake Batman isn't one of them.

And I agree, Nolan's Batman is both the best and worst thing to happen to DC. Although I enjoy it, personally.

This movie is just being set up really badly. They need to do individual movies first, then they can do a team up. They just want to jump on the same bandwagon as Marvel, unfortunately. I swear, studios have no patience these days.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

If you haven't seen this JL animated film I suggest you do; Justice League: New Frontier

It covers the team forming up and having huge issues with each other and ultimately overcoming their egos to fight together.

That would be something new that I didn't see in the Avengers, of course they bickered but the JL were really stubborn and bad crap wound up happening because of it.

If you can't find the movie the entire plot is covered on the wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League:_The_New_Frontier

[TheHobbitofDune]

True, but I really doubt they'll go in that direction. They better not go in that direction. John Blake would be better off continuing in the path set in stone by Nolan and become Nightwing and have his own stand-alone trilogy. If he jumped ship to Justice League it would be like flipping the bird to all of the comics ever written.

I also did enjoy Nolan's Batman films. A lot. While I still think that Tim Burton's Batman movies were the greatest Batman films of all time, I still enjoyed Nolan's take on the whole thing.

Yep, that's what I don't like. Why must there be a competition? For profit? Ugh. I don't mind waiting a couple more years for this to happen. I've been waiting for it my whole life, so why not? Still, I will watch this no matter what, and if it sucks, oh well, I would rage for a little bit and move on.

@Kham. I haven't seen that, thanks for the link. I have seen the original animated Justice League movie though. Twice actually.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I also did enjoy Nolan's Batman films. A lot. While I still think that Tim Burton's Batman movies were the greatest Batman films of all time, I still enjoyed Nolan's take on the whole thing.



@Kham. I haven't seen that, thanks for the link. I have seen the original animated Justice League movie though. Twice actually.

No problemo.

I would love to see Burton back in the chair for another Batman, his crazy brain really brought the dark feeling of Gotham to life off of the page.

However they portray Metropolis in Man of Steel, Gotham in the next Batman needs to be the EXACT opposite; Utopia and Dystopia.

Also, I'm sure you've heard it because I have but I want to see Bats do more detective stuff.

[RLYHYPERGUY]

True, but I really doubt they'll go in that direction. They better not go in that direction. John Blake would be better off continuing in the path set in stone by Nolan and become Nightwing and have his own stand-alone trilogy. If he jumped ship to Justice League it would be like flipping the bird to all of the comics ever written.

I also did enjoy Nolan's Batman films. A lot. While I still think that Tim Burton's Batman movies were the greatest Batman films of all time, I still enjoyed Nolan's take on the whole thing.

Yep, that's what I don't like. Why must there be a competition? For profit? Ugh. I don't mind waiting a couple more years for this to happen. I've been waiting for it my whole life, so why not? Still, I will watch this no matter what, and if it sucks, oh well, I would rage for a little bit and move on.

@Kham. I haven't seen that, thanks for the link. I have seen the original animated Justice League movie though. Twice actually.

John Blake on his own path is pretty much my idea, except in a Batman Beyond format instead of Nightwing. It would also have absolutely nothing to do with Justice League. If things go well though this will probably not happen for a while, and I might not be able to do it because the film business is tough, but it's still fun to think about.

And yeah, studios are really messed up. They think they know what audiences want, they force directors to listen to them, and then we get movies like Batman and Robin. When will they learn? 

And now that I think about it, a Justice League movie could work without any established stand alone films. It owuld just have to be done very carefully, like that animated movie that Kham mentioned. I think I'll just keep an open mind, and pray that John Blake will be left alone for me to make my own movies about someday.

[ed_ification]

John Blake on his own path is pretty much my idea, except in a Batman Beyond format instead of Nightwing. It would also have absolutely nothing to do with Justice League. If things go well though this will probably not happen for a while, and I might not be able to do it because the film business is tough, but it's still fun to think about.

And yeah, studios are really messed up. They think they know what audiences want, they force directors to listen to them, and then we get movies like Batman and Robin. When will they learn? 

And now that I think about it, a Justice League movie could work without any established stand alone films. It owuld just have to be done very carefully, like that animated movie that Kham mentioned. I think I'll just keep an open mind, and pray that John Blake will be left alone for me to make my own movies about someday.

You could easily have a Justice League flick that started in the middle of things, and then have standalone movies that fill things in...

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

You could easily have a Justice League flick that started in the middle of things, and then have standalone movies that fill things in...

Starting in the middle of the final battle, showing the League getting beat up, cut to Spuerman on the ground with a massive shadow looming over him and then cut to black and title logo, now the story starts.

I feel like as I typed that it's been done before but what you said made me imagine a scene like that.

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I also forgot to include the source: http://screenrant.com/justice-league-movie-villain-rumors/