Darkseid is coming! Throughout the running time of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, numerous hints at the arrival of arguably one of the DC Universe’s most terrifying villains are dropped. From Parademons appearing in Batman’s “Knightmare” to the Darkseid’s symbol scorched into the ground, to the deleted scene recently released of Lex Luthor encountering a strange alien visitor, the signs all point to the ruler of Apokolips being the big bad of the DC Cinematic Universe. We thought now would be the perfect time to jump into the history of Darkseid in the comics, and the battles he’s had with the Justice League in the past.  

Apokolips Rising

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Image via DC Comics

Darkseid originally appeared in the strange comic titled, “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen,” in issue #137. ‘Seid was created by the man, the myth, the legend Jack Kirby presenting a dark god who ruled a fiery world with an iron fist. On the world of Apokolips, the people were either enslaved and loved their leader Darkseid, or were sent to their torturous ends. Aside from just the man himself, Apokolips has something of a ruling class populated by Darkseid’s family and right hand men. Kalibak is the feral son of Darkseid with a strength and temper to match that of Superman’s, whom he usually finds himself physically pitted against. In charge of brainwashing and producing new occupants of the “slave pits” is Granny Goodness, a terrifying mother figure who cracks the whip on Apokolips harder than anyone. She’s joined by “the Furies,” three destructive ladies who all have varying abilities. Darkseid even has a guy whose job it is to specifically focus on torturing people in the form of Desaad. It’s a sunny world for sure!

All these characters make up the “dark gods” of Apokolips, but the planet finds itself forever linked with its polar opposite in the form of New Genesis. Genesis is a world ruled by the “New Gods,” higher beings that skew more toward the altruistic side of the table. Think Asgard with a different set of faces. Ruled by Highfather, this world is filled with several heroes that are fixtures of the Justice League including Orion, Mister Miracle, and Big Barda to name a few. Mister Miracle and Orion were actually incorporated into a pact between Apokolips and New Genesis wherein Orion was raised by Highfather and Mister Miracle was raised by Darkseid. Three guesses on who got the shorter end of the stick on this deal! The two planets, despite the peace treaty, have been warring with one another for their entire history, and sometimes that war happens to spill onto earth.

A League of His Own

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Image via DC Comics

Darkseid has a long history as a Justice League villain, and a villain to nearly every hero in the DC Universe. Some antagonists in the comic world are firmly set in one camp, like the Joker with Batman or Captain Cold with the Flash, but Darkseid is one of those special villains who can legitimately make the jump to be a regular antagonist to most of the heroes and not really miss a beat in the process. It also helps that he has the power set to be a threat to any or all of them at any given time, as Darkseid’s list of powers is insanely long. Aside from having strength that rivals and possibly surpasses Superman’s, he also has his signature Omega Beams that can either completely decimate or teleport their targets. Speaking of the big blue boyscout, if you had to argue who Darkseid tangled with the most, it would be Clark. To be honest, it works best between these two, as one is the ultimate representation of good and the other is that of evil, but the Justice League has of course been brought in to tangle with the denizens of Apokolips from time to time.

The times that the forces of Apokolips and the Justice League have clashed are too numerous to count. Darkseid has ruled the Earth in a future wasteland in the arc, “Rock of Ages,” he’s become an omnipotent force infecting each member of the human race in “Final Crisis,” he’s even helped to reboot the DC Universe in the first Justice League story arc of the “New 52” era in “Justice League: War.” Usually, the League is attempting to stop Darkseid from achieving his ultimate goal of creating something called, “The Anti-Life Equation.” It’s never quite explained what this is in the comics, but it essentially takes away the wills and spirits of every living thing in the universe, placing them under Darkseid’s control. ‘Seid is looking to turn every world into Apokolips and it brings him to blows with the Justice League again and again.

Lights! Camera! Anti-Life!

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Image via Warner Bros.

So how will Darkseid be brought to the silver screen in this new DC Cinematic Universe? Well if you go by the recently released deleted scene from Dawn of Justice, you can clearly see a few denizens of Apokolips bright as day. Parademons of course have always been up to interpretation, and their appearance has changed more times that one can count, but their visuals in the film screamed Darkseid without a doubt. The “Omega Symbol” is something far more used in the recent “New 52” interpretation of Darkseid, stamped on his person like a badge of honor. With this in mind, we can expect a more modernized take on the lord of Apokolips while still harkening back to his original design. To be fair, many will compare Darkseid to Marvel’s Thanos, as their characters and appearance are fairly close to one another, but Darkseid was the first and is definitely unique among the villains of comic book lore.

In the deleted scene shown by Warner Bros to general audiences from Batman v Superman, Lex Luthor comes into contact with a strange creature that looks almost “Lovecraftian.” Considering his use of what appears to be “Motherboxes” -- think iPhones for Apokolips -- it’s clear he is of Apokolips’ decent. There’s been some speculation as to who this horned figure is, with two clear candidates at the head of the pack. This is either Steppenwolf, a general within Darkseid’s army who focuses more on hunting and the thrill of the chase than anything else, or it’s Yuga Kahn. Kahn happens to be the father of Darkseid and this would certainly make the most sense, as Lex was viewing the history of the universe within the Kryptonian craft. Who better to walk him through Darkseid’s history than dear old dad?

With Darkseid’s approach imminent, it will be interesting to see how the grey behemoth is brought to life to threaten Ben Affleck’s Batman, Gal Galdot’s Wonder Woman, and Henry Cavill’s Superman, as well as the rest of the Justice League in the next movies.

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Image via DC Comics