Why Zack Snyder’s Darkseid Actor Ray Porter Hasn’t Watched Justice League

Ray Porter, who played Darkseid in Zack Snyder’s original vision for Justice League now set to premiere on HBO Max next year, admits he’s yet to see the theatrical version completed by Joss Whedon. After Snyder was forced to leave the production in May 2017, studio Warner Bros. hired The Avengers writer-director Whedon to rework the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice sequel teaming Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and a resurrected Superman (Henry Cavill) against alien invader Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), a precursor villain in servitude of Darkseid, ruler of the hellish planet Apokolips.

Asked by the LightCast podcast if he’s seen the released version of Justice League, Porter answered, “No. It’s not that [I was cut], and I certainly don’t want to throw shade at Joss Whedon or Warner Bros., or any of that. For me… I had sort of lived with that production for such a long time.”

“My then-spouse worked on the film, so I was around for quite a long time before I was cast, and I got to know a lot of these people. And in a weird way, I guess I kind of took it personally,” Porter continued. “It’s like, ‘No, they built this really cool thing and you’re changing it, and I don’t think I want to see it.’ That’s kind of second grade school yard-y, but sort of how I felt at the time.”

By the time Justice League opened in November 2017, Porter knew Darkseid, once envisioned as the lead villain in Justice League 2 and future sequels, had been cut from the film.

Had he watched the version released to theaters, the actor added, “I think it would have sort of bummed me out to go see [the movie] and know, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s when I would have come in. Oh, well, bummer. More popcorn?’”

Warner Bros. will spend a reported $20-$30 million to complete the Snyder Cut, described by the director as an “entirely new thing” and a new experience. After it was learned Zack Snyder’s Justice League will restore Porter’s scenes as Darkseid, Porter told LightCast he performed “a lot of work” on the film in late 2016.

“Obviously you never know how much… I know what I did, and you never know how much is going to be in the film, because editing occurs,” he said. “If it all comes out in the wash in 2021 and I’m not in as much as I thought I would be, or there was stuff that’s cut, that’s just part of the deal, that’s part of the process. But there was a lot of work. There was a lot of work. Obviously not as much as some other cast members, but there was a lot going on.”

Warner Bros. will release the Snyder Cut on HBO Max in 2021.