Zack Snyder tweeting the simple hashtag “#fullcircle” is enough to send fans into a frenzy, but match it with a teaser video narrated by Darkseid, and things go Apokoliptic.
The announcement sent rumors swirling about what the ominous message could mean.
Could it be the return of Syndercon — the event where the director has previously presented the director’s cuts of his films? Could he be releasing a commentary of the closer to his Justice League trilogy? Less likely is his return to the DC film fold or his involvement with a DC Comic series continuing his movie continuity.
The hint that the SnyderVerse isn’t dead brought back not-so-fond memories of a terrible DC villain.
The question shows that the recent villain still rents (or conquers) space in some fans’ heads.
Hands up, the treatment of Steppenwolf was up there with the worst comic book cinema has to offer. The villain’s poor look and weak plot, as seen in the 2017 cut of Justice League, was a great disservice to the legacy of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, Steppenwolf’s role in DC comics, and voice actor Ciarán Hinds. Even if that wasn’t Snyder’s vision for Darkseid’s lieutenant, as the 2021 SnyderCut proved, we will always have Steppenwolf ‘17.
That said, is one of the dullest CGI disasters ever really the worst villain of all time? His silver upgrade in 2021 seems to have redeemed him for most.
It’s unfortunate Hinds’ dip into the genre has been in two bonafide bad comic book movies.
While there was agreement on the villain’s threads in the 2017 film (before he enjoyed his spikier and much-improved look in the SnyderCut), Steppenwolf gets a surprising pass.
The DCEU may not have served up anywhere near the number of movies as the MCU in the same amount of time, but it sure delivered its share of poorly-received villains.
Yes, if there’s one film that can catch any bad breaks from 2017’s Justice League, it’s 2016’s Suicide Squad.
Savagely, the argument quickly turned to the poor old Dark Ages of comic book movies. Yes, that means the 90s.
An undoubted winner popped up, which a lot of fans could get behind, can get behind — unfortunately, from a renowned dud that cruelly came out at the start of the comic book boom: Catwomnan.
Just when it looked like claws were out for Marvel after the gaseous disappointment at the end of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the cosmic ball of threat was thrown back to DC.
Also, spare a thought for Superman — even the Man of Steel’s greatest reign in movie theaters couldn’t dodge the argument, and that was a series that played safe with Supe’s catalog of villains.
In summary, Steppenwolf is known to many moviegoers as a villain who can’t catch a break thanks to Justice League, although this time, he avoided cat-astrophe.