New ‘Justice League’ Movie Creating Steppenwolf Featurette Released

A behind-the-scenes featurette included on the Justice League Blu-ray explores villain Steppenwolf with actor Ciarán Hinds and context from DC Comics creators Geoff Johns, Dan DiDio, and Jim Lee.

“He’s a fearful character. There’s no doubt about it,” says Hinds, who lends the CGI-created Steppenwolf his booming voice. “I think as soon as you see him you just know, ‘oh, holy God, here comes trouble.’”

“Steppenwolf comes from this world called Apokolips,” says Geoff Johns, Justice League producer and President & Chief Creative Officer, DC Entertainment. “It’s a world of oppression and fear and war, and it’s a world that’s toxic, really, to the soul and to the body, and it’s lead by Darkseid.”

Darkseid, who was excised from Justice League‘s final cut, “is one of the primary villains of the DC Universe,” says Dan DiDio, Co-Publisher, DC Entertainment. “In the comics, Steppenwolf was an agent of Darkseid. And he was an uncle for Darkseid himself, so it was a family relationship, and also he was subordinate to Darkseid, which is a little weird to have your nephew ruling over you.”

The alien warmonger has “tried to betray Darkseid before in the comic books and there’s a lot of Shakespearean thematics to it all,” Johns says. “It’s about factions and families, and betrayals, and love and sacrifice.”

“There was always a certain level of elegance about the character and presentation that I found to be intriguing about him,” DiDio says. “When they first introduced the New Gods characters in the comics, they were all so much larger than life. And Steppenwolf is one of those characters who really stepped out in a great way.”

“The New Gods are some of the greatest characters in the DC Universe, created by Jack Kirby when he came to DC in the ’70s,” Johns explains.

“[Kirby] decided he was going to create his own world,” adds Jim Lee, comic book artist and Co-Publisher, DC Entertainment. “And so, he created the Fourth World and just completely added this whole other epic real estate onto the DC Universe in a way that no one else has really done.”

The comic book legend created New Genesis, home planet of the New Gods, and Apokolips, as well as such famous DC iconography as Mother Boxes and boom tubes, all expected to play a part in the planned New Gods movie to be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma, A Wrinkle in Time).

“A Mother Box, it’s all about energy and power,” Hinds says of the cosmic MacGuffins, which first appeared in Justice League. “It could be limitless, you know. It can communicate, it can sense life and death, and it can rearrange molecular energy. It can transport, which is great, because it’s a fantastic method of surprising people, isn’t it?”

The three Mother Boxes were highly coveted by Steppenwolf, the conquerer relentlessly pursuing them with his demigod-like powers.

“Steppenwolf’s powers are mostly physical, more than any form of mental agility,” Hinds says of the ancient evil.

“He has been on this world way back in time. He basically refers to the people on it as primitive and unevolved. Even though you do have these superheroes with all these extraordinary powers, he still believes they’re rather primitive. So that’s why in the end you have five or six superheroes ganging up on him, and it’s not really a fair fight, let’s be honest.”

Justice League is now available to own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, digital and DVD.