Director Zack Snyder has revealed that his version of Justice League would have included even more comic book villains - including Darkseid's Master Torturer, Desaad. Named in reference to the Marquis de Sade, the villainous character was created by Jack Kirby and debuted in Forever People #2. He was first seen as an ally of Drax, the original heir to Apokolips. It was quickly revealed, however, that he was actually in league with the throne's second-in-line, Prince Uxas. With Desaad's assistance, Drax was presumably killed and Uxas was the one to master the Omega Force, ultimately taking the god-name Darkseid. Desaad has remained a sufficiently sadistic and cowardly presence in the comics ever since.
Though Snyder was initially to follow up Man of Steel and Batman v Superman with the officially titled team-up movie, he ultimately had to step down midway into production due to tragic circumstances. Directorial duties then passed to Joss Whedon (The Avengers), who helmed extensive reshoots and restructured the plot. Following the average critical reception and underwhelming box office performance, more and more fans emerged in campaigning to see Snyder's original vision released. Debate rages as to how much of that vision was actually completed. Over time, however, more and more details have emerged, revealing what said footage would have featured, including an expanded role for Cyborg and a time-traveling Barry Allen. As well as a look at Darkseid's history.
Posting on Twitter, Jibin Mathew posted a screenshot that showed Snyder responding to him on social media. The self-proclaimed DC fan had asked him a question pertaining to the trailer for Justice League, in which a character could be heard uttering the line, "No protectors here. No Lanterns, no Kryptonian." Mathew asked whether the speaker of said line was actually Darkseid himself. Snyder answered the question, replying that it was, in actual fact, Steppenwolf. And that he was reporting to Desaad. Check out the full tweet below:
It's easy to see why fans might have assumed it was Darkseid himself delivering the line. Although Ray Porter, who was cast to play the villain, has thus far honored his NDA, numerous sources have revealed that he did complete motion capture, face capture, and ADR for the role of Darkseid. As such, the film was sigificantlyfar enough along for pieces of his recorded dialogue to be used in such promotional materials as the trailers. Porter also recently teased his 'Darkseid Voice' in a video supporting Project Comic Con, a campaign which intends to vocalize their desire to see Snyder's original vision released and SDCC this Summer. As well as attempting to raise money for suicide prevention charities.
Obviously, Desaad would have been taking the report on behalf of Darkseid. As such, the moment would have served as a decent further introduction to the hierarchy that exists on Apokolips, the fictional world within the world of DC and which is ruled over by the intergalactic tyrant. Whether or not we would have seen Desaad pass along the report to Darkseid or whether it was merely setting up a string of villains for Superman and co to deal with before getting to their ultimate nemesis himself be have to remain the subject of speculation. Whatever the case, though, this new detail is sure to spur on those eager to see the 'Snyder Cut' released and make them more passionate than ever to see the originally conceived version of Justice League.
Source: Jibin Mathew/Twitter
