Steppenwolf's appearance in BvS: UE and JL

[The Laughing Fish]

There have been a fair amount of changes between BvS and JL, that's obvious. But to me, the most glaring change would have to be Steppenwolf's physical appearance.

Steppenwolf was originally conceived to be this hulking, monstrous creature, but then he was redesigned with more humanoid features and resembled closer to his comic counterpart. In BvS:UE, Lex Luthor had a vision of Steppenwolf as a terrifying monster roaring with the possession of the Mother Boxes. The designs below were created by concept artist Jerad S. Marantz, whose work is apparently seen in the art book for the JL film.





Sources: https://www.instagram.com/p/BdGTzvcn75s/?utm_source=ig_embed
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhCJmbvHWg5/?taken-by=jsmarantz

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhCJmbvHWg5/?taken-by=jsmarantz

This design was scrapped and replaced with what we got in JL.





I was never crazy about the alien monster design for Steppenwolf, but I suppose WB thought they could get away with changing it because his scene in BvS was removed from the theatrical cut. But nonetheless, it's disappointing they seemingly gave the filmmakers the green light for this vision for the character, only to have it changed.

I hate to say this and I didn't want to believe it at first, but when you also consider the original plan for the JL movie was meant to be split into two parts - like Richard Donner conceived his saga for Superman - it gets harder to argue that Snyder's real vision was compromised long before he left.

[Edd Grayson]

I'm not a fan of how Steppenwolf turned out in JL either.

[johnnygobbs]

Steppenwolf was the worst part of JL as far as I'm concerned.  By contrast the dynamic between the heroes was pretty enjoyable.

It's a shame because Ciaran Hinds is such a brilliant actor, but he was totally wasted here.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm not a fan of how Steppenwolf turned out in JL either.

I'm guessing this is an unpopular opinion but that doesn't bother me.

I think Steppenwolf had real promise and I actually don't mind how he turned out for the most part. The way he relentlessly chases the Amazons down one-by-one NO MATTER WHAT has foundations in horror. I enjoy that sequence - he rips opponents apart in combat in a smug, unfazed way, like catching the rocket fired by Cyborg. The way he dismisses people having families is also nice and cold. He also mocks Diana about killing her sisters. I liked all that stuff.

I think the foundations are good. He just needed more meat. And I'm guessing Snyder would've provided that.

[Edd Grayson]

I think the foundations are good. He just needed more meat. And I'm guessing Snyder would've provided that.

I agree with that, he was certainly promising. I was referring more to his visual appearance.

[The Laughing Fish]

I'm not a fan of how Steppenwolf turned out in JL either.

I'm guessing this is an unpopular opinion but that doesn't bother me.

I think Steppenwolf had real promise and I actually don't mind how he turned out for the most part. The way he relentlessly chases the Amazons down one-by-one NO MATTER WHAT has foundations in horror. I enjoy that sequence - he rips opponents apart in combat in a smug, unfazed way, like catching the rocket fired by Cyborg. The way he dismisses people having families is also nice and cold. He also mocks Diana about killing her sisters. I liked all that stuff.

I think the foundations are good. He just needed more meat. And I'm guessing Snyder would've provided that.

There was also that great moment when Hippolyta fires an arrow Steepenwolf while he studies the Mother Box, but he brushes it away so casually, like a fly.

But moments like that were raresparse for an otherwise bland villain. I share Edd's sentiment that the CGI for his character wasn't up to par, it makes me wonder if using practical effects and makeup together with camera tricks might've been better.

I have to say, the CGI in a lot of these blockbusters are getting worse. JL had a lot of bad CGI, but the MCU isn't faring any better either. Spider-Man's costume in Homecoming looked rubbery, GOTG2 didn't look anywhere near as sharp as the first one, Black Panther had tons of moments that looked like a video game, and even Hulk's CGI in some of the clips I saw of Ragnarok is second rate compared to how he looks in the first two Avengers films. Wonder Woman's CGI was a little better, but there were some moments that looked off. I'd tolerate it if these movies were made 10-15 years ago, but there's no excuse for this poor use of technology. Not in an era of overbudget blockbusters.

So far, the only movies I saw that came out with excellent CG were Blade Runner 2049, specifically the reconstruction of Rachel just as she looked in the Ridley Scott movie, and Annihilation.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm not a fan of how Steppenwolf turned out in JL either.

I'm guessing this is an unpopular opinion but that doesn't bother me.

I think Steppenwolf had real promise and I actually don't mind how he turned out for the most part. The way he relentlessly chases the Amazons down one-by-one NO MATTER WHAT has foundations in horror. I enjoy that sequence - he rips opponents apart in combat in a smug, unfazed way, like catching the rocket fired by Cyborg. The way he dismisses people having families is also nice and cold. He also mocks Diana about killing her sisters. I liked all that stuff.

I think the foundations are good. He just needed more meat. And I'm guessing Snyder would've provided that.

Looking back at this post and I agree with my old self here. Zod and Luthor are magnificent villains in MoS and BvS respectively. We're so close to seeing the true third villain from Snyder. The brutality is going to not only be retained but elevated - that's great, but I'm really excited about the character depth. His relationship with Darkseid, his motivations, fears and weight of expectation.

[The Laughing Fish]

I've been having another look at the all the black and white Snyder cut shots that Zack had released over the last couple of years on Vero, and I remember the image he shared of Aquaman stabbing the Josstice L version of Steppenwolf from behind.



I'm so glad Zack was able to change the character design back to the original. Not only because that design is much better and far more menacing, but the circumstances that lead to Steppenwolf's death makes it much more sense and more dramatic. Superman arrives to belt Steppenwolf up just in time to prevent Cyborg from getting hacked up, which in turn allowed the Flash to use the Speed Force to undo the apocalypse* and give Cyborg another chance at dismantling the Mother Boxes. Superman using his heat vision relentlessly to break Steppenwolf's armour exposes the beast to the lethal strike of Aquaman's trident, and from that point on, the triple knockout is complete with Superman punching Steppenwolf back to Apokolips and Wonder Woman delivering the killing blow.

A truly far more satisfying teamwork moment, as opposed to the fragmented, play-it-safe version we got in Josstice L. And Steppenwolf, ironically, got his wish to go home after all.

***Special shoutout to Batman, of course. Had he not arrived on time and shot that last remaining Parademon, Flash's fate - and the world for that matter - might've been sealed. 

[The Laughing Fish]

When Josstice League came out four years ago, I remember the time when Whedon liked this negative tweet over his own take on Steppenwolf.



Nobody will convince me these reshoots weren't a deliberate botch job. Whedon's painfully short-sighted opinion of Cyborg's arc in ZSJL extends to his lack of insight in Steppenwolf. In ZSJL, Steppenwolf was a villain who was banished from Apokolips after betraying Darkseid in a failed coup, and tries to repay his debt by discovering the Anti-Life equation that his overlord was looking for many centuries ago. This would've automatically repaid the debt to conquer thousands of other worlds in the universe as punishment for defying Darkseid and it would've fulfilled Steppenwolf's wish to return home. But Whedon decided to get rid of all of that just so Steppenwolf could become a cliche villain trying to take over the world all by himself, with only one mention of Darkseid uttered off screen.

I don't need to tell you which version is a much more interesting villain, do I?

Not only did Whedon make no effort to provide an "improvement" for the character, he liked a tweet by Joanna Robinson, who always had an axe to grind when it came Snyder's films. This goes to show what a gaslighting piece of sh*t Whedon is; hijacking somebody else's work and butchering their characters, and approving a Snyder hater's negative feedback. As if Snyder was responsible for this mess.

Let's get real for one thing though: Whedon was a mercenary. His actions were enabled and endorsed by Emmerich, Johns and co. I repeat, anyone who still thinks Josstice L was a result of the studio getting cold feet has either not paid attention to their misconduct over their years, or is a willfully ignorant buffoon.

Anyway, I love the parallels of Darkseid and Steppenwolf picking up the dust and discovering the Ant-Life on Earth in ZSJL.