Steppenwolf-Justice-League-Face-Model

Reportedly, the family relationship between ‘Justice League’ bad guy Steppenwolf and Darkseid will be altered in the movie.  In the comics, Darkseid is the nephew of Steppenwolf, despite being his ruler.  Now it appears that in the film, the roles will be reversed and that Steppenwolf will instead be Darkseid’s nephew, which might make more sense to the uninitiated.  The idea of an uncle taking orders from his nephew might seem odd and require too much explanation.

According to Geek Magazine:

“In Justice League, Batman and Wonder Woman, following Superman’s death in battling Doomsday, is intent on bringing together a team to take on Steppenwolf. This new menace is the nephew to Darkseid of Apokolips (presumably the big bad of the second JL adventure). Steppenwolf is on Earth to retrieve three Mother Boxes, one of which is now a part of Cyborg.”

It is possible that this was a mistake, but if not, this isn’t a major change, as their interaction will likely be the same as it is in the comics, with Darkseid ruling Apokolips and Steppenwolf as one of his generals.

It was already a major surprise when it was announced that the Justice League would assemble in the movie to battle Steppenwolf instead of Darkseid, since in the 2011 comic book ‘Justice League’ #1, the team was brought together when Darkseid and his Parademons invaded Earth.  The Parademons appeared during Batman’s dream sequence in ‘Batman V Superman’, which many assumed meant that Darkseid was on his way.  And he is still likely to be, just in a future installment of the DC Extended Universe.

Both Darkseid and Steppenwolf were created by comic legend Jack Kirby in the early 1970s and have grown into among the greatest threats to the DC Universe.  Ciarán Hinds portrays Steppenwolf in the movie.

Directed by Zack Snyder (and then re-directed by Joss Whedon), ‘Justice League’ stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot, Ciarán Hinds, Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa, with Amy Adams, Billy Crudup, Amber Heard, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Joe Morton, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons and Robin Wright.  ‘Justice League’ assembles in theaters on November 17, 2017.