Countdown to Justice League: 4 Things to Know About Steppenwolf
FOUR days ago before Justice League. After all the positive feedback about the movie, the wait even becomes more excruciating for us fans. Summarily, the movie embargo praises the movie but considered the main villain, Steppenwolf, as a flawed character. Maybe these critics don't know who Steppenwolf is? I actually can't tell if they know or don't know who the character is. But here are 4 facts about Steppenwolf.
Lets start with the basics. Steppenwolf is a creation by Jack Kirby and is a character from the FOURTH WORLD (what a fitting number for this countdown hehe). His name, translated to German, means "Wolf of the Steppe (or Coyote)." His character was inspired from STEPPENWOLF, a novel by a German-Swiss author named Hermann Hesse.
4. He was killed A LOT in the comics
Despite being a great warrior, Steppenwolf has been killed a lot of times in the comicbooks. This narrative of his recurring death was also based from the life of Hermann Hesse who married a woman but immediately left her. During his isolation, his despair increased leading to his recurring suicidal thoughts.
Steppenwolf died in the hands of Clock King, Brutaal (Superman clone/Earth-2 Bizarro), and Highfather, among others. Whenever he died, DeSaad, the master torturer of Apokolips, would revive Steppenwolf as if telling him that his suffering must continue through life.
Will Steppenwolf be killed in the movie? I don't know. But if he does, we can expect him to be back. On that note, the connection between Apokolips and the movie might even be more apparent than not.
3. He is a brilliant tactician and an excellent general
Before Darkseid became the king of Apokolips, his motherm Heggra was its ruler. Heggra's brotheris Steppenwolf. When Heggra was still Apokolip's ruler, she promoted Steppenwolf as the general of its army. His years of experience has made him one of the greatest tacticians in the Multiverse. He led a group called Hunger Dogs. This group was feared by the new gods in New Genesis.
One of his greatest achievement was killing Earth-2 Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. When Steppenwolf was transported to Earth-2, he invaded Earth and was able to kill its greatest heroes. Too add to his list of credentials, he was able to brainwash, Wonder Woman's daughter, Fury and together they tried to take Earth-2 as their own empire.
2. He caused the war between New Genesis and Apokolips
During one of his rounds in Apokolips, Stepenwolf saw Highfather together with his wife, Avia. While engaged in battle with Highfather, in which Steppenwolf was winning, the latter was able to strike Avia which eventually caused her death.
The death of Highfather's wife led to a million-year family war between the new gods in New Genesis and the new gods of Apokolips. The war would eventually cease after Highfather killed Steppenwolf. After the war, Steppenwolf was brought back by DeSaad to continue with his suffering.
1. He saved Darkseid from being defeated by Doomsday
In Doomsday Annual #1, Darkseid was provoked by Doomsday. Steppenwolf advised Darkseid to use his Omega Beams and not to engaged the beast in hand to hand combat. Darkseid, wanting to prove something and to boost his ego, decided to attack Doomsday with raw strength and power. Darkseid almost lost if it weren't for Steppenwolf who opened a boom tube for them to retreat. Darkseid, through the Steppenwolf's valiance, is one of the few DC characters who were able to survive after an attack from Doomsday.
Justice League comes to theaters on November 16, 2017. Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes-Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash-it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Paolo Ollero, 28, working law student, a comicbook enthusiast and a Batman historian, is one of the co-founder of The Dark Knight Philippines -- the premier Batman group in the country. He also contributes reviews and write-ups in Geekend Gladiator and Flipgeeks.
