10 Underused DCEU Villains The DCU Could Easily Bring Back In Chapter 1 

The upcoming first chapter in the new, rebooted DC Universe is approaching and could easily bring back some underused villains that appeared in the previous DCEU. Gods and Monsters is the first chapter of the DCU, kicking off with Superman, directed by James Gunn in 2025. The lineup is diverse in tone and characters, allowing for a large variety of iconic DC villains to make an appearance since DC as a whole has a vast rogues gallery to choose from.

The DCEU included some major villains, like Lex Luthor, General Zod, Harley Quinn, Doomsday, and the Joker, with mixed results. This makes bringing back some of them for the newly rebooted DCU tougher, but not impossible, as DC has a strong slate of upcoming movies that could feature some of these villains. Updating poorly done villains may risk the franchise’s antagonists coming off as repetitive, but it also presents a great opportunity for the DCU to show off the positive changes it’s making to what came before.

10 Deathstroke

Deathstroke Should Face Off Against The Teen Titans

Justice League

Release Date

November 17, 2017

Cast

Jeremy Irons , Gal Gadot , Amy Adams , Jesse Eisenberg , Ciarán Hinds , Ben Affleck , Henry Cavill , Ezra Miller , J. K. Simmons , Jason Momoa , Ray Fisher

Deathstroke’s (Joe Manganiello) role in the DCEU was nothing more than a brief cameo. In the theatrical cut of Justice League, his conversation with Lex Luthor revolved around forming the Legion of Doom, while in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, their discussion was focused on going after Batman. He also appeared teaming up with Batman, the Joker, and other characters in the post-apocalyptic world teased in the epilogue.

The cameo was a missed opportunity for Deathstroke in the DCEU, as the character is a well-known villain who has been due for a significant movie appearance. Up until recently, Deathstroke’s live-action adaptations have only been on television. Now that a Teen Titans movie is being developed for the new DCU, it would be easy to include Deathstroke as one of the villains, as he has been a long-time adversary to the young superhero squad.

9 Cheetah

Wonder Woman’s Main Villain Deserves Another Chance

Barbara Minerva (Kristin Wiig) appeared in Wonder Woman 1984 as a dorky scientist who changes into the animal-like antagonist Cheetah, one of Wonder Woman’s main villains, throughout the movie. However, her transformation into her final form was confusing, and she was consistently overshadowed by Pedro Pascal’s over-the-top Maxwell Lord. This shouldn’t be the case for a villain like Cheetah since she is incredibly important to Diana’s story.

No Wonder Woman movie has been announced for the new DCU yet, but if it does happen, bringing back Cheetah and focusing on her as the main villain could be a smart move to help flesh out Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery in the new universe. There is a lot to Cheetah as a character, and she is formidable enough to be the main villain of a Wonder Woman movie without being relegated to a secondary antagonist like she was in Wonder Woman 1984.

8 Ares

More Depth Would Greatly Benefit The God Of War

Wonder Woman

Director

Patty Jenkins

Release Date

June 2, 2017

Ares (David Thewlis) appears towards the end of Wonder Woman, revealing himself partially responsible for the war and urging Diana to join his side, ruling over humanity as gods. Despite being an interesting antithesis to Wonder Woman, Ares didn’t get much to do. He was reduced to the background for most of the movie, and his final fight with Diana was underwhelming.

There is an upcoming project for the DCU that could bring back Ares, though. Paradise Lost is a Wonder Woman prequel series being developed for the DCU that will focus more on the mythological elements of DC’s lore, which could delve deeper into Ares as a character than the original movie did. Wonder Woman’s Greek mythology is a central core of her character and Ares is one of the more important figures in that mythology.

7 Bloodsport

He Has A Score To Settle With Peacemaker

Bloodsport (Idris Elba) was the reluctant leader of Task Force X in The Suicide Squad. He went from a cold-blooded mercenary unable to connect with his daughter to a man wanting to do the right thing, not for himself, but for others around him. Bloodsport was at odds with John Cena’s Peacemaker throughout and seemingly killed him towards the end in a Western-style gun duel. Peacemaker lived and was further developed in his successful TV series.

Though not an outright villain in The Suicide Squad, Bloodsport could be an antagonist for Peacemaker in season two as he tries to right some of Peacemaker’s wrongs. There is still a score to settle between the two, which could lead to strong character growth for Bloodsport. With James Gunn moving his characters from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker into the DCU, it wouldn’t be difficult for Elba to reprise the role.

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6 Black Mask

Black Mask Should Be A Major Player In Gotham City’s Underworld

Birds of Prey

Director

Cathy Yan

Release Date

February 7, 2020

Writers

Christina Hodson

Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) was a hilariously dark villain in Birds of Prey. He acted as an obstacle each of the members, Huntress, Black Canary, Rene Montoya, and Harley Quinn had to overcome in some way. Unfortunately, Black Mask was killed by Harley Quinn at the end of the movie and most of the characters from Birds of Prey weren’t seen again in the DCEU.

It felt like a missed opportunity not to have Black Mask be a recurring villain in Gotham City for the DCEU moving forward, but he wouldn’t have had the chance, since the Batman mythology was almost completely ignored after Birds of Prey. The DCU could bring Black Mask back as a major threat to the other criminal empires in Gotham City, and he could be a serious problem for heroes like the Birds of Prey, Nightwing, or even Batman.

5 Mercy Graves

She Is More Than Just Lex Luthor’s Assistant

Mercy Graves (Tao Okamoto) had little to do in

Batman v Superman and ended up dying in the bombing of the Superman hearing that was orchestrated by Lex Luthor. Mercy didn’t get much else to do in Luthor’s grand scheme to pit Batman and Superman against each other. She acted as Lex Luthor’s assistant for the majority of her screen time and had a brief interaction with Bruce Wayne at Luthor’s party, the extent of her role in the movie.

However, Mercy is much more than Lex’s assistant. She is also his bodyguard and a skilled fighter who could go toe-to-toe with some DC heroes who pose a threat to Luthor. Mercy Graves won’t ever be a major threat, but could be a tough obstacle to go through for someone trying to get to Lex Luthor.

4 New Gods

Darkseid And His Minions Should Be A Major Threat To The Justice League

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Release Date

March 18, 2021

Cast

Ben Affleck , Henry Cavill , Amy Adams , Gal Gadot , Ray Fisher , Jason Momoa , Ezra Miller , Jesse Eisenberg , Jeremy Irons , J.K. Simmons , Willem Dafoe

Besides Steppenwolf, Darkseid, DeSaad, and some of the other New Gods only appeared briefly in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Darkseid announced his plans to travel to Earth at the end of the movie, but the DCEU decided not to continue with that storyline. This was despite it being hinted at early in the universe with Batman v Superman.

Darkseid is one of the major threats to the Justice League, and the politics involving the New Gods could be fun to explore in a movie or television show. Nothing came about with them in the DCEU despite a planned New Gods movie that was eventually canceled. The New Gods exist outside normal space and time, which makes it easy for them to be brought back as an other-worldly threat to the eventual inclusion of the Justice League in the new DCU.

3 Enchantress

Enchantress Could Be A Powerful Adversary In A Justice League Dark Film

Suicide Squad

Director

David Ayer

Release Date

August 5, 2016

Writers

David Ayer

Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) appeared in Suicide Squad as a member of Task Force X before she became the major threat the rest of the squad had to stop. However, Enchantress’ potential was heavily wasted in the movie. Most of her character development happened before the film’s events, like her relationship with Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), which was an essential plot point in the story.

With the upcoming Swamp Thing movie that could lead into Justice League Dark, Enchantress could fit right in with the magic-focused side of the DC universe. She could be a formidable threat to a team like Justice League Dark especially. If the DCU doesn’t want to use her as an outright villain again, she could even fit into the Justice League Dark as a powerful ally in their fight against the darker forces in the DCU.

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2 Captain Boomerang

Captain Boomerang Is A Fun Addition To The Flash’s Rogues Gallery

Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) was one of the highlights of Suicide Squad before being quickly killed off during the opening mission of The Suicide Squad. He didn’t have the most screen time or development in Suicide Squad, like Harley Quinn or Deadshot, and even less in his second appearance. Courtney brought a quirky energy to the character that stood out among the rest of the squad, especially in the first movie.

Captain Boomerang is also the only villain from The Flash’s rogues gallery which should be expanded on in the new universe. He stood out with his limited time and could easily be brought back despite his death if the DCU does a soft reboot of Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad characters. If The Flash gets another movie in the new universe, focusing on his Rogues with Captain Boomerang in the mix should be what it is about.

1 Victor Zsasz

A Terrifying And Grounded Villain

Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina) was the right-hand man for Black Mask in Birds of Prey, trying to clean up the mess Harley Quinn left in her wake. Although he was almost successful in the end, his potential was undervalued in the film. Zsasz’s habit of etching scars onto his body for each of his victims was terrifying, and he complimented Ewan McGregor’s over-the-top take on Black Mask well.

Having a character like Nightwing, Robin, or Batman investigating a string of grisly murders orchestrated by Zsasz could make for a grounded and scary story. Victor Zsasz won’t ever be a huge threat to the majority of DC’s heroes, but he could be an interesting villain operating in the darkest parts of Gotham City. He would also fit right in with a world of gods and monsters.

DC has some of the best villains at their disposal for the upcoming DCU Chapter 1, Gods & Monsters. James Gunn, Peter Safran, and the rest of the creative team could pick villains that have never been in a movie or television show before and still have a strong line-up of villains for their heroes to overcome. Even though these villains have already been portrayed, bringing them back as different iterations, or in some cases the same, wouldn’t be too difficult and would give them a chance to shine when the previous DCEU didn’t always do that.

DC Universe

Character(s)

Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Aquaman , The Flash , Cyborg , Harley Quinn , The Joker , Shazam , Darkseid , Amanda Waller , Lex Luthor , Doomsday , Deadshot , Deathstroke , Black Canary , Black Adam