Despite a great voice actor, Steppenwolf was one of the worst villains in the DCEU after the release of Justice League in 2017.
That all changed with the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max this month.
Steppenwolf got a much-improved storyline, a much better design, and a better presentation for voice actor Ciaran Hinds.
Who is the Steppenwolf voice actor?
Genre TV fans know the Steppenwolf voice actor well.
Ciaran Hinds is the voice actor of Steppenwolf in both the 2017 Justice League movie and Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2021.
Hinds appeared in Game of Thrones as Mance Rayder, the “King-beyond-the-Wall.” He united all the wildlings under his command, leading them to attack the Wall from the south, running from the advancing White Walkers. Jon Snow beat him at the Wall.
He also appeared in the HBO series Rome as Julius Caesar, and AMC’s The Terror as John Franklin.
On the big screen, Hinds was the bad guy in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, King Aeson in Jason and the Argonauts, Aberforth Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and Mephisto in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Steppenwolf in Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Steppenwolf got several upgrades from the 2017 Justice League movie to Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max.
First of all, his design is much better. In the 2017 version, the design of Steppenwolf was changed when Joss Whedon came on, to make it look less alien and more human-like.
It was one of the big complaints about that movie’s design, as he looked comical and very unrealistic.
The new version looks purely alien and the armor he wears is a vast improvement over the original.
There is also the fact that the 2017 Justice League made Steppenwolf a generic villain, and a very powerful, yet boring character. The new version has added a character named Desaan who is Darkseid’s right-hand man.
Desaan constantly degrades and talks down to Steppenwolf, talking about past failures and how this might be his last chance to make amends to Darkseid for those defeats. Snyder actually gave Steppenwolf a backstory and the reason for his efforts.
With an actor as accomplished as Ciaran Hinds voicing the character, the 2017 version was a strong disappointment, but Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally gave him the respect the villain deserved, even if defeated by the end.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is streaming on HBO Max.