Ava DuVernay has been confirmed as the director of the upcoming film adaptation of the DC comic book series New Gods for Warner Bros.

Here's everything one needs to know about these cosmic heroes and villains:

Who Are The New Gods?

The New Gods are a group of incredibly powerful beings that belong to the Fourth World, a realm that exists outside of normal time and space and can be accessed only with the help of an advanced teleportation device known as a Boom Tube.

The Fourth World earlier consisted of a single planet called Urgund but was split into two worlds following a cataclysmic war: New Genesis and Apokolips. While New Genesis has been described as a peaceful planet ruled by the kind and benevolent Highfather, Apokolips is nightmarish dystopia dominated by the evil tyrant Darkseid.

The New Gods are also immortal beings that possess superhuman powers and abilities of various kinds and to differing degrees. Here are some of the main characters:

Orion

Orion is the second son of DC supervillain Darkseid but was traded for the son of Highfather, Scott Free a.k.a. Mister Miracle, as a child in order to maintain peace between New Genesis and Apokolips. Known as "The Dog of War," he was raised by the Highfather who taught him to control his anger and turned him into the most powerful warrior in the Fourth World.

However, he still struggles to maintain a balance between his peaceful upbringing and his dark heritage.

Darkseid

Darkseid, referred to as the "God of Evil" is the ruler of Apokolips, considered as one of the Justice League's worst adversaries and the number one enemy of New Genesis. The merciless tyrant's sole mission is to find the Anti-Life Equation, a mathematical formula that gives him the power to enslave all life in the universe.

Big Barda

Big Barda, who is DuVernay's favorite superhero, as she revealed on Twitter, was raised for battle on the nightmarish world of Apokolips. She was one of Darkseid's greatest warriors and also led his group of deadly assassins known as the Female Furies.

However, Barda abandoned both Darkseid's service and Apokolips after falling in love with Mister Miracle, whom she eventually marries.

Highfather

Highfather, also known as Highfather Izaya or Izaya the Inheritor, is the ruler of New Genesis and the opposite of Darkseid. His wife's murder at the hands of Darkseid's general Steppenwolf is one of the incidents that caused the war between New Genesis and Apokolips.

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