Zack Snyder’s Justice League Actor Ray Porter Breaks Silence on Keeping Darkseid Secret Since 2016

Actor Ray Porter, who for the first time publicly confirmed his role as Darkseid in Zack Snyder’s Justice League releasing on HBO Max in 2021, is breaking a four-year silence. The Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice filmmaker previously acknowledged rumors Porter was cast in the role in a 2019 post on social media platform Vero, but Porter — who was cut from the version of Justice League completed by Joss Whedon and released to theaters in November 2017 — has been granted permission by Snyder and studio Warner Bros. to address what became something of an open secret.

“There’s stuff that I don’t want to give away, because we get to see it now,” Porter told the LightCast podcast, adding he worked on Snyder’s Justice League near the end of production in late 2016. “I just stayed quiet about it because I didn’t want to give anything away, and I had signed that [NDA], and I don’t want to mess with Warner Bros. They’ve always been very nice to me, and I don’t want to make them mad.”

After becoming aware of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement, Porter supported the cause from afar. But when word of Porter’s casting leaked online, the actor recalled, “I was really worried that this would splash back on me somehow. And they’ve been super kind and really great. So yeah, I basically have been sitting on this for a really long time.”

“I know everybody kind of knew,” Porter added. “I know it’s sort of old hat and everything, but personally, I just wanted to say it.”

Porter confirmed his role in a viral tweet that has been favorited more than 15,000 times. It was a relief for Porter, who recalled panicking over direct messages on Twitter inquiring about his then-secret role in Justice League.

“I got messages saying, ‘Did you play Darkseid in Justice League?’ I immediately went into panic mode and I shot off an email to Warner Bros. and I shot off an email to DC like, ‘I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything,’” he said. “They were great, they were like, ‘No, it’s okay.’ But I still wasn’t clear, and I didn’t want to do anything that was inappropriate, I didn’t want to muddy the waters. Also, at this point, there was no idea that this was gonna be a thing, that [the Snyder Cut] was going to come out.”

Porter was among those watching the live stream where Snyder unveiled confirmation the fabled Justice League Snyder Cut is coming to the HBO Max streaming service. He then received the go-ahead from the director to make a public announcement, tweeting, “Hi, I’m Ray. I played Darkseid in Zack Snyder‘s ‘Justice League.’ There. It’s out now.”

“Afterwards, I texted Zack, and I said, ‘Can I come out of the Darkseid closet now?’ And he responded, ‘Yes,’” Porter said. “I guess in a way it was kind of selfish for me to be able to finally say, ‘Yes, I did this.’ It was like, ‘Oh, thank God, I can finally say this.’ I didn’t realize it would blow up as big as it did.”

Zack Snyder’s Justice League releases exclusively on HBO Max in 2021.