The depiction of New Gods' powers in other media

[Mider2009]

Is anyone else a bit let down by the depiction of the New Gods in shows & films? Specifically Darkseid in animated shows/films. I feel like he and his followers are routinely depicted as big strong bads who punch hard without much mystique to them. Not that there's anything wrong with some hand-to-hand combat, and I recognize it isn't always easy to animate complicated fight scenes, but I feel like we're missing out on seeing the truly engaging mix of sci-fi and mysticism that Kirby originally intended.

Steppenwolf's depiction in Justice League was slightly better in the sense that he was noticeably large, could radiate energy blasts, and used the motherbox. But I can't say it was anything too creative.

Now I'm not an expert on the New Gods, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on Volume 1 of the origina Omnibus, and have read various stories over the years featuring New Genesis and Apokalips. Even though it's not always that different, I feel it's important to emphasize that they aren't just strangely-dressed flying bricks. They exist on another plane entirely, they only project themselves into a material form we can comprehend. They know and influence the natural universe in a way ordinary flesh-and-blood beings can't, no matter how super or alien.

What are some of the best moments/examples of the New Gods behaving in a distinctly cosmic or divine way, and what do you hope to see from Kirby's creations with respect to their abilities in the New Gods film & other content going forward?

Post crisis New Gods don’t seem very impressive

Though they were smacking around Sinestro even with Parallax no? Yet Darkseid. Can’t beat Superman

I thought Steppenwolf was depicted as a real threat in JL though

[Lightning Rider]

Though they were smacking around Sinestro even with Parallax no? Yet Darkseid. Can’t beat Superman

Hmm when was this? Seems familiar but can't recall.

[achilles]

Post crisis New Gods don’t seem very impressive

Though they were smacking around Sinestro even with Parallax no? Yet Darkseid. Can’t beat Superman

I thought Steppenwolf was depicted as a real threat in JL though

The late 60s early 70s rock band? I thought Born To Be Wild was fine, though a bit of a mama's boy...right up until Superman came back on the scene, which is when he just got punked. Well, of course he got really punked by the Amazons and Greek Gods. And, come to think of it, when Aquaman and Wonder Woman got their second wind, he also got punked. So...threat? In the same sense that the Wonder Woman movie villain turned out to be Ned Flanders...no, maybe said rock band wasn't much of a threat in that movie.

[The_Lurk]

Oh, something else I'm curious about. The New Gods are referred to several times as being much larger than they appear to us on Earth, altering the size of their avatars to interact with our plane of existence. How, then, would Superman or any other character be able to visit Apokalips or New Genesis and not be tiny? Do they have to go through boomtube to enlarge/magnify themselves to adjust?

Yes. The boomtube/motherbox adjusts the size. On the top of my head I know only the instance in which Supergirl (...Matrix) traveled to Apokolips via her own teleport tunnel and was about the size of a thumb of one of the locals.

[Lightning Rider]

Having re-read Kirby's New Gods, I saw a lot of transmutation type stuff going on, and one thing that interested me was Darkseid's ability (with the help of technology) to resurrect New Gods by rearranging their atoms.

Does anyone know if resurrection plays a special role in other stories or media?

For example, in Mr. Miracle, I remember certain characters were getting murked, and whie I chalked it up to multiverse/simulation possibilities, I did wonder whether they're immortality stretched beyond what I thought.

Yes. The boomtube/motherbox adjusts the size. On the top of my head I know only the instance in which Supergirl (...Matrix) traveled to Apokolips via her own teleport tunnel and was about the size of a thumb of one of the locals.

Thanks for that!

[Stanlos]

Oh, something else I'm curious about. The New Gods are referred to several times as being much larger than they appear to us on Earth, altering the size of their avatars to interact with our plane of existence. How, then, would Superman or any other character be able to visit Apokalips or New Genesis and not be tiny? Do they have to go through boomtube to enlarge/magnify themselves to adjust?

Boomtubes translate Superman and others.

Unfortunately the New Gods and really any divinity in the DCU are often treated as Just Another Superpowered Alien. 52 has done especially bad with divinity. But even if you rewound the clock, the last time Divinity on a broad scale in the DCU were handled well was WAR OF THE GODS.

While Rucka's first WW run was pulling in those concepts again he was shot down and dismantled by editorial. It is quite a shame because we would again have seen the impacts of war among divinities on the 3 dimensional plane (which should always be a Big Deal).

Unless you have talent AND editorial on the same page it ends up being better to see them every now and again. I trust Luke and Simonson to do right by them (as well as the likes of Wolfman, Perez, Loebs, and sometimes Byrne) but not much else.

[Stanlos]

I like the fact that Kirby left things kinda vague. It’s allowed other creators to pick up where he left off and come up with some great additions to the characters. Morrison’s interpretation that the New Gods that we see are just aspects of them on our earthly plain. They can also be portrayed similarly to the way the Greek and Norse pantheons are in comics, where they really do have more physical forms. They all add to the character’s mystique and history.

This points to another challenge to the New Gods (and Divinity in general): CONSISTENCY.

Several times in this thread people have talked about how the New Gods are just aspects cast onto the mortal plane like that is a concept unique to them. While it is insane to think a reader would know that this applied to various pantheon of the Old Gods an editorial team should. However I don't think there's been one that did after Berger left WW. Loebs and Luke's usage of the concept I suspect was a happy accident.

Either way, the point is that was a concept spelled out in great detail across multiple books but it is not widely known.

[Ra-El]

The only way for the New Gods to gain the sense of divinity they should have, is getting the "Endless treatment". Morpheus and Co. never lost the sense of wonder Gaiman gave them, not even when they appear and Dark Nights and the likes of it. While they are part of the larger DCU, Desire don't get his ass kicked by Superman or Batman every couple years, and that helps a lot.

[Flash Gordon]

I mean I only consider Kirby's stuff, Simonson's ORION, and some of Morrison's work to be really 'New Gods'. Everything else is watered down.

Orion is one of the greatest of fictional characters, and Simonson's run is stellar.

[Stanlos]

I mean I only consider Kirby's stuff, Simonson's ORION, and some of Morrison's work to be really 'New Gods'. Everything else is watered down.

Orion is one of my the greatest of fictional characters, and Simonson's run is stellar.

Did you not like Byrne's JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD?