Thousands of years ago, Steppenwolf and his legions of Parademons attempted to take over Earth with the combined energies of three Mother Boxes. They are foiled by a unified army that included the Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, mankind, and the Green Lantern Corps. After repelling Steppenwolf's army, the Mother Boxes are separated and hidden in locations on the planet. In the present, mankind is in mourning over Superman, whose death triggers the Mother Boxes to reactivate and Steppenwolf's return to Earth in an effort to regain favor with his master, Darkseid. Steppenwolf aims to gather the artifacts to form "The Unity", which will destroy Earth's ecology and terraform it in the image of Steppenwolf's homeworld.