DC's Competitive Darkseid? Reported 'Justice League' Villain Inspired 'Avengers 2' Bad Guy

Avengers 2 Justice League

Warner Bros. 2015 Justice League movie may not have a director yet, but it looks like it has a villain. Latino Review is reporting that Batman, SupermanWonder Woman  and their super colleagues will be throwing down against a major baddie, Darkseid from the subtly named planet, Apokolips, when the summer of 2015 rolls around. 

If Darkseid, who was created by the legendary comic artist Jack Kirby,  is indeed the villain who will be wreaking havoc in the DC movie universe, it's an interesting choice, given that Marvel plans to feature the villain Thanos  in Avengers 2, which it plans to release that same summer.

Justice League's Darkseid vs. Avengers 2's Thanos
As Comic Book Legends Revealed points out, Thanos was "roughly based on Darkseid"  (although the character's creator Jim Starlin didn't originally envision him as such.)  The connection between the two characters could help ratchet up the competitive tension between the rival movies as release time grows closer. (It's only, like, years away.)

DC could also do some "our super-villain can kick your super-villain's ass" sassing based on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time, in which Darkseid ranks sixth and Thanos is 47th.

If you ask me, these two dudes do look alike.  That's Darkseid on the left. Thanos is on the right. What do you think? Sound off in the comments section.

Avengers 2 Justice League

Avengers 2 Justice League

By the way, the unforgiving mug of the late actor Jack Palance inspired Darkseid's face. Kirby based the villain's evil nature on Adolf Hitler.

[Latino Review, Comic Book Legends Revealed, IGN]

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Comments

  • Ryan says:

    They are very much alike, which really sucks for DC/Warner. Pretty hard to try to compete on the same scale with a franchise that (when Phase 2 finishes) will have spent 7 years laying the groundwork for an entire, well-implemented cinematic universe and already has the character development and good will of the audience to show for it.

  • Frank DiGiacomo says:

    So you think that Darkseid is actually a liabilty for DC/Warner? That's interesting.

  • briguyx says:

    Love Joss Whedon, but his love of Thanos is blinding him to the fact there are better villains in the "Avengers" universe like Kang or Ultron. I keep hoping that Thanos will be featured in "Guardians Of The Galaxy" rather than the Avengers sequel. As for Darkseid, a great villain, but another alien invasion story is too reminiscent of "Avengers."

    • Thanos says:

      Thanos is the best there is and will chicken shit on any other villains from both dc and marvels universe

  • J Keats says:

    This isn't a matter of whom was created first...it's a matter of DC being behind the eight ball in the cinematic superhero battle. Bryan Singer's Superman sequel and Ryan Reynold's as GL set DC/Warner back a lot--especially financially!

  • Hideyori says:

    Darkseid IS.

    Just kidding. I love 'em both.

  • anonymous says:

    Justice League vs Zardoz?

  • Charles T. says:

    Both good villains. Can't wait for Avengers 2. The first one was amazing and if there is a Justice League movie then bring on the heroes. I love Marvel and DC Comics, but i like Marvel a bit more.

  • po says:

    I think Darkseid is the best way to set up a need for Superman to team up with others. He can go one on one with Darkseid and his minions are powerful and numerous enough to keep the other JL members busy. Also there will not be a need to introduce Kryptonite in order to weaken Superman while making the other JL members relevant. Superman's ultra powers have always, in my opinion, made me think the JL almost silly. In reality, mortals like Batman, Robin and Green Arrow would be hurt/killed fighting side by side with Superman.

  • Scarilian says:

    Darkseid is a bad choice for the first movie. Especially a movie which would need to set-up a new Batman, Wonder Woman and any other heroes in the film.

    The whole 'Justice League' film is being rushed and targetted to be a rip-off of Avengers 2 in order to gain some of the same sort of target audience. I hope the film bombs badly because it just annoys me that they can do this. Its similar to how Asylum releases rip-offs of movies - Justice League is solely being made because of the success of Avengers and to be a rival to Avengers 2.