Before there was Thanos, there was Darkseid. The towering New God created by Jack Kirby in 1970 is the original architect of cosmic evil in superhero comics. After years of false starts and rebooted universes, he is finally getting a proper, canon home in James Gunn's DC Universe. The project that will bring him there is Mister Miracle, the upcoming DC Studios animated series based on Tom King and Mitch Gerads' acclaimed 12-issue comic run.
Kirby introduced Darkseid with a brief cameo in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134, then gave the character his full debut in Forever People #1. He arrived as the central villain of Kirby's ambitious Fourth World saga, a broad, cosmic mythology which includes New Gods, Mister Miracle, and Forever People. As the tyrannical ruler of the hellworld Apokolips, Darkseid's biggest obsession is the Anti-Life Equation. For those not familiar, it's a formula that grants its wielder complete control over the thoughts and free will of every living being in the universe.
DC Studios co-head James Gunn confirmed Mister Miracle's canon status in a post on X. Writing to mark the 55th anniversary of the character's comic debut, Gunn described Mister Miracle as a "DCU animated show," indicating that Darkseid, who serves as the series' central antagonist, will enter Gunn's rebooted DC Universe through this project. Given that the show is in active production and casting has already started, audiences should not have to wait long.
The series centers on Scott Free, the world's greatest escape artist, and his wife, Big Barda. It adapts King's Eisner Award-winning run, which is widely considered one of the finest DC comics of the modern era. Showrunner Tom King is also an executive producer alongside Gunn and Peter Safran.
Darkseid is among the characters being cast for the show, and according to character descriptions from the production, he's being depicted as the physical manifestation of all evil in the universe. Other confirmed characters include Highfather, Orion (Darkseid's son and Scott's mentor), Lightray, and Funky Flashman, who narrates a couple of scenes.
How Different Is Darkseid From Thanos?
To understand why Darkseid's arrival in the DCU matters, it helps to know just how foundational this character is, not only to DC Comics but to superhero storytelling at large. When Jim Starlin introduced Thanos in The Invincible Iron Man #55, he was working directly in the shadow of Kirby's New Gods.
Starlin drew on Kirby's cosmic mythology and created his own pantheon of space gods, one of whom became Thanos. Early sketches of the character resembled Metron, the New God scientist, rather than Darkseid.
But Marvel editor Roy Thomas looked at Starlin's initial designs and pushed back with a now-legendary and hilarious piece of editorial direction. He apparently told Starlin that if he was going to take inspiration from the New Gods characters, he was better off "stealing" the actual good one, which, in his opinion, was Darkseid. Starlin took the note. Thanos was redesigned, bulked up, made more physically imposing, and the Darkseid DNA became unmistakable.
The two characters share a striking amount of conceptual DNA. Both are massive, grey-skinned warlords obsessed with powerful cosmic MacGuffins. Darkseid seeks the Anti-Life Equation to strip the universe of free will. Thanos, in his best-known storyline, seeks the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of all life as an offering to Death itself. Both command vast armies of foot soldiers. Darkseid has his Parademons, and Thanos has his Black Order. Both have sons who oppose them (Orion for Darkseid; Thane for Thanos). The parallels run so deep that, for casual audiences, the two characters can appear almost interchangeable.
Interestingly, there are meaningful differences between the two villains. Darkseid is older and arguably more complex philosophically. His evil isn’t driven by emotion but stems from the fact that he wants to dominate life completely, to replace free will with total subjugation. Thanos, on the other hand, has always been a more emotionally complex figure. His devotion to Mistress Death is driven by love. Darkseid is easily the colder of the two villains. Thanos' on-screen adaptation made his motivations colder than the comics, though.
Despite being arguably the superior of the two, Darkseid has never gotten a proper mainstream live-action platform to match the cultural impact Thanos achieved through the MCU. He appeared in Zack Snyder's Justice League in 2021 but as part of a DCEU that was already being wound down by the time that film was released. The character hasn’t been done justice, and the upcoming Mister Miracle show could be a good start.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
