Justice League: Who Is Steppenwolf?

Now that the Ultimate Cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is available digitally and just a couple of weeks away from a DVD and Blu-ray release, a lot of fans are likely wondering who that guy is Lex Luthor can be seen observing/communing with in the Kryptonian Scout Ship during one of the deleted scenes.

That's the villain of Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder's Justice League film, recently confirmed to be Steppenwolf, the leader of Apokolips's military leader. His weapon of choice is the Electro-Axe, which he uses to lead invasions on behalf of his nephew.

You don't know Steppenwolf? It's never too late...

Steppenwolf was the brother of Heggra and commander of Apokolips's military during both her reign and that of her husband Yuga Khan.

Her son, Darkseid, sent Steppenwolf to New Genesis, where he killed Izaya's wife. Izaya, in revenge, killed him in the ensuing war between the two planets. However, he was resurrected, and Darkseid once again put him command of the military.

In the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe, Steppenwolf was ultimately killed on Earth by the Terror Titans as part of a tie-in to Final Crisis.

In the post-Flashpoint DC Universe, Steppenwolf's first appearance on the main Earth was in the recently-concluded Darkseid War storyline, which saw the forces of Apokolips battling the Anti-Monitor. Before that, though, Steppenwolf was notorious on Earth-2.

Steppenwolf led an army against Earth in the name of Darkseid during the Apokolips War, killed Wonder Woman and Superman during their last ditch attack against him. He was, however, turned back after Batman sacrificed his life to send all of Steppenwolf's Parademons back through Boom Tubes.

Steppenwolf later took control of the small country of Dherain after killing their king and set up plans to conquer the world. Steppenwolf was later killed by Brutaal moments after defeating the World Army and declaring himself master of Earth, independent of Darkseid.

After that, it wasn't clear what led him to return to battle the Anti-Monitor.