Justice League: 10 Things It Should Have Done Differently

Maybe it's because they left it until Justice League to hand him a full debut, but Steppenwolf is a villain who lacks substance. He's an archetypal bad guy who wants to destroy the world and rule over its ashes. That's all there is to him.

Justice League deals in shades of black and white in its depiction of heroes versus villains (give or take Supes' post-resurrection blip), and it could have used a more interesting antagonist with multiple layers and some actual character development.

There was nothing to Steppenwolf's arc that the audience hadn't seen in popcorn-fuelled blockbusters a hundred times before, and to make matters worse, he was a CGI abomination, marred by artificial-looking FX.

Ciaran Hinds, the actor who played the New God, did a decent job with his thunderous vocals and mocap work, but Justice League needed a more compelling bad guy, in terms of both aesthetics and depth.

Darkseid is being lined up as the franchise's next big bad, and he's a villain that comes with many of the same pitfalls Steppenwolf plunged into. With any luck, they'll flesh him out over more than one film and take the time to get him right on screen.