Warner Bros. Pictures has apparently kicked off its campaign to encourage people to stop dwelling on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and look ahead to Justice League, as reports from the set of the latter film have been arriving online in bunches this week.
After the title logo, plot synopsis, and new Batmobile for the superhero team-up movie were revealed Tuesday morning, additional reports have revealed the primary villain for the film and the previously unidentified role that Willem Dafoe will play. (And no, they’re not the same character.)
(For those who might not want to know anything more about the plot of the film, consider this your official spoiler warning.)
According to Movies.com, the antagonist causing trouble for the DC Comics superhero team will be the alien Steppenwolf, who was glimpsed in a deleted scene that was released by the studio just after Batman v Superman premiered in theaters.
One of the henchmen for the cosmic conqueror Darkseid, Steppenwolf was created by legendary writer and artist Jack “The King of Comics” Kirby, and first appeared in the 1972 debut issue of Kirby’s New Gods series. The film will reportedly pit the heroes of Earth against Steppenwolf and his army of flying “parademons” — the airborne creatures seen in Bruce Wayne’s dream sequence during Batman v Superman.
Additional reports indicate that the film sets Steppenwolf on a mission to recover three powerful “motherboxes” — the cube-like object seen in the aforementioned deleted scene — that were left behind the last time Darkseid attempted to invade Earth. His previous invasion was thwarted through the combined efforts of the planet’s three dominant civilizations: mankind, Wonder Woman’s Amazonians, and Aquaman’s Atlanteans.
As for Dafoe, who joined the cast back in April in an unidentified role, the report indicates that he’ll play Aquaman’s close friend and advisor, Vulko.
Created by Bob Haney and Howard Purcell, Vulko (above) debuted in a 1967 issue of The Brave and the Bold and went on to become a recurring character in Aquaman’s adventures over the years. Dafoe is expected to play a smaller, supporting role in Justice League that will then be expanded in the 2018 solo Aquaman film featuring Jason Momoa as in the title role.
With the news floodgates seemingly opened on Justice League, there will likely be more updates on the film throughout the week.
Directed by Zack Snyder, Justice League is scheduled to hit theaters November 17, 2017.
