12 Times DCEU Movies Completely Changed The Comics

The DC Extended Universe is arguably the most divisive franchise in cinematic history this side of the Star Wars and X-Men franchises. It owes its divisive nature to the complete overhaul of the characterization of its heroes and villains, changes to their histories and backgrounds, and very loose adaptations of some of DC's most seminal stories.

Creative liberties are not inherently a bad thing, of course, but they require a deft touch and informed ideas of what should remain from the original story and what can be done away with.

Unfortunately, the filmmakers behind the DCEU are a little hit and miss with this, with a fair number of the changes made on the journey to the silver screen disappointing fans and completely missing the point of the characters and stories' enduring appeal.

Steppenwolf is the poster boy for all unconvincing and bland CG villains in film and his poor rendering and generic motivations were some of the reasons why the long-awaited Justice League film was a complete critical and commercial bust. This failure is a shame because the changes made to his background could have provided a unique spin on the Apokoliptan general's motivation and characterization.

In both the comics, Steppenwolf is the general of Darkseid's military forces as well as his uncle. What separates the two iterations of the character are their motivations; comics Steppenwolf lives to serve Darkseid and is his right-hand man alongside the vile Desaad. He is not fleshed out beyond that and that undeniably made his adaptation rather difficult.

According to actor Ciaran Hinds, the DCEU version was further motivated to win back Darkseid's favour and was described as tired. This had the potential to show a character who was slightly more interesting and complex but behind-the-scenes wrangles got in the way of this.