Ciarán Hinds teases Steppenwolf as an “old, tired” villain

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The heroes in JUSTICE LEAGUE are all mighty in their own right, so naturally they’ll need a worthy villain to manically laugh as they fight off his army of moth men. The classic villain Steppenwolf will fill in that role, and actor Ciarán Hinds will bring him to life. He’s keeping his role under wraps under penalty of food poisoning via Warner Bros, but recently he spoke with The Independent and let a few details slip on the alien baddie.

Of course his words were light, but it’s enough to give us an idea of the character’s mental state and motivation, saying Steppenwolf is basically a man trying to step out of the shadow of his big boss, Darkseid:

He’s old, tired, still trying to get out of his own enslavement to Darkseid, [but] he has to keep on this line to try and take over worlds.

Hinds’s casting was met with some puzzling looks from fans, who know the character from the comics as a big, intimidating figure. The actor is 64, and though is no small man, doesn’t quite fit the bill. Such a factor calls for motion capture, which Hinds has been working with for the movie, squeezing into a “very tight and embarrassing” suit. When it comes to how he’ll look he said, “Basically they’re going to construct something, digitally, and then they will use my eyes and mouth.” 

Still, he needed help performing in this new technology, and he consulted his good friend who’s better than all your friends, Liam Neeson, who used the tech on his movie A MONSTER CALLS:

He sent me a little pamphlet of stuff – with him looking much more elegant than I was, I have to say.

Given that we haven’t heard much about the villain or seen any images this is a good tidbit of information. In terms of motivation I’m getting a real Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in THE AVENGERS vibe from him, as a man trying to take over the world at the bidding of a much larger, menacing force (Thanos, in the MCU), while still trying to make a name for himself. At this point I’m eager to see a visual of the baddie to I can put Hinds’s voice to something tangible, but for now my imagination will have to suffice. All I’m picturing is Batman punching Aberforth Dumbledore.

JUSTICE LEAGUE arrives November 17.