Zack Snyder's Justice League concept art shows Darkseid's younger self, Uxas

Darkseid in the Snyder Cut
(Image credit: Warner Bros./DC/HBO Max)

Concept art from Zack Snyder's Justice League, featuring a young Darkseid, has been unveiled online.

Artist Jerad S. Marantz posted the image to his Instagram account. It gives a full-body look at the villain, including his weapon and distinctive headgear. The caption begins: "Here is one of my #Darkseid concepts. Technically this is #Uxas but I don’t think he was referred to that in the film."

Marantz continues: "I had an amazing time working on this character with costume designer Michael Wilkinson. There were several passes done on the costume. This was a dream come true moment in my career. I never thought I'd get the chance to work on Darkseid. Growing up reading the comics and loving the animated series I always thought it would be awesome to see him on the big screen, but I never dreamed I'd have a chance to work on him myself.

"Helping to bring Zack Snyder's vision to life was one of the greatest experiences in my career. I am so happy that the film is being so well received and that Zack's original vision is finally out there."

Darkseid is absent from the theatrical cut of Justice League, but is a looming presence in the Snyder Cut and is voiced by Ray Porter. The big bad appears – while he was still Uxas – in the History Lesson sequence, which details his first attempt to conquer Earth. His older self appears later in the movie.

Snyder has explained that his plans for Justice League 2 involved Darkseid succeeding in taking over Earth and obtaining the Anti-Life Equation, bringing an apocalyptic future known as the Knightmare timeline into reality. The third film would have seen the armies of Earth unite again to defeat the villain – though it seems very unlikely that these two movies will ever see the light of day.

If you're all caught up on the Snyder Cut, check out our deep dives into everything you could possibly want to know about the movie here:

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Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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