In Zack Snyder's Justice League's History Lesson, Darkseid suffered a humiliating defeat thousands of years ago, with the Greek God of War, Ares (David Thewis), nearly killing the lord of Apokolips. Although Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), not Darkseid, was Justice League's main antagonist, the way the superheroes executed Darkseid's uncle was a grim reminder of how the dark New God was also humbled by Earth's defenders.
The Snyder Cut expands on the epic conflict that occurred on Earth thousands of years before the events of Zack Snyder's Justice League. Darkseid and his army came to Earth seeking both conquest and the Anti-Life Equation. While the forces of Apokolips were known for enslaving countless helpless planets, Earth offered a powerful resistance to Uxas' invasion: a combination of Atlanteans, the Amazons, human warriors, the Greek gods including Ares and Zeus (Sergei Constance), and even a Green Lantern named Yalan Gur joined forces to repel the armies of Apokolips. As a result, the three Mother Boxes belonging to Darkseid were unable to form the Unity and turn the Earth into a nightmare duplicate of Apokolips. When Darkseid's forces retreated, the Mother Boxes were left behind, and they were split up and kept hidden away by the Atlanteans, the Amazons, and the humans up to the present day when Steppenwolf sought to combine them into the Unity and was stopped by the Justice League.
Darkseid suffered a definitive defeat in the History Lesson and he was fortunate to escape with his life because Ares came incredibly close to killing him. But while the Greek God of War nearly struck the killing blow on Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips was already substantially weakened by Ares' allies. To his credit, Darkseid personally led and fought in the vanguard of his invasion force; he even executed the Green Lantern and nearly took his Power Ring for himself. However, the King of Atlantis and the Greek gods wisely targeted the leader of their enemies and focused their fury on Darkseid. The King of Atlantis overwhelmed Darkseid with his waterborne magic while Artemis shot him with Ares and Zeus weakened the invader with his lightning. This allowed Ares to charge at Darkseid and drive his ax into the dark god's shoulder. Darkseid was so critically injured, he was immediately dragged off the battlefield by his Parademons. The Apokoliptians fled Earth and stayed away for thousands of years until the death of Superman (Henry Cavill) awoke the Mother Boxes and signaled Steppenwolf that it was "safe" to invade Earth again.
While Darkseid's sound defeat was shocking, this wasn't quite the same dark god that the Justice League came face-to-face with at the end of the Snyder Cut. When she narrated the History Lesson, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) called him "Darkseid" but he wouldn't actually take that name until after his failed invasion of Earth. When he first attacked our world, the Lord of Apokolips was still known by his prior name, Uxas. Further, Uxas was less powerful than the Darkseid of today. Uxas obviously had superhuman strength but he fought Earth's defenders face-to-face with a war staff. Uxas didn't yet possess Darkseid's greatest weapon: the Omega Effect, twin crimson beams that blast from his eyes that can disintegrate an enemy or send them across time and space.
Darkseid was meant to be the main villain in Zack Snyder's plan for Justice League 2 and 3. The Snyder Cut offered a glimpse of the director's intended Knightmare future where Darkseid conquered Earth and unlocked the Anti-Life Equation, which was buried in our planet. Darkseid then used the Equation to corrupt and control Superman. This is another difference between Darkseid and his younger self, Uxas - Today, Darkseid lets others fight in his name and favors ultimate weapons like the Omega Effect and Anti-Life.
Unless Zack Snyder is allowed to make more Justice League movies, fans will just have to imagine Darkseid fighting Superman, Batman (Ben Affleck), and the other heroes, as well as debate what kind of humiliating defeat Darkseid would suffer at the hands of the superheroes in Zack Snyder's Justice League 2. However, it's also too bad that Ares didn't end the threat of Darkseid thousands of years ago because, like a different god in another universe, he didn't aim for the head.
