Jordan Iacobucci has been an avid reader and movie fan since childhood. Jordan is known among his friends as the Marvel and Star Wars nerd, and even wrote a thirty-page college dissertation about Spider-Man! He has been a staff writer at both Screen Rant and CBR, where he enjoys sharing his love for pop culture with the world.
James Gunn just revealed that the DCU most likely won't be using Darkseid as its main villain — and Zack Snyder is to blame. Although the season finale of Peacemaker hinted at Darkseid's potential appearance in future DCU projects, Gunn's recent comments suggest that he won't play the major role that he did in Zack Snyder's now-defunct DC Extended Universe, and for good reason.
In a recent interview with a group of online theorists, including New Rockstars and ScreenCrush (via Screen Rant), Gunn opened up about the future of the DCU. When asked about the Salvation storyline introduced at the end of Peacemaker Season 2, Gunn was hesitant to confirm any plans to set up Darkseid as the "Thanos-level" villain of the DCU. In his response, Gunn surprisingly complimented his predecessor, Zack Snyder, for doing too good a job with the character, thereby leaving him hesitant to try a different adaptation. Check out Gunn's full comments below:
Using Darkseid as the big bad now is not necessarily the thing... because for a lot of reasons. Zack [Snyder] did it so cool in his way, and because of Thanos and Marvel.
After Peacemaker's finale, most fans were quick to theorize that Gunn planned to use Salvation, a seemingly barren alternate universe claimed by A.R.G.U.S. to use as a metahuman prison, as the first step toward introducing Darkseid in the DCU. In the comics, Salvation is eventually revealed to be a training ground for Darkseid's minions, leading up to the Final Crisis storyline. This interview, however, suggests that Gunn doesn't plan to use Darkseid as the "big bad" of the DCU, primarily because Zack Snyder did such a good job with the character in the DC Extended Universe.
Darkseid is the overarching villain in the DCEU, first appearing in 2017's Justice League and again in Zack Snyder's version of the film. Although Steppenwolf is the main antagonist of Justice League, the film makes it clear that Darkseid is the one pulling the strings. Had Snyder's original plans come to fruition, future Justice League films would have featured Darkseid as the main threat. With less than a decade having passed since Snyder's version of the character made his debut, it makes sense that Gunn wouldn't want to rehash Darkseid for his franchise, even if recent events in the DCU seem to suggest otherwise.
Could Darkseid Still Appear in the DCU?
Image via Warner BrosFans need to note that James Gunn didn't completely rule out using Darkseid in future DCU projects, merely that the villain would most likely not be the "big bad." At another point in the same interview, Gunn joked about needing to be more careful about what he says, knowing that every comment he makes could be taken out of context. Such could easily be the case with his comments about Darkseid.
Taking his words at face value, it seems safe to conclude that the current DCU plan does not include Darkseid as its main villain. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility of Darkseid becoming the overarching villain at some point in the future. Gunn is correct in his statement that it's simply too soon to reboot this character. It was only five years ago that fans saw Darkseid in Zack Snyder's Justice League, where he is given one of the most epic depictions of any DC character.
Moreover, it was only a few years before that when the world saw Thanos, a very similar character who shares a co-creator with Darkseid, wreak havoc on the MCU. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that James Gunn and DC Studios would want to hold off on using Darkseid as a main antagonist, at least for a few years. But, when enough time has passed, it wouldn't be out of the question for the iconic villain to step in as an overarching antagonist for later chapters of the DCU.
Despite his reluctance to return to the character of Darkseid so soon after his appearance in the DCEU, James Gunn seemed especially excited about the prospect of introducing the New Gods. At a later point in the interview, Gunn confirmed plans to explore these characters in future DCU projects, including a Mister Miracle television series, the pilot of which he revealed is already written and sitting on his desk. If the DCU plans on exploring the New Gods, it is only a matter of time before Darkseid factors into the story in a significant way. While he may not be the first "big bad" of the franchise, Darkseid will inevitably appear in the DCU.
While this would mean overwriting Zack Snyder's version of the character, it would give the iconic villain more time to shine after his story had come to an abrupt ending in the DCEU. Fans shouldn't lose hope of seeing Darkseid on the big screen again, even if it takes some time before James Gunn and DC Studios find a new way to represent the character that both does justice to his previous incarnations and sets the stage for new adventures in the future of the DCU.
Both Zack Snyder and James Gunn's contributions to DC's movies and television are streaming on HBO Max.
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