Last we checked in on the cinematic punchline that has been Warner Bros.’ dream for a Justice League film, it seemed as if the joke was on us. Not only is the incredibly ambitious Justice League moving forward, but a lot of people believe that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will soon make his Caped Crusader debut, as the ending of The Dark Knight Rises seemingly foretold. Indeed, it is predicted with some mild speculation that JGL could show up in an upcoming DC film like next year’s Man of Steel, a lá Marvel’s Nick Fury traipsing through all of the films related to The Avengers.

Alas, Levitt’s people have tossed Kryptonite on that rumor for now, but we do finally have some actual, honest-to-Zod Justice League news on the hot burner today – the producers have picked a villain, and his name is Darkseid.

Yes folks, Darkseid. The supreme monarch of the planet Apokolips and the greatest threat to the DC Universe.

It’s kind of obvious if you really think about it. I mean for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and others to come together in a summer tentpole movie to face a threat, well, that threat better be planetary. Who were you expecting? Lex Luthor? (Via Latino Review)

As a choice for the main villain, Darkseid is pretty awesome. Basically, he is a god bro who rules the planet Apokolips, and you’d have to think that life must be pretty crappy on that planet. It’s like if Earth was actually named Poop. Darkseid also looks kind of like this:

Apparently his face was based on Jack Palance and his attitude on Hitler. If I were Palance, I’d be a little bummed about that. Like, did the original artist think, “Hmmmmm, obviously Hitler’s got the right ‘tude, but when I think ultimate evil, whose face… JACK PALANCE!” That’s kind of messed up.

Anyway, I don’t necessarily share my colleague Vince’s views on Marvel vs. DC as far as the quantity of good characters goes. I think both companies have their great heroes and villains, while they both have some seriously awful characters, too. I think WB and DC deserve a lot of credit here, too, because pitting Justice League against The Avengers sequel is supremely ballsy, because we already (mostly) love The Avengers and know what to expect. But we don’t know a damn thing about how the Justice League will work, and aside from Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, DC heroes don’t have that strong of a cinematic track record.

LR also points out the obvious comparison of Darkseid and Marvel’s villain Thanos as a metaphor for the two comic book giants going head-to-head in the summer of 2015. And my Gamma Squad colleague and fellow comic book enthusiast Dan Seitz also rightfully reminds us that Thanos is a Darkseid knockoff. But I want to point out two additional items about this similar duo that could create an epic avalanche of nerd insanity and more rumors than we’re capable of handling:

1) I’ve mentioned the Infinity Gauntlet a few dozen times in Avengers sequel posts, so I’d be doing my own lunacy a disservice by not mentioning that Darkseid actually possessed the Infinity Gauntlet at one time in the Justice League/Avengers crossover. Let that nugget dry hump your cerebral dorktex for a minute.

2) Done with that? Say hi to Amalgam Comics’ Thanoseid, the combination of Thanos and Darkseid.

If you thought the X-Men/Avengers crossover rumors were bad, wait til the Internet starts pumping this nonsense out.