Justice League Director Zack Snyder Reveals New Details About Desaad's Role

The new Justice League trailer gave us a better look at director Zack Snyder's vision as the filmmaker returns to finish his project with renewed support on HBO Max. While Darkseid looms in the darkness as the big bad, Zack Snyder's Justice League will also feature other New Gods including the theatrical cut's Steppenwolf as well as the creepy foe Desaad. While Desaad was cut from Joss Whedon's version that released in 2017, Snyder will give the classic villain a prominent role. As he explained in his trailer breakdown for the latest look at Justice League, Snyder revealed new details about how the New Gods work together.

Snyder confirmed the hooded New God in the trailer was in fact Desaad. The filmmaker describes him as a middle man, of sorts, as Steppenwolf is on his mission from Darkseid.

"Desaad is, in the movie, acts as the go-between between Steppenwolf and Darkseid. He's the agent that Steppenwolf interacts with in his conquest of Earth, to give him updates," Snyder explained. "And they interact through this super cool hologram; I won't describe how it's done but it's crazy. He offers us a lot of backstory about Steppenwolf and Darkseid's relationship and then also his own ambition, to some degree. He's scary."

Many critics and fans derided the theatrical version of Justice League for its portrayal of the villain Steppenwolf. The character alluded to being outcast from his home of Apokolips due to his failure to take over the Earth with the aid of three Mother Boxes, the MacGuffins that would set the stage for Darkseid.

Snyder's plan for Darkseid was first laid in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which the fan-favorite "Knightmare" dream sequence showed a world ravaged by Apokolips' forces. Before Zack Snyder's Justice League was announced for HBO Max, the filmmaker detailed his ideas for future movies which would detail Darkseid's corruption of Superman leading to the the heroes' defeat.

It's obvious that Snyder has huge plans to complete his vision of Justice League, even if he won't be getting the sequel movies that Warner Bros. first announced many years ago. Fans will at least have the opportunity to get a sense of closure in the series of movies that began with Man of Steel, kicking off a new shared universe featuring many DC Comics superheroes.

Zack Snyder's Justice League does not yet have a release date but was announced to debut on HBO Max sometime in 2021.