
Thanks to Superman and the second season of Peacemaker, DC’s franchise reboot is off to a promising start. James Gunn is wisely building this new saga around Superman, with a trilogy of films focused on the hero and his allies. It’s already shaping up to deliver what Zack Snyder’s DCEU couldn’t: though it also kicked things off with a new origin story for Superman, Snyder’s Man of Steel ultimately took a backseat to the introduction of the Justice League. Gunn plans to go another way with his DC Universe. He’s in much less of a rush to bring in the heroes that will eventually make up the Justice League, and even less inclined to reboot their fiercest adversary, Darkseid.
Darkseid is essentially DC’s counterpart to Thanos in the Marvel Universe. An incredibly powerful, nigh-unstoppable god, Darkseid has been a constant threat in DC comics since 1970. He’s on a quest to conquer and enslave all life in the universe using something called the Anti-Life Equation. His obsession with power makes him a perfect villain for most major crossovers, but it wasn’t until Zack Snyder’s Justice League that the character appeared in a live-action DC project — and even then, given the tumult behind the Justice League films, he’s not the most memorable part of that film.
With DC starting fresh, fans are hoping for a second chance for Darkseid in Gunn’s DCU. Some even guessed that Peacemaker’s Season 2 finale was sneakily setting up the villain and his followers, the New Gods of Apokolips. In the comics, the planet Salvation (where Peacemaker finds himself at the end of Season 2) is ruled by DeSaad, one of Darkseid’s ruthless disciples.

It’s an interesting theory, but it’s also one that Gunn has been quick to debunk. The filmmaker appeared on the latest episode of the ScreenCrush Crossover Universe podcast, where he addressed the chances of Darkseid popping up in the DCU any time soon.
“Using Darkseid as the Big Bad right now is not necessarily the thing,” Gunn explained. He cited two big reasons to avoid the character, the first being “because Zack [Snyder] did it so cool in his way” in Justice League. “And then there are aspects of Darkseid in Thanos, who are obviously very similar. They look very similar,” he continued.
It’s been five years since Thanos last caused chaos in the Marvel Universe, but his impact on the superhero genre can’t be overstated. The Avengers films created the ultimate Big Bad with that character, to the point where Darkseid’s introduction in Justice League, just a few years after Thanos’ demise in Avengers: Endgame, felt like a concerted effort to compete. It’s far too soon to revive Darkseid in the new DCU — not only because the memory of Thanos is so fresh in fans’ minds, but because of Justice League’s checkered reputation.
Gunn is wise to try and put some distance between his reboot and the old regime, but with Darkseid out of the running, one has to wonder which villain is formidable enough to step into that void. Brainiac is a strong contender for the DCU’s next Big Bad, and with Gunn focusing on his “Superman Saga,” that character makes the most sense. Of course, the filmmaker could be eying a much more subversive choice; we’ll just have to wait and see, and hope that they can fill the power vacuum within the DCU.