Zack Snyder's Justice League will see the introduction of several iconic New Gods in the DCEU. The Justice League has a wide range of villains they have fought in the comics for several decades. But for their cinematic take, the DC icons will get to go up against the forces of Apokolips. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice revealed early on that Darkseid and his world would be a future threat, with Bruce literally having visions of Earth's fate. Not only would Darkseid rule the Earth, but Superman would also be under his control. This became known as the Knightmare timeline where Batman and a handful of remaining warriors would go up against Apokolips.
Originally, Darkseid and various New Gods would have been seen in November 2017 when Justice League was officially going to come out. But after Zack Snyder had to step away towards the end of production after a tragic family loss, Warner Bros., along with Joss Whedon, retooled the film to something completely different. Almost all of Snyder's original plans were excluded as the studio didn't agree with his tone or vision. Darkseid was nowhere to be seen, only referenced, and audience members got a very different Steppenwolf instead.
But the Snyder Cut will give the New Gods their long-awaited due as this will become their cinematic debut. There may be even more New Gods set to appear in Justice League as surprises - but for now, here's every confirmed New God so far.
Darkseid
The most well-known New God is the Lord of Apokolips himself, Uxas - a.k.a. the iconic DC villain Darkseid. In the 2017 cut, Darkseid was never in the 2-hour version of Justice League - his name was referenced once, and that was the entirety of the film's inclusion of him. What has already been established with the DCEU version of Darkseid is that he has attempted to conquer Earth before. When he was still known as Uxas, he tried to find the Anti-Life-Equation that would give him the ultimate control of anything that lives in the universe. But Earth fought back, with Atlanteans, Amazons, Green Lanterns, and more uniting to stop Uxas's invasion, which will be heavily explored in the History Lesson flashback. Ray Porter will be the first actor to ever play Darkseid in live-action, as he both voiced the character and did the motion capture for him as well.
Steppenwolf
While Steppenwolf was in the theatrical cut, the Justice League Snyder Cut will have a different take on the New God. Despite being an underling of Darkseid, Steppenwolf, played by Ciarán Hinds, is the main antagonist of the film. Though Darkseid is his master, Steppenwolf is the villain's uncle, who is trying to redeem himself to his nephew. The 2017 movie didn't entirely explore this dynamic, and gave Steppenwolf a different design, as Warner Bros. deemed the original too scary to be on screen. Snyder has described Darkseid and Steppenwolf's relationship as being very complicated, thus the latter's dedication in finding the Mother Boxes and complete the original mission.
Desaad
Another member of Darkseid's Elite that will be seen in the Snyder Cut is Desaad, portrayed by Peter Guinness who, similarly to Porter's Darkseid, voiced and performed motion capture for the character. In the DCEU interpretation of him, he's one of the older New Gods as well as an Apokoliptian priest. But just like with Darkseid, he was erased from the theatrical cut in 2017. Desaad's comic history is a very dark one as he at a young age was convinced to come over to the dark side and has served the Lord ever since. For the longest time, in most versions of him, Desaad has been Apokolips's master torturer. This take on Desaad will be more accurate than Smallville's Desaad, played by Steve Byers, who looked as human as one possibly could.
Granny Goodness
Another famous character that is making their cinematic debut was one that hadn't been previously announced to show up in the Snyder Cut: Granny Goodness. She is seen for only a few seconds in one of the latest Justice League trailers, standing next to Darkseid and Desaad. In the comics, Granny was intended to be one of Darkseid's ultimate soldiers, but she ended up impressing the super-villain so much that he gave her a higher rank. Granny's methods to train new warriors involve a lot of brainwashing as well as torture. One of her other responsibilities is leading the Female Furies as well as running orphanages where she takes abandoned children to become future fighters for Apokolips.
This would be the second live-action version of Granny Goodness after Christine Willes played her on Smallville in the final season. So far it has yet to be clarified who is playing Granny Goodness in the Snyder Cut or if she has a big storyline in the film. Given that Steppenwolf is the most featured New God in Justice League, it's possible that she only has a very small role. With several iconic members like these showing up in the Snyder Cut, it wouldn't be a shock if there are cameos of other characters like Gordon Godfrey or characters that could be big players in DuVernay's New Gods.
The New Gods have existed in DC Comics since the 1970s and given their big mythology, it's exciting to see them get their live-action treatment. While a Justice League 2 is, as of right now, not in the cards, should a follow-up happen, it'd give the villains even more exposure. If a sequel doesn't happen, at least those characters will be explored in New Gods, even if it's not necessarily the same versions as seen in the Snyder Cut. But until then, fans can look forward to getting a big taste of Darkseid and Apokolips in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
