<Li> J.K. Simmons as James Gordon: The Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, and close ally of Batman . </Li> <Li> Ciarán Hinds as the voice of Steppenwolf: An alien military officer from Apokolips who leads an army of Parademons and is searching for the three Mother Boxes held on Earth . The character is described as "old, tired" and trying to find a way to escape his role of servitude under Darkseid . Hinds portrayed the villain through use of motion capture and received some advice in the process from Liam Neeson, who had recently done similar work in A Monster Calls . </Li> <P> The Olympian Old Gods Zeus, Ares and Artemis are portrayed by fitness model Sergi Constance, stuntman Nick McKinless, and MMA fighter Aurore Lauzeral, respectively . All three were required to reach a specific degree of physicality, with Snyder instructing McKinless to sport "veins like worms and paper thin skin". In the finished film, McKinless' face was replaced with David Thewlis's face, and Thewlis received the credit as Ares . Robin Wright reprises her role as Antiope during a flashback sequence . Amber Heard portrays the Atlantean Mera . During a scene depicting Steppenwolf's first invasion of Earth, Julian Lewis Jones appears as an ancient king of men, while Francis Magee portrays an ancient king of Atlantis . Joe Morton reprises his role as Silas Stone, Victor Stone's father and S.T.A.R. Labs' head while Billy Crudup appears as Henry Allen, Barry Allen's father . Joe Manganiello and Jesse Eisenberg appear uncredited in a post-credits scene as Slade Wilson / Deathstroke and Lex Luthor, respectively . Michael McElhatton appears as the leader of a group of terrorists who clash with Wonder Woman early in the film, while Holt McCallany makes an uncredited appearance as a burglar . Marc McClure, who portrayed Jimmy Olsen in the Christopher Reeve Superman film series, has a cameo as a police officer . An unidentified Green Lantern appears at the beginning of the film, created by use of CGI and embodied by an uncredited actor . Willem Dafoe and Kiersey Clemons filmed scenes as Nuidis Vulko and Iris West, respectively, although their roles were cut from the final film . Both actors are signed for multiple films and will appear in future installments of the franchise, Aquaman and Flashpoint, respectively . Early in production, a scene depicting Green Lanterns Kilowog and Tomar - Re visiting Batman was filmed as another post-credits scene, further teasing Green Lantern Corps . The scene was later scrapped . </P> <P> In February 2007, it was announced that Warner Bros. had hired husband and wife duo Michele and Kieran Mulroney to write a script for a Justice League film . The news came around the same time that Joss Whedon's long - developed Wonder Woman film was cancelled, as well as The Flash, written and directed by David S. Goyer . Reportedly titled Justice League: Mortal, Michele and Kiernan Mulroney submitted their script to Warner Bros. in June 2007, receiving positive feedback, which prompted the studio to immediately fast track production in the hope of beginning filming before the 2007--08 Writers Guild of America strike . Warner Bros. was less willing to proceed with development of a sequel to Superman Returns, having been disappointed with its box office . Brandon Routh was not approached to reprise the role of Superman in Justice League: Mortal, nor was Christian Bale from Batman Begins . Warner Bros. intended for Justice League: Mortal to be the start of a new film franchise, and to branch out into separate sequels and spin - offs . Shortly after filming The Dark Knight, Bale stated in an interview that "It'd be better if it doesn't tread on the toes of what our Batman series is doing," and felt it would make more sense for Warner Bros. to release the film after The Dark Knight Rises . Jason Reitman was the original choice to direct Justice League, but he turned it down, as he considers himself an independent filmmaker and prefers to stay out of big budget superhero films . George Miller signed to direct in September 2007, with Barrie Osbourne producing on a projected $220 million budget . </P>

Who was the original director of justice league