It looks like one of the most iconic DC villains is coming to James Gunn’s DCU and has even been cast!
As James Gunn’s new vision of the DCU movies begins, the buzz is big on where it’s going. Gunn has indicated he’s trying to avoid the mistakes of the MCU by promising too much at once and not the same overall arcs.
Fans still expect some sort of massive villain to fight and to no surprise, Darkseid is the most common name mentioned. In an interview with Comic Book Movie, Tom King revealed that his upcoming animated Mister Miracle show will use the lord of Apokolips, and an actor has been cast!
"We are in the middle of making this absolutely wonderful show as good as it possibly can be. I'm the showrunner. I am writing every single episode. I can confirm that Mister Miracle is a DCU show that has huge implications for the DCU at large. We are doing it right. Mitch is a producer on it and a designer. We got to cast Darkseid. And we got to cast Orion. Obviously, Scott and Barda were the big ones. [We're] finding the right people, finding the right designs and finding the way to tell this story."
The series adapts King’s own comic, which he wrote with Mitch Gerads’ artwork. Created by the legendary Jack Kirby, Scott Free was born the son of the noble Highfather, leader of New Genesis. As part of a truce, Scott was traded with Orion, the son of the evil Darkseid, ruler of the dystopian world Apokolips. Scott would eventually escape the world, coming to Earth and making a career as a superhero and master escape artist.
Obviously, the idea of Darkseid coming into the DCU is a big deal, especially given Gunn’s earlier statements that actors who voiced roles in the animated shows would likely play them in live-action. For Darkseid, fans naturally leap to the idea that this monster will be the Big Bad of the DCU.
While Darkseid was also created by Kirby, it wasn’t until the 1980s that the character became a force of true evil in DC Comics. That was boosted by him being the key villain of the later animated Superfriends series. He also popped up in the DCAU, voiced by Michael Ironside.
This imposing figure of god-like power, who rules with an iron fist, is also obsessed with finding the all-powerful Anti-Life Equation that can allow him to rule the universe or destroy it. Zack Snyder’s vision for his DC Extended Universe films was to have Darkseid as the central villain, but we all know how that ended up.
Gunn has previously claimed he wasn’t that interested in using Darkseid, likely thinking he’s just too obvious a character and too close in the minds of the public to Thanos. However, it’s hard to imagine Darkseid not making some sort of appearance, if not a main villain, then a secondary threat observing events.
The fact that the role has already been cast shows Darkseid will be a prominent figure in some fashion. If they’re serious about having the same actor in live-action, it’s likely some sort of big name or at least someone who can craft that imposing voice. We have to wait to see, but the knowledge of Darkseid coming to the new DCU alone has fans excited.