Ares Ares (portrayed by
David Thewlis) is the Olympian God of War and the last surviving member of the
Old Gods by the events of
Wonder Woman. Despite originally aiding the forces of Earth against the first invasion from
Apokolips as seen in both versions of
Justice League, Ares turns on his fellow gods and goddesses as he comes to resent humanity, causing mankind to wage war among itself and killing his brothers and sisters until
Zeus drives him off
Mount Olympus and uses the last of his life force to hide the Amazons on Themyscira and create the "Godkiller". After hiding for millennia and continuing to corrupt mankind upon regaining his strength, Ares resurfaces using the guise of British politician
Sir Patrick Morgan and gives off a welcoming, pacifistic demeanor as part of the British
Imperial War Cabinet while secretly manipulating the
Central Powers, leading to
World War I. As Sir Patrick, Ares provides some secret aid to Diana and Steve Trevor's team as they venture to the front lines of the war in an attempt to destroy the gas being concocted by General Ludendorff and Dr. Maru, despite the War Cabinet vehemently disapproving. After Diana kills Ludendorff, whom she mistakenly believes is Ares, Morgan reveals himself and attempts to sway her to help him in destroying humanity, also revealing her true parentage as her paternal half-brother and her nature as the "Godkiller" (as only a god could kill another god). Diana fights off the temptation, seeing the good in mankind, and overpowers Ares after Steve's death, killing the God of War by redirecting his lightning at him with her
Bracelets of Submission. In
Justice League and its director's cut, stuntman Nick McKinless physically played the role, with Thewlis's face digitally superimposed over his.
Ignacio Caparax / OMAC Ignacio Carapax (portrayed by
Raoul Trujillo), is a troubled Guatemalan lieutenant who, after suffering injuries in battle, began working with Victoria Kord, becoming a powerful soldier with armor and cybernetic enhancements, after being experimented on by Kord Industries. Serving as Victoria's right-hand, he helped her to find biotechnological alien Khaji-Da, coming into conflict with Jaime Reyes to get the relic, gaining new powers until Reyes spared his life, causing Carapax to redeem himself, sacrificing himself to kill Kord.
Darkseid Darkseid (portrayed by
Ray Porter), originally known as
Uxas, is a
New God who is the tyrannical ruler of
Apokolips and the master of Steppenwolf and
DeSaad. While he is merely mentioned in the theatrical version of
Justice League, the character makes his first on-screen appearance in the director's cut, with his scenes being restored. The "Snyder Cut" portrays Darkseid, then named Uxas, leading the invasion of Earth prior to his rise to power. As Uxas prepares to use the
Anti-Life Equation and the three
Mother Boxes to conquer the Earth, a coalition of warriors, which includes mankind,
Atlanteans,
Amazons,
Old Gods, and a
Green Lantern, counterattack, forcing his retreat after grievously injuring him and separating the boxes. While he recovers and takes over the throne of Apokolips over the course of millennia, the location of the equation is lost and the Mother Boxes are hidden by the Amazons, Atlanteans, and humans. After Steppenwolf is alerted to the presence of the boxes and equation on Earth, he informs Darkseid, who entices his disgraced uncle and lieutenant to seize both so he can use the equation to take over the
multiverse. Darkseid opens a portal to Earth when the Mother Boxes are nearly synchronized, only to see
Barry Allen undo the Unity by entering the
Speed Force. This allows the Justice League to separate the boxes and kill Steppenwolf, throwing his body back through the portal to Darkseid's feet. An enraged Darkseid then tells Desaad to "ready the armada" and use the "old ways" to reclaim the Anti-Life Equation, with the Mother Boxes no longer able to be used to conquer planets. Porter played Darkseid through the use of
motion capture and "went through a few different vocal gymnastics trying to figure out the voice". Porter was unfamiliar with the Darkseid character upon being cast, but Zack Snyder and screenwriter
Chris Terrio helped guide him with their knowledge of the comic book lore.) is the leader of the
Kahndaq faction of
Intergang, an international criminal organization. He poses as an associate of archaeologist
Adrianna Tomaz, who seeks to find the crown of
Sabbac and hide it from malevolent individuals, not knowing that Gregor is after the crown himself as the last descendant of the oppressive King Ahk-Ton, the creator of the crown. Gregor, like his ancestor, seeks the crown so he can harness its power and become the all-powerful ruler of Kahndaq. He kidnaps Adrianna's son Amon to coerce her into giving him the crown and get Teth-Adam's attention, manipulating Adam into killing him so he can be reborn with the crown's power as
Sabbac.
Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate realizes he and the Justice Society were wrong about Adam after seeing Sabbac's rampage, so Fate releases the apprehended Adam so he can defeat and kill Sabbac, which he does by ripping Sabbac in half, restoring order to Kahndaq and potentially the world.
Hespera Hespera (portrayed by
Helen Mirren) is the eldest daughter of Atlas and the sister of Kalypso and Anthea. Millennia after Atlas' death, Hespera and her sisters sought to recover their father's stamina from the Shazam Family and restore their home realm using the Golden Apple from Hera's sacred tree, while Kalypso also intended to unterraform Earth with Shazam's Staff of the Gods. When Hespera and Anthea objected, Kalypso mortally wounded Hespera before planting the Apple and attacking Philadelphia with her army of mythical creatures, but Hespera helped Billy defeat her in her last moments before dying.
Joker The
Joker (portrayed by
Jared Leto) is the archenemy of Batman, the ex-boyfriend of Harley Quinn, and a ruthless crime lord in
Gotham City.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice alludes to Joker murdering Batman's protégé
Robin prior to the film's events. Joker first meets Harley, then a budding psychiatrist named Dr. Harleen Quinzel, while imprisoned during a flashback seen in
Suicide Squad. She falls madly in love with him and goes great lengths to be with him after he escapes prison, and the two begin to terrorize Gotham City as its most notorious criminals. After Harley herself is imprisoned and
pressganged into the Suicide Squad, Joker aims to free her from her predicament, not liking that something of
his was taken from him. Later, however, he breaks up with her prior to the events of
Birds of Prey, because she wanted credit for
her ideas for their successful crimes, and can be seen in Batman's premonitions of a potential future world ruled by
Darkseid in ''Zack Snyder's Justice League''. This iteration of the Joker was met with polarized reviews, especially in the theatrically released version of
Suicide Squad. However, director
David Ayer and Leto both revealed that the studio cut out much of the Joker's footage in the film, which arguably cut down his characterization in the theatrical release.
David Kane / Black Manta David Kane (portrayed by
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a pirate and mercenary working alongside his father, Jesse. The two lead a strike force contracted by King Orm to hijack a
Russian Akula-class submarine, which is foiled by Aquaman sometime after the Justice League defeats Steppenwolf. Arthur dispatches the pirates and inadvertently traps Jesse in the submarine when the Kanes attempt to kill him, leaving Jesse to drown despite his son's pleas. A vengeful Kane escapes the submarine and is later given advanced Atlantean armor and command of a strike force of Atlantean soldiers by King Orm after Arthur and Mera escape Atlantis. Kane rechristens himself
Black Manta after modifying the armor and attacks Arthur and Mera with his strike force in
Sicily, though the two fend off the attack. After heated one-on-one combat, Arthur damages Manta's armor and sends him careening off a cliff into the sea. Manta is later found and rescued by
Stephen Shin, and makes a deal with Shin to tell him more about Atlantis in exchange for helping him track down Aquaman. In the DCEU's continuity, the title "Black Manta" was first conferred on Kane's grandfather as a nickname when he was working as a
frogman for the
U.S. Navy during
World War II; Kane's grandfather turns to piracy when
he was not recognized for his accomplishments due to his African-American heritage and passes his illicit trade to his son and grandson. Mateen reprised his role as Black Manta in
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Kalypso Kalypso (portrayed by
Lucy Liu), is the second daughter of Atlas and the sister of Hespera and Anthea. Millennia after Atlas' death, Kalypso and her sisters sought to recover their father's stamina from the Shazam Family and restore their home realm using the Golden Apple from Hera's sacred tree, while Kalypso also intended to unterraform Earth with Shazam's Magic staff. When Hespera and Anthea objected, Kalypso mortally wounded Hespera and depowered Anthea before planting the Apple and attacking Philadelphia with her army of mythical creatures until her demise by Billy Batson.
Victoria Kord Victoria Kord (portrayed by
Susan Sarandon) is a nefarious businesswoman who is the CEO of Kord Industries, the sister of Ted Kord, and the aunt of
Jenny Kord. Jealous for not getting the position of her father's company, Victoria was filled with anger and revenge against her brother, finding Khaji-Da Scarab to create cybernetic soldiers called OMAC, starting with
Ignacio Carapax, which brought him into conflict with Jenny Kord and Khaji-Da's host
Jaime Reyes, but despite their efforts, Victoria failed in her plans, being betrayed/killed by Carapax. Following Victoria's death, Jenny is sworn in as the new CEO of Kord Industries.
Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano Max Lord (portrayed by
Pedro Pascal) is a struggling yet charismatic oil businessman and
television personality. He is the owner of Black Gold Oil located in
Washington, D.C., and hopes to gain possession of an ancient powerful relic which has the power to grant wishes known as the "Dreamstone". He also has a young son named Alistair Lord. Born "Maxwell Lorenzano", Max Lord grew up in a poor household with his violent father, Alberto Lorenzano. Induced by Alberto’s aggressive behavior he develops as an anxious child and prone to bed-wetting. At school, Max was frequently the subject of taunts and bullying for his comparative poverty to the other students who made fun of his tatty clothes, worn-out shoes, and small amount of food for lunch. Due to a lack of money, he was not able to attend college after finishing school. These experiences imbued Max with a deep motivation to achieve financial success in life. He started his own business, Black Gold Cooperative, initially as a one-man operation and changed his surname name from "Lorenzano" to "Lord". Gradually, Max convinced financiers, most prominently
Simon Stagg, to invest in his company, which tasked itself with
oil exploration in areas that other companies had ignored. Max finally attains control of the Dreamstone after deceiving Barbara Miverva, wishing to "become the stone". As a result, he gains the stone's powers and starts granting wishes to people around the globe, but starts to physically deteriorate. Wonder Woman later confronts him, showing the pain he inflicts on his son by being distant from him, and convinces him to renounce his wish, after which he reconciles with Alistair. Critics have compared Pascal's interpretation of Max Lord in
Wonder Woman 1984 to
Donald Trump during the 1980s. However, Gal Gadot, who co-produced the film, stated that any similarities to Trump were coincidental. Conversely, director Patty Jenkins commented that Lord's character is modeled on
Bernie Madoff and Trump.
General Erich Ludendorff A highly fictionalized version of the
real-life German general who fought in
World War I,
Erich Ludendorff (portrayed by
Danny Huston) is a pragmatic, iron-fisted tactician who leads the
Imperial German Army during the waning days of the war, enlisting Dr. Maru to create a deadlier, hydrogen-based variant of
mustard gas in an attempt to turn the tide of battle. Ludendorff is portrayed as ruthless and unforgiving, willing to kill combatants and civilians on both sides of the war to achieve his goals, including fellow German generals negotiating to surrender. Diana believes he is Ares at first after hearing Steve Trevor's account of the war. She attempts to assassinate him at a gala he hosts until Steve stops her to avoid blowing their cover. When Ludendorff deploys his mustard gas on an innocent village during a demonstration at the gala, Diana confronts him again as he prepares to attack
London with a larger dose, getting her vengeance on him. However, the war does not end when Diana kills him, leaving her confused and disillusioned until Sir Patrick Morgan reveals himself as the God of War. Huston described his version of Ludendorff as a "pragmatist, realist, patriotic, fighting for his country", further explaining, "he lost his son on the German front lines and was just quite tortured, diabolical, stubborn and believes that what he's doing is for the betterment of mankind." On his character, Huston said "Ludendorff is a believer that war is a natural habitat for humans" and also states that "somebody like Ludendorff would probably think that the idea that love conquers all is quite a naive concept.
Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Luthor Jr. (portrayed by
Jesse Eisenberg) is the multi-billionaire CEO of
LexCorp. While he displays a welcoming but frantic "
tech bro" persona in public, he is in actuality a scheming, diabolical figure who despises Superman and is obsessed with killing him. Luthor manipulates several events in
Batman v Superman, including the scuffle in Nairomi and the eventual bombing of the U.S. Capitol, to tarnish Superman's public image. He also finds methods to pit Superman and Batman against each other, taking advantage of Batman's rage and subsequent questionable acts to get Superman enraged at the former, and manipulates members of the
U.S. Senate to get access to the Kryptonian scout ship left over from the battle of Metropolis. He eventually entices Superman and Batman to fight each other to the death after kidnapping
Martha Kent, but Superman and Lois Lane convince Batman to join forces with them against Luthor before Batman is able to kill Superman. With this plan foiled, Luthor unleashes a
Kryptonian deformity that he had created from Zod's body and the scout ship, resulting in Superman giving his own life to kill it. Luthor is then arrested and sent to
Arkham Asylum, but gloats at Superman's death, which results in the forces of
Apokolips arriving to Earth. He later manages to escape from Arkham and contacts
Deathstroke at the end of
Justice League and its director's cut. This iteration of Lex Luthor is noticeably different than in the comics, as well as
Gene Hackman's
portrayal of the character in the 1978–87 Superman film series. He is also characterized as a
misotheist, hating God and other god-like beings such as Superman as he perceives the gods failed to protect him from abuse received from his father. Eisenberg made an effort to differentiate his take on the character from that of Hackman and
Kevin Spacey, and also states that his character views Superman as a genuine threat to humanity rather than simply someone to destroy. Some critics have drawn similarities between Eisenberg's performance as Luthor and his portrayal of
Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg in
The Social Network.
Orm Marius King Orm Marius (portrayed by
Patrick Wilson) is the second son of Queen Atlanna and maternal half-brother of Arthur Curry. Orm seeks to become the
Ocean Master by uniting the Seven Kingdoms of the Atlanteans and despises the surface world for
polluting the seas, aiming to eradicate humanity in revenge. He also hates Arthur for his mixed heritage and illegitimate birth, blaming him for their mother's banishment, and like
General Zod, has a dogmatic and idealized view of his people while being mostly ruthless to those he perceives as enemies. Having taken the throne of
Atlantis by the events of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League
and Aquaman'', Orm is described as stubborn by
Nuidis Vulko and
Mera, opting to devote all resources to wage war with the surface world instead of guarding the Atlantean Mother Box, indirectly leading to its seizure by Steppenwolf. After Orm hires Jesse and
David Kane to hijack a submarine and stage a fake attack on Atlantis, Arthur foils the attack and sinks the submarine. Orm later confronts Arthur when he sneaks into Atlantis with Mera and Vulko, offering him the chance to leave forever, but Arthur engages in a duel with him. Orm nearly kills Arthur until Mera intervenes and narrowly escapes with the latter. Following this, he gives David the Black Manta equipment to hunt down Arthur and convinces four kingdoms to join his regime through brute force and deception, but is ultimately defeated and dethroned by Arthur when he finds Atlan's Trident. Arthur spares Orm despite the latter enticing his brother to finish him off, but once Atlanna emerges alive, Orm accepts his punishment and is arrested, beginning to consider reconciling with Arthur. Orm reappears in the sequel
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and is revealed to be imprisoned in the Sahara desert by the Deserter tribe due to him murdering the Fisherman King. He was rescued by Arthur from his prison and he begrudgingly agreed to unite with Arthur to save Atlantis and defeat Black Manta. Both brothers are able to track down Black Manta, but due to Black Manta being possessed by the Black Trident, they are defeated and Orm, who was temporarily possessed by the trident's evil power, discovers the forgotten existence of Necrus, a seventh underwater kingdom that is ruled by the trident's original owner, Atlan's evil brother Kordax, and that both Kordax and the kingdom are sealed by a blood curse cast by Atlan to prevent the evil power from being discovered. Subsequently, Arthur, Orm and their allies manage to track down Necrus and Black Manta, arriving in time to save Arthur's son. Orm becomes possessed by the spirit of Kordax when he grabs the Black Trident. This possession lets Kordax use Orm to help free himself. While under Kordax’s influence, Orm attacks Arthur and uses Arthur’s blood to break the magical seal imprisoning Kordax. But Arthur appeals to their brotherhood, reminding Orm of their connection and shared past; Orm then resists and relinquishes the trident’s hold. After Kordax is destroyed and the immediate threat is over, Arthur chooses not to send Orm back to prison. Instead, he allows Orm to fake his death (so that Atlantis believes he died) so Orm can live freely and make a fresh start. In the final scenes of the movie, Orm is shown enjoying a cheeseburger in a restaurant, and even picks up a cockroach to eat it with the burger (partly due to Arthur previously tricking Orm into thinking cockroaches are food). Wilson previously portrayed Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II in the 2009 film
Watchmen and voiced the
President of the United States in
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, making
Aquaman his third DC Comics film appearance. Orm's role in the sequel
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was portrayed as a more sympathetic and redemptive character, as DC Films president
Walter Hamada described the film as a "
buddy comedy" between Arthur and Orm.
Dr. Isabel Maru / Dr. Poison Dr. Isabel Maru (portrayed by
Elena Anaya) is a Spanish chemist enlisted by General Ludendorff to create a deadlier, hydrogen-based variant of
mustard gas, also managing to create strength-boosting elixirs for him. Maru's vicious nature earns her the nickname
Doctor Poison by the
Allied forces and Ludendorff's "witch" by the Germans. She wears a ceramic mask that hides her disfigured cheek. While infiltrating the Central Powers, Steve Trevor sees first-hand the lethality of Maru's experiments and steals a notebook with her formulas, smuggling it to the British War Council after fleeing and encountering Diana and the Amazons. Steve later tries to seduce Maru at Ludendorff's gala to get more of her secrets, but his attempt is foiled when Maru sees him notice Diana also infiltrating the event. Ares later tempts Diana to kill Maru after the German base is destroyed, but Diana spares her and allows her to flee out of mercy, instead focusing on defeating Ares. The Isabel Maru incarnation of Doctor Poison is also the character's first live-action appearance, though the
Wonder Woman film places Doctor Poison and other Wonder Woman characters as originating in World War I as opposed to
World War II.
Barbara Minerva / Cheetah Barbara Ann Minerva (portrayed by
Kristen Wiig) is Diana Prince's co-worker at the
Smithsonian Institution, growing envious of Diana and constantly being belittled by her boss. Diana and Barbara help the FBI find the Dreamstone, and Barbara wishes to become like Diana, and later further wishing to be an "Apex Predator", inadvertently gaining
cheetah-like body-and-superpowers. She uses her newfound powers to fight Wonder Woman and collude with Max Lord, but Wonder Woman later defeats her after restoring her powers to full strength and finding
Asteria's Golden Eagle armour.
June Moone / Enchantress and Incubus The
Enchantress is a witch that possesses archeologist
June Moone (portrayed by
Cara Delevingne) when Moone encounters a
totem pole containing the witch. The witch only possesses June when she speaks the name.
Amanda Waller selects her for the
Task Force X program, but she ends up going rogue upon secretly stealing her heart from Waller and frees her brother,
Incubus (portrayed by Alain Chanoine), who then possesses an unnamed man. With him, Enchantress attempts to use her magic to build a superweapon to conquer the world, but Task Force X is assembled to defeat her. During the confrontation, the Enchantress tries to sway over Task Force X by granting them what they most desire. While
Harley Quinn wants to reunite with the
Joker following his apparent death,
El Diablo sees through the illusion and breaks free, sacrificing himself to destroy Incubus. With a bomb placed there by
Killer Croc, the machine she intended to use to enslave the Earth is destroyed.
Rick Flag then crushes the Enchantress' heart, killing her and freeing June, with whom he had a relationship.
Suicide Squad director
David Ayer revealed that Enchantress was originally the supporting villain in the film and was under the control of
Steppenwolf via a
Mother Box, but that this plot element was removed during pre-production. Steppenwolf was then replaced by Incubus as the secondary villain with Enchantress being made the primary antagonist. Ayer also revealed that his
director's cut of the film, which has yet to be released, shows more of June Moone's relationship with Rick Flag, in addition to Enchantress seizing control over
Katana and turning her against the squad.
Roman Sionis / Black Mask Roman Sionis / Black Mask (portrayed by
Ewan McGregor) is a ruthless and wealthy Gotham City crime lord who owns the "Black Mask Club". Sionis rules over Gotham's criminal empire with an iron fist. He becomes an enemy of Harley Quinn,
Cassandra Cain, and the
Birds of Prey. Not much is known about Roman's early life, except that he came from the wealthy Sionis family, whose name is plastered on "about half the schools and hospitals in Gotham." While Roman himself claimed that he wasn't born into privilege and had to work for everything he has, the fact that he was cut off by his family due to excessive spending and poor business sense says that Roman is likely not the most unbiased narrator of his own life. At least 15 years before the events of
Birds of Prey, he meets with Victor Zsasz and funds crime boss Stefano Galante's rise to power, which results in the murder of the entire Bertinelli line (sans Helena Bertinelli, who managed to escape). Since then, Roman has been building a criminal empire for himself in Gotham's East End, unifying crime families and keeping those under his sway out of jail. Said to be an absolute narcissist and a homicidal psychopath, Sionis is also highly ambitious, power-hungry, sadistic, and emotionally unstable. He is also highly misogynistic and seems to see women mainly as objects for his use and amusement. He revels in violence, and can easily lose his temper when things do not go his way. However, he appears to care for both his right-hand man and best friend Victor Zsasz as well as his new driver bodyguard,
Dinah Lance, who he appears to have some level of attraction towards. Still, he is ultimately a remorseless and chaotically malevolent psychopath, showing signs of unspeakable depravity. After a fierce battle between his thugs and the Birds of Prey during his pursuit of the Bertinelli diamond, things came ahead at the Founders Pier, wherein a final confrontation, Black Mask meets his match. As Quinn fights him, Cassandra Cain plants a grenade on his person. Quinn then throws him off the pier as the grenade explodes and kills him, thus ending Roman's Empire and rule over Gotham City.
Dr. Thaddeus Sivana Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (portrayed by
Mark Strong) is a research scientist working for Sivana Industries, but is often talked down by his family members. Sivana is summmoned as a child by the wizard
Shazam who is seeking a successor, but rejected as he is easily tempted by the
Seven Deadly Sins. Seeking revenge, Sivana devotes his years researching how to get back to the
Rock of Eternity and upon finally doing so, takes the Eye of Sin, freeing the Sins, and incapacitates Shazam. Dr. Sivana becomes empowered with the Sins, killing the Sivana Industries board of directors, including his father and brother, for not allowing him onto the board and constantly demeaning him. He finds
Billy Batson, who had been named Shazam's champion, demanding his powers. Billy battles Sivana after he kidnaps his foster siblings and is nearly blackmailed into granting Sivana his powers, but instead shares his powers with his siblings, allowing them to defeat Sivana after separating him from the Sins.
Auggie Smith / White Dragon August Ransom "Auggie" Smith / White Dragon (portrayed by
Robert Patrick) is the leader of the Aryan Empire, an infamous white supremacist organization, and the abusive father of Christopher Smith / Peacemaker. A notorious supervillain, Auggie owns armor capable of flight and firing energy blasts which he designed himself. Auggie raised both Christopher and his brother Keith to become assassins, as well as forcing them to fight each other during cock fights. During one such fight, Peacemaker inadvertently caused Keith to have a fatal seizure. This incident resulted in Auggie developing a deep hatred for Chris, which was further fueled by his bisexuality and rejection of Auggie's racist ideals. Though Auggie remained deeply emotionally abusive of his son even when he reached adulthood, he still aided him in his vigilantism by providing him with equipment. After being framed for Chris's murder of Annie Sturphausen by John Economos, Auggie is arrested and imprisoned in a county jail. After Auggie threatens to expose Project Butterfly as revenge, Vigilante is dispatched into the prison to assassinate him. Auggie survives and becomes convinced his son is trying to kill him. Auggie is released by Detective Sophie Song, and immediately amasses his followers and dons his armor to kill Chris. Tracking his son down using a GPS tracking program installed in his helmets, he leads the Aryan Empire to attack Peacemaker, Economos, and Vigilante. However, Economos kills Auggie's followers, while Vigilante severely damages his armor, leaving Auggie helpless. Peacemaker angrily beats Auggie and shoots him in the head when he mocks him once more.
Starro Starro the Conqueror is a
starfish-like alien creature that grows bigger with every being it gains control of. The alien is discovered by
NASA astronauts 30 years prior to the events of
The Suicide Squad, then captured and experimented on at Jötunheim. In the present, Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad to destroy Jötunheim before Starro can be weaponized by the Luna/Suárez regime and America's role in the experiments are exposed. Starro escapes, thanks to the bombs going off prematurely, then enslaves many of Corto Maltese's citizens, including Suárez, and goes on a rampage. Though Waller orders the squad to leave the island, they decide to fight Starro to protect the island's inhabitants. The now-colossal alien is taken down by a combined effort from Harley, Bloodsport, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and Ratcatcher 2, the latter of whom summons the island's rats to chew Starro to death. In his final moments, Starro (through Suárez) laments he never wanted to hurt anyone initially and was content floating in space, only turning vengeful in response to the torture he was put through.
Steppenwolf Steppenwolf (portrayed by
Ciarán Hinds) is a
New God general from the planet
Apokolips working under
Darkseid. First debuting in the Ultimate Edition of
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as Lex Luthor views holograms in the Kryptonian scout ship, Steppenwolf appears in both versions of
Justice League as the main antagonist, leading an army of
Parademons and seeks to invade the Earth and destroy all life on the planet. In both versions of the latter film, Steppenwolf seeks the three
Mother Boxes to carry out the Earth's destruction with the newly formed
Justice League proving no match for him and his forces at first, but they are able to defeat him with help from a resurrected Superman. The character of Steppenwolf originally appeared in 1972 as a
New God associated with
Darkseid and
Apokolips in
New Gods #7, and is traditionally a recurring villain against
Superman and the
Justice League. Prior to his inclusion in the
DC Extended Universe, Steppenwolf briefly appeared in several works in the
DC Animated Universe such as
Superman: The Animated Series and the
Justice League animated series, and later in other cartoons such as
Batman: The Brave and the Bold and
Justice League Action.
Suicide Squad director
David Ayer revealed that
Enchantress was originally the supporting villain in the film and was under the control of Steppenwolf via a
Mother Box, but that this plot element was removed during pre-production, due to rewrites of
Justice League, which originally had
Darkseid as the main villain. Steppenwolf was then moved over to
Justice League and replaced by Enchantress's brother Incubus in
Suicide Squad, with Enchantress being made the primary antagonist. Due to
extensive retoolings of the film by Warner Bros., numerous differences exist in Steppenwolf's characterization and arc in the
theatrical cut and the
director's cut. Steppenwolf's design and motivations in the theatrical cut were simplified, while the director's cut gives him a more imposing and sinister demeanor and appearance, also having him speak less. The theatrical cut has him in place of Darkseid during the first invasion of Earth by the forces of Apokolips, while the director's cut gives further backstory to the character as he had unsuccessfully attempted to betray Darkseid and is now trying to gain his favor back by destroying 150,000 worlds, including finishing the attempted destruction of Earth, and discovers the presence of the
Anti-Life Equation. In addition, his demise was changed; the theatrical cut has Steppenwolf give in to fear after Superman and Wonder Woman destroy his axe, retreating while presumably being consumed by his own Parademons, while in the "Snyder Cut", he is overpowered by Superman, stabbed by Aquaman, and beheaded by Wonder Woman, with his head and body rolling to Apokolips via
boom tube to land at Darkseid's feet. Hinds described his character as "old, tired" and trying to find a way to escape his role of servitude under Darkseid. He had sought advice from fellow actor
Liam Neeson for the role. Hinds was reportedly unhappy with the final theatrical cut of the film, which trimmed down the backstory and characterization of Steppenwolf. The character's original design was restored in the director's cut of the film. Irish actor
Ciarán Hinds was cast to portray Steppenwolf in
Justice League through voice and motion capture. Hinds received advice from
Liam Neeson (who had done similar motion capture work in
A Monster Calls) for his performance. Steppenwolf's portrayal in the theatrical release of
Justice League wasn't well received by critics, with
Screen Rant describing this rendition as "generic", "forgettable", and too "family friendly." His CGI design was also poorly received, which was partially attributed to the redesign of the character being pushed through late in production. Steppenwolf's depiction in the director's cut was much more warmly received by fans and critics, with praise directed at his monstrous and alien design, his more menacing and sinister presence, and his greater level of character depth and development in contrast to his theatrical counterpart. Specifically,
Comic Book Resources commented that this latter version of the character was more believable as a credible threat to the protagonists. Sam Adams of
Slate.com compared both versions of the character in an analysis of ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'', noting the different portrayals of Steppenwolf as one of the key differences between the theatrical and director's cuts. Adams called Whedon's version "quippier and creepier", likening the character to "cosplaying
Mike Pence" and criticizing his armor, which he likened to a generic medieval garb.
Faora-Ul Sub-commander
Faora-Ul (portrayed by
Antje Traue) is Zod's second-in-command. Like Zod, she is sentenced with him and his followers into the Phantom Zone after their coup is foiled. Faora is portrayed as a highly skilled but sadistic warrior with a disdain for her enemies and overconfidence in her dogmatic beliefs, though she is highly patriotic to her home world of Krypton, expressing great sorrow when she sees its ruins upon being freed from the Phantom Zone. Faora lands on Earth to take Kal-El as her prisoner when Zod's forces land on Earth, though she also demands Lois Lane accompany them. She and another Kryptonian grunt fight Superman back on the surface when he escapes their ship, with Superman narrowly defeating her when he breaks open her helmet, exposing her to the Earth's atmospherics and temporarily weakening her. Though she expresses no emotion when dispatching several soldiers from the U.S. Army, she gains some respect for Colonel Hardy when he stands up to her, deeming him a worthy opponent. Faora is sent to take down Hardy's
transport aircraft when it and other fighter jets attack the
Black Zero, ambushing the craft when it nears the mother ship. However, Hardy crashes the plane into the
Black Zero as she nears the cockpit, causing an explosion that sends Faora and the rest of Zod's troops back to the Phantom Zone for good. In preparation for the role of Faora, Traue underwent an intense four-month training and dieting program.
Gal Gadot, who would later be cast as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman starting in
Batman v Superman, revealed that she had previously been offered the role of Faora, but turned it down due to pregnancy.
Dru-Zod General
Dru-Zod (portrayed by
Michael Shannon) is the supreme military commander of
Krypton who attempts a coup and is imprisoned along with his forces in the
Phantom Zone prior to the planet's destruction. He and
Jor-El both agree that their world is doomed, but have different methodologies in trying to save their race, leading to their fall-out. After the planet's destruction, Zod and his followers are released from their imprisonment but left to float among the remains of Krypton until they repurpose their prison ship, the
Black Zero. When Jor-El's son Kal-El, now going by the name Clark Kent and later dubbed "Superman", activates a scout ship on Earth, Zod's forces detect a distress signal sent by the ship and demand that Earth's citizens hand Kal over. After Clark discovers that Zod intends to xenoform the Earth into a new Krypton, killing all its inhabitants in the process, Clark sides with the people of Earth and helps the U.S. military take down Zod's forces, sending all of them except Zod himself back to the Phantom Zone after a destructive battle. An enraged Zod, having lost his purpose for life after losing his troops and means to create a new Krypton, uses his newly gained superhuman abilities, similar to Clark's, to engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat across the city of
Metropolis, resulting in more human casualties until Clark kills him by snapping his neck. Zod's corpse appears in
Batman v Superman after
Lex Luthor gains access to Kryptonian artifacts left over from the battle of Metropolis, with Luthor taking advantage of Zod's fingerprints to access the scout ship. Zod's body itself is used by Luthor to create a
Kryptonian deformity (portrayed by
Robin Atkin Downes) to combat Superman, which Luthor calls Superman's
"Doomsday". The creature is stronger than the Man of Steel and impervious to nuclear weapons, but Superman and Batman realize its vulnerability to
kryptonite, with Superman sacrificing himself to kill the monster with a kryptonite spear crafted by Batman. Zack Snyder later confirmed that the broken moon visible during Jor-El's journey to the Citadel in
Man of Steel was in fact destroyed by the "real" Doomsday created by Krypton, an
easter egg for a later appearance, thus confirming that the real Doomsday is alive and out in the universe despite the slaying of the iteration created in
Batman v Superman from Zod's corpse.
Victor Zsasz Mr. Zsasz (portrayed by
Chris Messina) is the right-hand man of Roman Sionis. He also has tally marks carved onto his body for each person he's killed over the years. As part of his duties, he participated in the slaughter of almost the entire Bertinelli crime family to consolidate the power of Black Mask's criminal organization in Gotham City. Though the assault was successful, it would ultimately prove Zsasz's undoing, as one member of the family, the young daughter
Helena, escaped. A grown-up Helena tracks down and kills Zsasz as he threatens to kill Dinah Lance before Harley Quinn. ==Supporting characters==