Watch: DC Studios’ Superman Experience Unveils New Darkseid Design & Voice In Action

DC Studios' Superman Experience revealed a new design and voice for one of the franchise's most powerful villains ever, Darkseid. Darkseid has not gotten much shine in live-action DC projects but made his biggest appearance ever in 2021's Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max. 

Warner Bros. unveiled a new Superman Experience: Defenders Unite show as part of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Hollywood, California. As part of this show, DC unveiled a peek into the voice and visual design for Darkseid.

While the voice actor playing Darkseid has not been revealed, the voice is quite deep and menacing as he threatens to take out Metropolis and kill everybody Superman hopes to protect. Warner Bros. delivers a design visually reminiscent of the character's appearance in the comics, complete with purple armor and gloves, though the animation is somewhat simple.

Darkseid pops up multiple times in this video experience, warning fans that the "chaos shard was wasted in [their] hands" before offering a warning about his imminent attack.

Kara Zor-El also appears later in the experience, played by Milly Alcock in the upcoming live-action Supergirl movie from DC Studios. As Superman shouts out her arrival, she casually replies, "Dude, obviously," before commenting on not letting him "have all the fun."

Previously, DC had only released still images of this new version of Darkseid. Now, the voice and the animation help set him up as one of the biggest new threats in the DCU before he eventually makes his debut on the big screen.

As of writing, Darkseid has not been cast in the DC Universe, and he does not have a confirmed role in any upcoming DC Studios movies.

When Will Darkseid Come to the DCU?

While there are no publicly confirmed plans for Darkseid to join the live-action DCU, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn said that he will be part of the upcoming animated Mister Miracle show. This show could give us a sense of what he will look like when he potentially debuts in a later DC Universe movie.

While Darkseid could realistically come into the new DC Universe at any time, he is likely to be used as one of the biggest villains in a future Justice League movie, which has not been announced yet. As of now, the only Justice League heroes with confirmed solo projects are Superman, Supergirl, and Green Lantern; reports also indicated that a Wonder Woman film is in the early stages of development.

Considering the unique combination of classic DC imagery and newer visual designs (like the new House of El crest), this look for Darkseid could be a way to honor his comic history as accurately as possible. When he arrives, he will surely be brought to life with the best CGI and visual effects available, but it remains to be seen how closely he will resemble what fans see in this new experience.