The main antagonist of the DCEU's Justice League is Steppenwolf,
a dishonored general from Apokolips who once failed to conquer Earth and,
as a punishment, was banished. He's back and shinier than ever in the epic Snyder Cut.
But what's his deal, anyway? Here's the untold truth of Steppenwolf.
Despite boasting such a major big screen appearance, Steppenwolf has remained somewhat
unknown to the general public, which is a shame given his rich history in the source material.
Steppenwolf first entered the DC scene in 1972 in the pages of Jack Kirby's New Gods,
two years after the debut of his lord and master, Darkseid.
Despite not being in charge of Apokolips, Steppenwolf has proven important enough to
survive multiple retcons, and has famously appeared in two different forms on the big
screen … or at least he will, if the Snyder Cut ever hits theaters.
"At last, you call me home!"
Wait a minute. Isn't Jack Kirby a Marvel guy? What's he doing moonlighting over at DC,
inventing evil gods? Fair question. Kirby felt a bit underappreciated at Marvel,
what with Stan Lee's increasing celebrity. In an attempt to step
out from his media-savvy partner's shadow, he struck out on his own,
signing an exclusive three-year deal to work his Kirby magic for the rival publisher.
Eager to surpass Lee, Kirby wanted to go big with his DC debut. He envisioned a
massive expansion of the DC universe via three interconnected series that would
introduce expansive science-fiction worlds and technologies, as well as elements of
popular pulp genres of the time like space opera, to the world of Batman and Superman.
Kirby named this project "Fourth World," and with it he hoped to
tell stories with existential stakes on a galactic level.
Steppenwolf and Darkseid were born of this grandiose aspiration, and to be honest,
we're lucky they're still around, because Kirby's master plan kinda fell flat for DC readers.
The Fourth World series was quickly and unceremoniously canceled due to lack of sales.
Kirby bid DC adieu and went back to Marvel for a bit, before venturing forth into the
wild world of indie comics. Kirby did come back to DC during the Reagan administration to see
to his destructive creations. He apparently wanted to kill them all off definitively,
but DC had attachment issues even then, and a standing policy of denying the finality of death.
As a result, Steppenwolf and the other New Gods got to stick around in various
conflicting incarnations long after their creator's time with them was done.
Steppenwolf and Darkseid, along with the other New Gods, have been perhaps the most enduring
products of this brief sojourn for Kirby across town. The real-world origin story
of these characters goes a long way in explaining their difficult birth into DC,
and the epic retconning that took place for decades thereafter.
Steppenwolf is one of the New Gods, a race of beings who reside on the twin planets of
Apokolips and New Genesis, created by Jack Kirby in the '70s during Kirby's
brief-but-passionate affair with rival comics shop DC. There's not much moral complexity in
New Gods. In the Fourth World stories, New Genesis is good; Apokolips is bad.
New Genesis is a futuristic utopia at peace with itself, and brimming with astonishing
technology. It basically looks like the future we were promised in the 1950s. Apokolips, meanwhile,
looks more like the future we actually got. Other Apokoliptian New Gods include such
fascistic residents as Darkseid and Granny Goodness, and like most godly pantheons,
all of these characters have strange and twisted familial relationships.
The authoritarian ruler of Apokolips known as Darkseid is the son of the New Gods Yuga Khan
and Heggra. While little is known of Yuga Khan's family, Heggra has one known blood
relative of note, and that's Steppenwolf. Yes, this means that Steppenwolf is Darkseid's uncle.
However, given that Darkseid is currently the most powerful New God alive, Steppenwolf would
be a fool to try and take the throne from him, despite being his elder. Then again,
Steppenwolf seems to like his current position as commander of Apokolips' military,
since it lets him lead his forces into bloody battle. He's been at it since the reign of
Yuga Khan and Heggra, and since failure on Apokolips is usually rewarded with death,
it's safe to say Steppenwolf must be pretty good at what he does.
Apokolips is one of the most technologically-advanced planets in the DC
Universe, and it likewise houses one of the most powerful militaries. The only force that keeps the
world in check and protects the rest of creation is its antithesis, New Genesis. Since the planets
are essentially oil and water, you might assume they would wage an eternal war with one another.
Once upon a time, they did — and it was all Steppenwolf's fault.
Ever since Darkseid was born, he schemed against anyone who stood in his way to claim the throne of
Apokolips. This included his parents, his older brother Drax, and even his uncle Steppenwolf.
While Drax was easy enough to eliminate, Steppenwolf took a little more finesse. So,
Darkseid convinced him to participate in the popular Apokoliptian pastime of hunting down
and killing New Genesisians. One of Steppenwolf's targets was the leader of New Genesis, Highfather
Izaya, but Izaya's wife, Avia, sacrificed herself to save him. Following this, Izaya
slew Steppenwolf in revenge ... and thus, the war between New Genesis and Apokolips was started.
Of course, Darkseid eventually resurrected Steppenwolf and
put him in charge of the military of Apokolips. Because, you know, comics.
When Jack Kirby set about to create his New Gods, he probably didn't realize just how
big a role these godly beings would come to play in the greater DC Universe. If he did,
he might not have killed off so many of the major players so fast. Indeed, the
vast majority of Steppenwolf's appearances in Jack Kirby-penned works happen in flashback sequences.
His New Gods #7 debut, wherein Steppenwolf is temporarily killed,
was itself a flashback story. Though the death obviously didn't take, the flashback
frame of New Gods #7 means that Steppenwolf was functionally dead upon arrival in the DC Universe.
Kirby's 1985 miniseries Super Powers brought Steppenwolf back,
though this limited run was published as a toy tie-in for Kenner Toys, and isn't considered
canon. It wasn't until DC published Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe,
that Steppenwolf's entry clarified it was, indeed, Apokaliptian technology
administered by his nephew, Darkseid, that brought him back to the world of the living.
The monstrous being known as Doomsday is known for being unstoppable. But Steppenwolf somehow
survived an encounter with this creature long before Superman was even born. Even more
impressive is that — ever the loyal uncle — he saved Darkseid from an early grave in the process.
Darkseid's fight with Doomsday began thousands of years ago, after the lord of Apokolips ran
afoul of Krypton's greatest monster, in a stroke of cosmically bad luck. Doomsday hurtled himself
into the way like the organic, spikey meteor he is, and he tore through Darkseid's forces.
Even Darkseid almost fell before Doomsday's unstoppable onslaught ... but Darkseid was
rescued at the last minute by Steppenwolf. However, since Darkseid's word is law,
and it might be embarrassing to acknowledge such a massive near-defeat,
he and Steppenwolf agreed to never speak about this rescue ever again.
In the DC Universe, Steppenwolf is a part of ancient history,
and it's not entirely clear if Kirby ever expected him to play such an active role in the present.
That changed a bit as the New Gods became increasingly integrated with other stories.
DC's New 52 initiative brought change to just about every corner of the DC Universe,
and despite Steppenwolf's god-like abilities, he wasn't immune.
Among many, many other things, The New 52 introduced a fresh version
of Earth-2 to the DC multiverse. It's there that Steppenwolf first staged a
massive invasion of the blue planet with a seething horde of parademons.
The ensuing battle results in some pretty significant deaths on the hero side (but
only the inferior Earth-2 versions), and by the end, Steppenwolf decides to cool
his heels in that universe, dodging a $300 million bounty on his head. Long story short,
he's ultimately killed by Bizarro, before later being resurrected yet again.
If you think the difference between Snyder's Steppenwolf and the one in the 2017 version
of Justice League is noticeable, well, his comic book design has been all over the place,
and the iconic horned helmet he now wears is a relatively recent addition.
When Steppenwolf first appeared, for instance, his look could be best described as "medieval-punk",
with lime green skin, green armor and belts, a green cape, and a pointy green hat
that couldn't decide if it belonged to a wizard or a pirate. This is the design that
also made it to the DC Animated Universe, in shows such as Superman: The Animated Series.
"Parademons, attack!"
However, for a time, comics abandoned this classic look for one featuring an
orange-red getup with spikes, and a giant axe connected to his back.
This was part of the aforementioned Super Powers Kenner toys tie-in.
The design went on to appear in Mister Miracle comics and beyond,
and while subsequent DC cartoons returned Steppenwolf to his original green threads,
the electro-axe became a mainstay of his armory.
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