More than likely, we'll see him, but I was thinking, he may not need to make an appearance at all, just hinted at. They could have Steppenwolf be a true baddie and alludes to Darkseid's coming with his last breath (I'm pretty sure they'll be a last breath for him)
Apparently, Darkseid DID make an appearance - in Snyder's cut of JL.
Earlier this week, on April 9th 2019, a fan podcast site called The Film Exiles investigated all the comments Snyder carefully left behind on social media e.g. filming every stroryboard he draws on camera, including Darkseid terraforming the Earth into the wasteland we saw in the Knightmare scene in BvS, and claimed actor Ray Porter played the villain. Check out the article in the link below.
Source: https://theexilesnetwork.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/ray-porter-was-cast-as-darkseid-in-zack-snyders-justice-league/
If you think this is just hearsay, Porter himself went on Twitter to say this about the news on the same day:
Quote from: Ray Porter
I signed an agreement. I must honor it. This has been a day of days because of you. I am very grateful and humbled by the things I have read. I am unable to confirm anything but my immense gratitude.
https://twitter.com/Ray__Porter/status/1115808869777674242
Weakest. Denial. Ever.
I thought denials were supposed to like "Wow, they said that? Hehehe, I have NO IDEA where these rumors get started. But man, that's WILD!"
Quote from: Ray Porter
Just over here honoring the NDA
Source: https://twitter.com/Ray__Porter/status/1115767687676813312
Warner Butchers...just release the f***ing Snyder cut and show some respect for the cast, crew and fans, you soulless corporation.
I was going to make another thread, but it's better to post this here because it's relevant to Darkseid. Another fact I discovered is Ares made an appearance in JL too. We just didn't know it.
He appears in Diana's narration of Steppenwolf's failed conquest of the galaxy; specifically, this shot where he takes a swing at Steppenwolf himself. No pun intended.
(https://i.imgur.com/Mz3hvcT.gif)
Here below is a screenshot from a DC fan's Instagram account, which not only contains concept art that resembles the character in that GIF above, but the actor who played him - Nick McKinless - writing a comment to confirm that he wasn't even credited for his appearance in the movie. But what's telling is, he says they shot a whole action sequence with Darkseid. This leads to suspicion the war scene over the Mother Boxes was completely reshot to put in Steppenwolf instead. This goes to show Warner Butchers' approach to these non-disclosure agreements have been incredibly inconsistent, if they intend to hide Snyder's cut of the film from the public.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3_HEsGWAAABOXm.jpg:large)
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvoTqUXAleh/
Plus, if you go take another look at the closing credits of the movie, you will see David Thewlis getting credit for playing Ares, despite not appearing anywhere in the film. Thewlis, as you will remember, already played the villain in the solo Wonder Woman movie.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3_TnjHW0AIStIE.png)
One thing is certain: whatever else Ares had to do with Darkseid in Snyder's intentions for the movie remains unknown.
EDIT: Scratch that last sentence. McKinless's comment, which was dated back less than a week before it was revealed that Ray Porter's role as Darkseid got cut from the movie, supports this Screen Rant rumour that Darkseid was meant to fight Ares in the war scene. The screenshot of the headline was shown in that Instagram fan account too, but I didn't see it somehow.
https://screenrant.com/justice-league-zack-snyder-darkseid-invasion-ares/
To celebrate Father's Day in the US, Snyder logged on Vero once again, and uploaded this black and white picture of Darkseid from his cut.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9ORMhQXUAA1izM?format=jpg&name=small)
At a glance, it appears the reshoots took portions of Darkseid's body to create Steppenwolf, who was completely redesigned from his cameo appearance in the BvS Ultimate Edition. And judging by the background in this picture, this supports Nick McKinless's comments about Ares fighting Darkseid in that History Lesson scene.
But I bet somebody will still doubt the Snyder cut actually exists.
Ray Porter teased his Darkseid voice in support of the Snyder cut...
https://twitter.com/screenrant/status/1141429895421136898
...and he'll be at this year's Comic Con to support the movement. I got to say, for a guy who was cast as the evil dictator, he's appears to be quite humble. ;)
https://screenrant.com/justice-league-zack-snyder-cut-ray-porter-darkseid-voice
Snyder uploaded another image of young Darkseid, giving us a closer look.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-kYFrjXkAAu6P9?format=jpg&name=large)
Somebody on the 'net compared that image to this screenshot of Steppenwolf in action.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-kYKUoW4AA3IQ9?format=jpg&name=large)
Yet another example how Darkseid was completely replaced in that History Lesson scene.
The more we find out about all these changes, the more I lament the lack of a Snyder cut.
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 4 Jul 2019, 16:41
The more we find out about all these changes, the more I lament the lack of a Snyder cut.
For me, the more find out about these changes, the more I despise Warner Butchers, as well as I wish I could kick myself so hard for ever getting duped by their lies in the first place.
But if there is any consolation, Snyder is encouraging the fans to keep on fighting for the cut on Vero.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9O3mtiUcAEmE3k.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9O3nnpU8AETyOs.jpg)
Source: https://twitter.com/nexuspong/status/1140457025639342080
Snyder has spoiled the ending of his cut by sharing a screenshot of how Steppenwolf was defeated, and revealing how it involved Darkseid.
https://twitter.com/RTSnyderCut/status/1152583669191729154
https://twitter.com/RTSnyderCut/status/1152591178073870337
Meanwhile, photographer Clay Enos - who has worked on a lot of Snyder's movies, including JL - tweeted Snyder's Vero with the hashtag out of support.
https://twitter.com/ClayEnos/status/1152638222268358657
What an infuriating and depressing state of affairs.
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 4 Jul 2019, 16:41
The more we find out about all these changes, the more I lament the lack of a Snyder cut.
I'm revisiting this again, because all I want to say is I fear Warner Butchers will try to play down the fans' efforts for supporting the release of the Snyder cut as a nothing but a "fringe minority cult". I've seen it reported already in some clickbait outlets, the worst being a tweet from that trash heap SyFy. Despite linking an interview to a couple of Snyder cut organisers over the weekend at Comic Con, the official Twitter page still said the cut doesn't exist and shouldn't exist. How pathetic and childish can you get?
But it's still not any more despicable than Warner trying to sweep the entire ordeal under the carpet. It has come to a point where one can only ask how can they support a company with such bad corporate behaviour.
Meanwhile, Nick McKinless went to Instagram again to post this message on someone's this fan art. I like how his use of the hashtag #injusticeleague can be referred to Ares among the villains, and how the film, cast and crew and fans got screwed over. Irony.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EAGXraNXYAEKf_7?format=jpg&name=large)
The Film Exiles are now claiming that Darkseid's assistant Desaad was in the Snyder cut, and he was played by British actor Peter Guinness.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/theexilesnetwork.wordpress.com/2019/08/25/peter-guinness-was-desaad-in-the-snyder-cut/amp/%3f__twitter_impression=true
^Darkseid himself has corroborated the news about Peter Guiness as Desaad.
Quote from: Ray Porter
A brilliant actor and a genuinely kind person.
https://twitter.com/Ray__Porter/status/1165736756173361152
To think that key characters of the New Gods mythos were replaced with a generic Russian family...what a downgrade.
It's funny how Whedon made very few bad decisions with the first Avengers film... and made very few good ones with Justice League.
Actually, it's not funny at all, it's a tragedy. A tragedy.
It's a tragedy.
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Mon, 26 Aug 2019, 19:24
It's funny how Whedon made very few bad decisions with the first Avengers film... and made very few good ones with Justice League.
Actually, it's not funny at all, it's a tragedy. A tragedy.
It's a tragedy.
I have no love for Whedon nowadays. I think he's a Valley girl-speaking, unfunny dickhead who has proven himself to be a one-trick pony. Between the two Avengers movies he did, only the first one is good, in my opinion. Sometimes I wonder if Kevin Feige had a far greater control on the first one than we realise.
But let's not kid ourselves, he was only
one out of many culprits behind the JL sabotage. The fact is he was hired by Warner Butchers to completely change Snyder's movie into something else, and most insulting of all, they still slapped Snyder's name on the director's credit. I thought the Director's Guild or whatever would've prevented this from happening, but it's quite clear they didn't. It seems Hollywood cares even less about directors and screenwriters' rights than ever before. Say what you will about SII and Richard Donner, but at least back then they had the professional courtesy to give Donner the chance to decide if he still wanted his name associated with the Lester version.
https://youtu.be/GQadrGzAr6M?t=440
As time has gone by and the more we find out about these details and characters removed from Snyder's vision, I can't help but feel the reshoots were organised as a write-off. Sure, such a statement would sound ludicrous under normal circumstances, but Warner's conduct has been reprehensible and unprofessional. The biggest slap in the face is they still won't release a (near) completed cut of the movie. But they hope people like me will look forward to loosely connected movies, reboots and cash grabs that use the name of IPs in a pretentious way to "elevate" the comic book genre? I'm quite sure the masses will eat it right up like the hive mind they are, but for me, I say:
(https://i.giphy.com/media/dZQduBLF6LPGc9io3M/source.gif)
Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 12:25The fact is he was hired by Warner Butchers to completely change Snyder's movie into something else, and most insulting of all, they still slapped Snyder's name on the director's credit. I thought the Director's Guild or whatever would've prevented this from happening, but it's quite clear they didn't. It seems Hollywood cares even less about directors and screenwriters' rights than ever before.
Especially in light of your source below, I reserve the right to be wrong. But I always thought that something like this would require the original director to file some sort of complaint or something before the DGA could get involved.
Assuming I'm right (and I may not be), I honestly believe Snyder had a pretty bad taste in his mouth from his Twitter experience, his WB experience, his family's tragedy and all that. A p!ssing contest over who gets director's credit for the film may have been the furthest thing from his mind. Taking his name off the movie might've created other problems for him as well.
Bottom line, I don't give a flaming fart who gets credit for JL, that is by no means a Snyder film as far as I'm concerned. And I get the idea he would probably agree with that.
Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 12:25Say what you will about SII and Richard Donner, but at least back then they had the professional courtesy to give Donner the chance to decide if he still wanted his name associated with the Lester version.
https://youtu.be/GQadrGzAr6M?t=440
Huh. Never knew that. I never got the impression that the Salkinds would show that type of professional courtesy, whether the DGA mandates it or not. To be clear, I'm not anti-Salkind. I believe that Superman fans owe them an immeasurable debt of gratitude. But let's face it, they were a little bit shysters.
Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 12:25As time has gone by and the more we find out about these details and characters removed from Snyder's vision, I can't help but feel the reshoots were organised as a write-off. Sure, such a statement would sound ludicrous under normal circumstances, but Warner's conduct has been reprehensible and unprofessional.
I think the fix was in after a certain point. Right or wrong, I think WB decided the movie was a moneypit so expensive reshoots which would guarantee that the film tanks at the box office could have been considered a face-saving measure. It gives them the ability to say "Hey, the reshoots we did sent the budget through the roof,
NOBODY can come back from that!"
As ever, Hollywood is all about egos and protecting the right people's egos. The more that silly stuff like this comes along, the more I think ego is even more important than profit. I don't think profit is even in the top five most important things in Hollywood. And #1 without question is ego.
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 21:09
Assuming I'm right (and I may not be), I honestly believe Snyder had a pretty bad taste in his mouth from his Twitter experience, his WB experience, his family's tragedy and all that. A p!ssing contest over who gets director's credit for the film may have been the furthest thing from his mind. Taking his name off the movie might've created other problems for him as well.
Bottom line, I don't give a flaming fart who gets credit for JL, that is by no means a Snyder film as far as I'm concerned. And I get the idea he would probably agree with that.
I believe it's a guarantee that Snyder would agree with that, now that he has gone on the record several times saying he never watched the reshot version of the movie. Among all the scenes he shared on Vero, his latest post about Steppenwolf's defeat in his cut is yet another example that the movie released in theaters wasn't his.
Under the circumstances Snyder had been dealing with, he had every right to prioritise himself and his family over the movie. It's very likely he thought Warner would take care and polish off the rest come release date. Instead, we get the opposite.
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 21:09
I think the fix was in after a certain point. Right or wrong, I think WB decided the movie was a moneypit so expensive reshoots which would guarantee that the film tanks at the box office could have been considered a face-saving measure. It gives them the ability to say "Hey, the reshoots we did sent the budget through the roof, NOBODY can come back from that!"
And this is exactly why I say it was insulting for slapping the man's name for directing that completely reshot movie. Not only did they appear to write JL off, they decided to throw Snyder under the bus and make him the scapegoat for the movie's box office failure. In my mind, that makes them complicit in the pathetic clickbait media's attempts to slander him, and it only enables their hyperbolic condemnation of the DCEU. Yes, as you may have implied before, ghouls in the media and Internet would've reveled if his name was taken off the movie. But let's face it, these scumbags were going to hate JL in whatever shape or form. These were the same pieces of sh*t that wrote slanderous articles how the Amazon costumes were "sexist", despite them looking no more skimpy than the WW movie. If Snyder - or any director for that matter - was going to get criticised for something, let it be the movie they wanted to make. Not the one that was reshot behind their backs and weren't responsible for making.
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 21:09
As ever, Hollywood is all about egos and protecting the right people's egos. The more that silly stuff like this comes along, the more I think ego is even more important than profit. I don't think profit is even in the top five most important things in Hollywood. And #1 without question is ego.
Your comment is spot on, and it's relevant more than ever now that prick Toby Emmerich is still in charge of Warner - the same man who lied to everybody over the reshoots being minimal and staying true to the movie as intended. This son of a bitch had the audacity to say at a corporate event that Warner is "a filmmaker-driven studio in need of great producers", despite everything they did to JL. I've heard aside from Aquaman, Warner's box office results thus far this year has been really poor. Well, mark my words, the next time a WB movie succeeds at the box office and with the dickhead critics, this asshole will try take credit for it. What a snake oil salesman.
Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Fri, 30 Aug 2019, 13:58
Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 21:09
As ever, Hollywood is all about egos and protecting the right people's egos. The more that silly stuff like this comes along, the more I think ego is even more important than profit. I don't think profit is even in the top five most important things in Hollywood. And #1 without question is ego.
Your comment is spot on, and it's relevant more than ever now that prick Toby Emmerich is still in charge of Warner - the same man who lied to everybody over the reshoots being minimal and staying true to the movie as intended. This son of a bitch had the audacity to say at a corporate event that Warner is "a filmmaker-driven studio in need of great producers", despite everything they did to JL. I've heard aside from Aquaman, Warner's box office results thus far this year has been really poor. Well, mark my words, the next time a WB movie succeeds at the box office and with the dickhead critics, this asshole will try take credit for it. What a snake oil salesman.
I forgot to mention another thing I wanted to say.
I wouldn't be surprised if the higher-ups from Warner are responsible for hiring clickbait hacks to write hit pieces spreading lies that Snyder's cut doesn't exist, even after everything that has been revealed. Whenever there's ego, assholes will stoop so low to denigrate others in an effort to maintain their delusional self-importance. If you remember reading that rubbish article from the Wall Street Journal last year, it basically mocked the entire movement for demanding the cut that "doesn't exist". Of course, all these revelations and testimonies by the likes of Oliva, Momoa, Fisher and Snyder himself only make a mockery of that hit piece. But of course, Warner Butchers will continue to try and ignore the elephant in the room as long as people still go see their movies. They will happily encourage idiots into mistaking JL fans as nothing more than a "fringe lunatic minority", as long as they keep making money from other movies.
Scumbags.
Here is a better look at the mural where Diana finds the imagery of the three Mother Boxes and Darkseid in the Snyder cut. I found these from a Twitter user called Darkseid Brasileiro.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGuPqctXUAArMM6.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGuPqctXkAE4xDF.jpg)
Source: https://twitter.com/kaiqmgt/status/1183168677312716802
As you can make out on the second image, it was photographed on August 13th, 2016.
I posted the following black and white photos before in another thread last year - long before anybody knew Darkseid was cast and featured in the cut for real. I could be wrong, but I think Diana holding the torch was in the theatrical cut, but completely reshot like everything else.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGt80LpU4AIHeQL.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGt80aCUwAAczi2.jpg)
This is yet anther reason to get pissed off. A lot of work and effort was put into this, and the audacity of every bastard involved to remove it is infuriating. Instead, all of this gets replaced with Bruce finding this mural of Arthur surrounding by all three tribes (human, Atlanteans and Amazons) guarding theMother Boxes.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGuPeL2X0AE8-u9.jpg)
In comparison, it's insulting to replace that original work of art with this cheap drawing. And in retrospect, it doesn't really make much sense for Aquaman to be drawn into that painting.
Fratelli Warner, vergognatevi.
EDIT: I neglected to post this rough sketch of the mural, explaining how the sequence was supposed to play out. Judging from the details, it seems this scene is similar to Hippolyta's explaining the conflict between Zeus and Ares to young Diana in the WW movie.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGt1orSX4AIOx0Q.jpg)
Following an article interviewing members of Snyder cut fans and a recap of the state of the unreleased movie on Business Insider, Snyder followed it up with yet another shot of Diana holding the torch before she notices a painting of Darkseid on the mural.
(https://img.cinemablend.com/filter:scale/quill/4/d/b/7/4/c/4db74c0d97887d5bf2c4d9eff90ef09c36ef5a30.jpg?mw=600)
Judging by the caption, it appears the flashback of the History Lesson scene took place in tandem with Diana discovering the sight, and then she sees Darkseid at the end of the scene.
I wonder how many more unreleased, unaltered photos Snyder will continue to share? It still is a good bit of encouragement not to give up demanding for the cut nonetheless.
New screenshot of Uxas aka Darkseid in combat from Snyder's History Lesson scene.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EORlDe_U4AAE07q?format=jpg)
I neglected to mention in my last post that Snyder indicated that David Thewlis DID (or at least he was supposed to) reprise his role as Ares in the Snyder cut.
A day after that Darkseid reveal, Nick McKinless wrote an angry post on Vero, as he was led to believe that he was meant to be playing the character in the film.
Quote from: Nick McKinless
I'm still amazed that I'm being ignored by WB and now @zacksnyder for my work as #therealares in #justiceague
Hollywood is known for bad behaviour but not crediting me as #ares and giving another actor residual payments when he never appeared on screen is about as bad as it gets. My contract says ARES, my whole face, body and action is on screen (you can clearly see this in the photo below) so why credit a different actor?
I was NOT A BODY double. I was NOT A STUNT DOUBLE. It was me on screen and no one else. Had my face been replaced I would have expected dual credit at the very least. Instead nothing.
I have stayed quiet regarding this but the latest spout of bullsh*t saying Thewlis is Ares has really pissed me off.
#therealares
#injusticeleague
Source https://vero.co/nickmckinless/TmZ-qRZGDPznfN1fC7Nx1QJW
It doesn't look good, but according to this screenshot below, McKinless later calmed down a bit and conceded Snyder was not to blame for the situation.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EObNn5iXUAEJssM?format=jpg)
It seems that Snyder intended to digitally superimpose Thewlis's face on McKinless to portray Ares on screen; exactly like he used Billy Crudup's face on another actor's body to portray Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen. But somehow this wasn't communicated to McKinless. Whether Snyder should've told him or not, I still reckon it's yet another example of gross mismanagement by Warner Butchers. If Thewlis never got around to do any work in the Snyder cut, I don't understand how he could've gotten credit instead of McKinless. One thing is certain, though, is NOBODY bothered to clarify anything to McKinless. Maybe this is yet another reason why Snyder's film hasn't come out to this day, because the hole that the studio has for dug themselves could lead them to serious legal ramifications they'd need to clear up. Who knows? Either way, I hope McKinless gets acknowledged in the credits by the time the film comes out.
To divert away from Darkseid and Ares for a moment, you can tell how mismanaged JL was as soon as those Butchers got their hands on it, as more details are coming forward. But just when you think the film couldn't have strayed away any more than what Snyder had intended, here are these screenshots of him expressing confusion - in explicit terms - when asked about the scene where Batman is coaching Flash on how to rescue the Star Labs hostages from the Parademons.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EORo9rRX0AcL0V5?format=jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EORo9rSWkAAWyX_?format=jpg&name=small)
As much as I express my contempt for Warner Butchers, this doesn't make the DGA look any better either. The fact that this film got reshot and advertised as Snyder's film without him even endorsing the changes is a huge failure on their part. To this day, the man has never seen what was put out in theaters and home video under his name!
Disgraceful. McKinless is spot on when he says Hollywood is guilty of bad behaviour.
The LightCast YouTube channel interviewed Ray Porter about his excitement over the ZSJL news.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqGYGJwDJZA
I love this guy's politeness. :)