The first arrival was Steppenwolf, the bespiked commander of the mighty forces of Apokolips. Then, the world shook with the terrifying revelation of Darkseid, the God of Evil. And as we learn ever more about the rising darkness which our heroes must face when Zack Snyder’s Justice League debuts on HBO Max on March 18th, the full cast of villains continues to grow—like Desaad, Darkseid’s sadistic majordomo, and Granny Goodness, perhaps the vilest of all Darkseid’s minions. But while the cast of DC’s New Gods may be swelling, and the total run time for this cinematic event clocks in at over four hours long, well…there really isn’t enough room for everybody. So, if we had to speculate, here are some residents of the Fourth World who probably didn’t make the Snyder Cut.
Power Boy
First Appearance: Teen Titans #38, 2006
The superhero Power Girl was once believed to be a time-displaced granddaughter of the sorcerer-king of ancient Atlantis but was later revealed to be a refugee from the Krypton of Earth-2, a reality-displaced counterpart to our own Supergirl. But if that’s not complicated enough for you, Power Boy of the Teen Titans has absolutely nothing to do with her. Rather, Power Boy, once a minion of Darkseid, was inspired to defect and join Earth’s heroes after witnessing the rescue of Supergirl from the Female Furies. Alongside another oft-forgotten Apokoliptian, Little Barda, Power Boy briefly joined the ranks of the Teen Titans, attempted in vain to romance Supergirl, and was killed off like a year after he was introduced.
Why He’s Unlikely: To introduce Power Boy, you’d really have to deal with Supergirl first, and she was literally just cast for The Flash movie as I’m typing this right now.
Doctor Kroolman
First Appearance: Lobo/Deadman: The Brave and the Bald, 1995
One of Darkseid’s metaphysical researchers, Doctor Kroolman was granted the means to conduct theological experiments to divine the Anti-Life Equation sought by his master. By using data acquired from spirits who have died and returned to life, Kroolman sought to triangulate the location of Heaven itself so he could learn the secrets of the Anti-Living. This was, understandably, an enormous boondoggle of a project, and Darkseid was not very pleased about its lack of results.
Why He’s Unlikely: Well, we do have Superman coming back to life in this one, which could be a window into his afterlife experimentation, but characters introduced in Lobo stories don’t have a great track record in permeating other DC media, due to their…well…Loboness. Also, his name is Doctor Kroolman.
Sleez
First Appearance: Action Comics #592, 1987
Look. Sleez is… Sleez is just… Sleez is the absolute worst. There are plenty of evil, sadistic, and horrible New Gods in the service of Darkseid to be found on Apokolips, but none of them are as downright unpleasant as Sleez is. We’re talking just plain awful. A sort of psychic vampire, Sleez influences the minds around him to succumb to base animalistic desires and receives nourishment as they give into those impulses…like he once did to Superman and Big Barda, filming the whole affair for Darkseid to casually show Mister Miracle on VHS tape like some kind of homemade video of your dad’s trip to Cancun. (You can read more about that nasty little incident here.)
Why He’s Unlikely: I mean, we know Zack Snyder likes to go dark, but come on—he’s not THAT dark.
Mighty Endowed
First Appearance: Young Justice #1, 1998
Mighty Endowed is a sex joke in the first issue of a comic called Young Justice. I’m not sure who this character is for. Her story is that she was once Nina Dowd, a regular human archaeologist, who got augmented by the New Genesis Super-Cycle into a human/New God hybrid with the ability to control minds with her enormous chest—wait, never mind. I just thought about it for two seconds, and I know exactly who this character is for.
Why She’s Unlikely: In addition to being a sex joke, Mighty Endowed is *a* joke. And Zack Snyder’s Justice League is serious business.
Infinity Man and the Forever People
First Appearance: The Forever People #1, 1971
Inspired by then-contemporary hippie culture, Jack Kirby’s Forever People were a band of New Genesis youths all doing their part to stop Darkseid’s war against all life that was threatening to envelop the universe. When their messages of peace, love and understanding failed to permeate, they combined forces to become the powerful Infinity Man, a gestalt New God potentially strong enough to combat the likes of Darkseid himself. The power to change the future belongs with the youth!
Why They’re Unlikely: Whether we’re talking about Robin or Jimmy Olsen, the universe of Zack Snyder’s Justice League isn’t a very kind place for children. If the Forever People do make an appearance, it probably won’t be for very long before they’re crushed under Darkseid’s heel.
Bane (Not THAT One)
First Appearance: The New Gods #18, 1978
You think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark, Bane was born in it. But then again, so is every New God of Apokolips. No, we’re not talking about the Knightfall guy. The Bane we’re referring to was one of Darkseid’s retinue dispatched to Earth to find the Anti-Life Equation believed to be buried within the subconscious of select individuals on Earth…and that’s about all we know. Maybe we’d have gotten to know him better had the series not been canceled the following month. Then again, if he were more established, we’d have needed another name years later for that chiropteran chiropractor. (Am I the first person to call him that? If so, please give me a bonus.)
Why He’s Unlikely: We’ve already got a Bane.
Lump
First Appearance: Mister Miracle #7, 1972
After Granny Goodness, Lump is a fan favorite among the evil New Gods. A completely immobile, human-shaped hulking mass, Lump doesn’t talk, or move, or even stand. He only has the power to trap his enemies in an eminently dangerous, hyper-realistic nightmare state, where only those with the strongest of will can escape with their lives.
Why He’s Unlikely: Huh… actually, given Zack Snyder’s penchant throughout his oeuvre for elaborate, high stakes, high octane fantasy sequences, Lump is kind of the perfect pull for this. If he does show up, I’m hoping they cast some kind of body-building champion. No acting abilities required.
But hey, as impossible as it sounds, I could be wrong about all of this, and Sleez could be a major villain with Infinity Man battling Darkseid when the Justice League is down for the count at the film’s climax. You’ll have to watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League when it debuts on HBO Max to know for sure! (Or I guess you could just keep reading these articles. I’m sure we’ll break down all the cameos for you after it happens.)
Which New Gods are you most excited to see in Zack Snyder’s Justice League? And do the Forever People deserve their own movie? (They totally do!) Let us know what you think about all of this over in the DC Community!
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly “Ask the Question” column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DCComics.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Community as HubCItyQuestion.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC Entertainment or Warner Bros.
