The Snyder Cut: How Darkseid Differs From The Smallville Version

Zack Snyder’s Justice League brought DC’s Darkseid to life cinematically, making it the second live-action iteration since Smallville season 10. One of the biggest super-villains in the DC Universe is Darkseid, the lord of Apokolips, a frequent Justice League antagonist. Before the Snyder Cut came out, Darkseid had been regularly present in various DC animated projects. But the New God had actually appeared in live-action on the Superman prequel series, Smallville. Originally, Darkseid was set to appear in Justice League back in 2017.

But after Snyder stepped down during post-production due to a family tragedy, Joss Whedon was brought on to retooled the filmmaker’s original Justice League vision. Multiple characters were either cut, redesigned, or rewritten, making several actors take part in the reshoots. One of the players who got taken out from Whedon’s Justice League was Ray Porter, who had been cast as the villainous Darkseid back in 2016. Even though Darkseid is vaguely mentioned by name once in the whole film, erasing him changed the overall backstory and climax significantly that.

Thanks to HBO Max releasing the Snyder Cut, fans finally got to see the first feature film portrayal of Darkseid, which was met with positive reception. Since Zack Snyder’s Justice League restored Darkseid’s role, it also led to his ultimate role in the Knightmare storyline. If Snyder’s Justice League sequels had happened, the director had more stories planned for Darkseid, including him murdering Lois Lane. But with Snyder Cut’s Darkseid out in the world, how does Porter’s version compare to Smallville’s characterization of the Apokolips foe?

Darkseid In Smallville Season 10 & Season 11

After Clark Kent had faced multiple threats in the previous seasons, Smallville season 10 pit the soon-to-be-Superman against Darkseid. However, the DC drama had an interesting way to go about the Apokolips lord. Rather than appearing in the flesh, the creators had Darkseid frequently appear as a spirit in a smoke form while possessing human bodies. Darkseid is introduced at the start of Smallville’s final season, as he is looking to corrupt humanity, and the first body he inhabits is Gordon Godfrey. Through Godfrey, who became part of Darkseid’s Prophets, Darkseid would try to turn society against the concept of superheroes. The only bodies Darkseid couldn’t take over were those who had a pure heart. Towards the end of Smallville season 10, Darkseid’s spirit reaches out to Earth-2’s Lionel Luthor and offers him a chance to resurrect his son Lex from the dead. Lionel accepts Darkseid’s offer in the two-part series finale as his heart gets put into Lex so he could be revived.

But it came with a price as Darkseid possessed Lionel Lothor’s body and tried to defeat Clark. As Clark finally learns to fly, he takes down Darkseid and stops Apokolips from colliding with Earth. While the voice actor was never revealed, Smallville’s Darkseid seemed loosely inspired by Final Crisis, where he and multiple New Gods no longer had bodies of their own. However, this wouldn’t the last time they used Darkseid as the Smallville season 11 tie-in comic brought him back, but in a physical form. After Smallville season 10, Darkseid had traveled to Earth-Omega and succeeded in conquering it. Sometime after that, Darkseid was taken down by Monitors. As Superman and Lois accidentally get sent to Earth-Omega, Clark and Darkseid have a brief reunion. Darkseid explains the reason Superman defeated him was that he wasn’t at full strength yet. Rather than having another showdown, Superman and Darkseid make a deal as the latter help get Lois and Clark back to their Earth.

Darkseid In Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Almost exactly ten years after Smallville ended its run in May 2011, Zack Snyder’s Justice League became Darkseid’s next live-action treatment, with Porter portraying him. While Steppenwolf served as the main villain the team fought, Darkseid is established as the ultimate mastermind as his uncle was trying to retrieve the Mother Boxes for the lord of Apokolips. The Snyder Cut reveals that thousands of years ago, Darkseid had already tried to invade Earth back when he was still known as Uxas. As he sought to obtain the Anti-Life Equation, Uxas came to Earth with his forces, aiming to transform the planet into another Apokolips. But Uxas wasn’t prepared for the opponents that awaited him as the Old Gods come together with Amazons, Atlanteans, humans, and the Green Lantern Yalan Gur. Uxas is defeated and is forced to retreat, but this wouldn’t be the last time he tried to claim the Anti-Life Equation. The Apokolips tyrant had managed to enslave and destroy more than 100,000 worlds in the Multiverse throughout his existence.

After Steppenwolf succeeded in getting all the Mother Boxes and being the synchronization of the Unity, Darkseid almost wins. As the Justice League fails to stop the Unity, it begins to wipe the Earth clean, which would have led Darkseid to possess the Anti-Life Equation. But thanks to The Flash, Barry Allen manages to reverse time and give the team another chance as they manage to prevent the Unity from completing. While Darkseid takes the loss, he assures DeSaad they aren’t going to be stopped by Earth’s new protectors. Darkseid instructs DeSaad to prepare the armada as they’ll use the old ways to help get the Apokolips lord his great prize. While the Knightmare plot would have been fully executed in the sequels, the Snyder Cut does have a few visions of what Darkseid’s victory would look like in the future. Not only did Darkseid kill Wonder Woman and Aquaman, but he also murdered Lois, making Superman succumb to the Anti-Life Equation as they take over the planet together.

Which Live-Action Darkseid Is The Superior One

Between Smallville and Zack Snyder’s Justice League’s respective takes on the iconic DC villain, Porter’s character in the Snyder Cut is the far superior one. Having Darkseid as Clark’s final big bad before becoming Superman was a massive deal the moment they revealed it back in 2009. Even though Smallville’s series finale was hugely successful, with Clark becoming Superman after ten years, there was never a proper final Clark/Darkseid showdown. Instead, Clark fought Darkseid using Lionel’s body which was a very brief fight. Doing Darkseid on network TV, especially for a show in its tenth year with that kind of budget, would likely have been challenging. But at the same time, Smallville was able to do Doomsday pretty well with a stunt actor wearing a physical Doomsday costume while having some VFX added to him, and it looked pretty good.

If they could do that with a physically visual-demanding character like Doomsday, they could have approached Darkseid in the same way. Smallville, more than anything, nailed Darkseid as a villainous concept that had a significant impact on Clark’s life when he was still The Blur. Having to save humanity from Darkseid’s corruption is where the writers did great execution. But as a physical character for Clark to defeat, that’s where Smallville, unfortunately, falls short in the final episodes. The majority of the show’s series finale is otherwise brilliant as Clark completed his Superman journey; it was just the classic hero/villain battle they lacked. Had Smallville season 10 ended with Darkseid physically being there, instead of just being a smoke-creature, it’d have been a better conclusion for the show’s take on him.

With Porter’s Darkseid in the Snyder Cut, the HBO Max film gave a powerful overview of the Apokolips baddie and his impact in the past, present, and future. From a visual standpoint, Darkseid’s cinematic debut looked phenomenal (and probably very expensive), with Porter giving an incredible performance with his voice. Had Snyder’s Justice League follow-ups happened, it would have been fascinating to see Darkseid’s arc completed. Outside of Smallville and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it remains unclear when fans may get to see Darkseid in a live-action property again.