Justice League Snyder Cut’s Darkseid Actor Responds to Restore the SnyderVerse: “Keep Believing”

Justice League star Ray Porter encourages Snyder Cut fans to "keep believing" amid calls to Restore the SnyderVerse and realize filmmaker Zack Snyder's plans for Justice League 2 and 3. Porter, who debuted as the Apokolips ruler Darkseid in Snyder's director's cut after his character was excised from the theatrical version of the film, has previously supported the fan-driven campaign to continue the Snyder-stamped corner of the DC Extended Universe despite WarnerMedia seemingly closing the door on follow-ups to Zack Snyder's Justice League. But after fans willed the long-fabled Snyder Cut into existence on HBO Max, Porter says similar tactics could #RestoretheSnyderVerse:

"This fandom and this movement achieved the release of the Snyder Cut through tenacity, but also through kindness and positivity," Porter told The Flash Podcast. "Keep the kindness and the positivity going. Be self-regulating."

Porter then advised against the attacks on Godzilla vs. Kong, another Warner Bros. Pictures release, which came under fire from review-bombing SnyderVerse supporters in response to comments made by Ann Sarnoff, Chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, who cast doubt on Snyder-directed Justice League sequels.

"Don't go onto their Twitter feed and malign them or try to throw shade back towards the SnyderVerse and all of that, because that's just gross. That's like painting somebody's wall when you visit their house," Porter said. "Don't be rude. Keep the money going for [the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention]. Keep talking, keep supporting each other, and keep believing."

Porter continued, "If there's one thing this fandom has proved above everything else is that if they want something badly enough, they make it happen. So if you want it, keep doing what you've been doing, and we might see it. I'd love it."

Snyder previously revealed plans for a two-part Justice League finale pitting the entire DC universe against the forces of Darkseid, the big bad who is served by villain Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) in Zack Snyder's Justice League.

"I can hope [it continues]. It's not really my [call], it's not up to me," Snyder said in a recent interview about fan efforts to restore the so-called SnyderVerse. "I took this opportunity that the fans made real for me and I wanted to honor that commitment that they had to me, and honor my family and the work that all my friends had done to complete this version of the movie. I'm really proud of it."

The filmmaker added, "Warners and DC Films, by all means, they're in charge of their own world, and that's what they do. They've famously said that, to them, the theatrical cut of Justice League is canon. That's what they kind of jump off of, and my little micro-universe is its own thing, and I'm pretty happy with that. I'll let the fans decide how they want to go forward (laughs)."

Zack Snyder's Justice League and the exclusive black-and-white version titled Justice League: Justice Is Gray are now streaming on HBO Max.