Zack Snyder has been one of the most visionary minds in the DC Universe over the past half-decade, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been without his missteps. What was hyped up to become the most iconic DC film of all time, ‘The Justice League’, released just two weeks ago to middling reviews and even worse box office numbers. Despite an A-List cast that was headlined by Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot, the film struggled to find common ground with critics and fans around the world. One of the most re-occurring problems that viewers had with the film was the lackluster impact of the villain, Steppenwolf. As rumors would have it, there was very nearly a different lead villain in the film — Desaad.
In an anonymous ‘Ask Me Anything’ thread, posted on the popular ‘front page of the internet, an employee who worked on the ‘Justice League’ revealed that the writers very nearly went through with having the film revolve around Desaad, a crony to the infamous Darkseid. The anonymous employee worked under the name ‘LDN_Film’ and was quoted as saying, “Desaad was in there originally, I’m not sure how far that got though. He looked grim reapery, skull like with a big cloak. Never saw Darkseid.”
The revelation that Snyder nearly went with another major villain probably isn’t a shock to most comic book fans. After all, comic book adaptations are run by a team of writers who all want to go a certain direction with their vision. While Ciaran Hands ultimately won over the role of Steppenwolf, and thus the leading antagonist role in the film, we can’t help but wonder how much would have changed if Snyder and co went in a different direction with the film’s antagonists.
In any event, the problems with ‘Justice League’ were far and wide and the entire extended universe is in desperate need of saving. Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Ezra Miller as The Flash were both high-marks for the film and now we are expecting DC to lean heavily on those two characters going forward into the future. With rumors that Ben Affleck is looking for a way out of the franchise, we might be seeing another major shake-up in the DCEU. For now, all we can do is wait and hope that the suits behind the project find their rhythm here soon so that Marvel can have real competition.
