7 DC Villains Who Deserve Their Own DCU Show

After the summer blockbuster Superman and the acclaimed second season of Peacemaker, the DC Universe is in full swing, both on the silver screen and small screen. The newest iteration of DC’s beloved comic book characters has been building a true universe with a focus on plenty of different characters. There are traditional heroes like Superman and off-beat anti-heroes like the Creature Commandos, and future projects promise mystery and horror stories are on the horizon. Creative head James Gunn has promised that the new DCU will cover all manners of genres, and that makes it the perfect time to shine some light on the best of DC’s worst.

With Peacemaker and Creature Commandos being rousing successes, and the unfortunately non-DCU associated Penguin universally praised, the market is clearly ready for stories that focus just as much on the morally bankrupt as heroes like the Justice League. Today, we’re going to take a look at seven villains who would be perfect stars for DCU TV shows and talk about what exactly makes them such fantastic picks. Let’s get right into theorcrafting some supervillain shows.

7) Veronica Cale

Veronica Cale is Wonder Woman’s version of Lex Luthor, being a powerful businesswoman who despises the Amazonian Princess because of her own skewed view of feminism and jealousy. Given that Lex is serving some serious prison time after the events of Superman, there is a massive evil capitalist-shaped hole in DC, which perfectly sets up Cale’s entrance. Her show could follow her attempts to claim the remnants of Lex’s criminal and business empire while he’s away, fighting to establish herself as his better in a world that looks down on her. 

It also gives the DCU the chance to explore a different side to Wonder Woman’s character and mythos. While the upcoming Paradise Lost show is set to dive into the magical world of the Amazons, a show focused on the more mundane and real-world that Wonder Woman inhabits just as often can establish what makes her such an impactful hero. Giving Cale the leading role can expand the business side of DC and set up for Wonder Woman like nobody else, so that by the time she makes her DCU debut, the world understands both parts of her character.

6)  Ra’s al Ghul

Ra’s is one of Batman’s greatest enemies, and his backstory provides the perfect backdrop for a mystery and history-themed show. Given that the Demon’s Head is centuries old, this show would be able to explore different eras of the world, which is a great way to introduce and dig into this Earth’s lore naturally. Witnessing Ra’s start with humble beginnings and rise to be the noble, warped, nearly-heroic man he is today could make for a very compelling adventure. It also serves to give more background info about Damian Wayne, who will be a big player in The Brave and the Bold.

5) Bizarro

Bizarro might seem like a strange choice to head a TV show, but he already has the perfect origin baked into the universe. The climax of Superman saw the Man of Steel defeat a mindless clone of himself, and given that this imperfect copy fell into a pocket universe, this is a fantastic way to have that clone evolve into Bizarro. This could very easily be a comedy, where Bizarro stumbles his way through the world trying to be a hero, but making everything worse because he behaves and speaks backwards. It’s a great chance to explore Metropolis and lesser-known parts of the DC world while highlighting what makes the real Superman so important.

4) Sinestro

While the vast majority of DC’s heroes live on Earth, many very important aspects of DC’s mythos are in the stars. Given that the upcoming Lanterns TV show is set to introduce the cosmic Green Lantern Corps, it’s the perfect time to expand on that lore with Sinestro and his Yellow Lanterns. This story could be Sinestro establishing his own evil Corps, or even his journey of redemption to become something more than the washed-up has-been he’s become. What makes Sinestro the perfect villain to spearhead this show is his complex nature, where he’s been a hero and is always on the verge of being one again, but his fear holds him back. He can show us the deeper space introduced in Lanterns better than anyone else around.

3) Time Commander

James Gunn loves to take obscure characters and turn them into stars, especially when they’re morally grey and kind of pathetic, and Time Commander fits that bill to a tee. John Starr is a forgettable supervillain who invented a special hourglass that allows him to travel through time. Given how many heroes exist across different eras, a time-travel show following a man who definitely does not know what he’s doing is another great way to explore the history and potential future of the DCU, all while giving a spotlight to a character that has what it takes to be a big name, if given the chance. The Time Commander is my go-to pick for that, mostly because it’s hard to find someone with more potential and less relevance than him.

2) The Rogues

James Gunn turned the Guardians of the Galaxy into one of Marvel’s best-known teams and showed his deep love for a group of plucky, emotionally stunted, morally questionable idiots working together and becoming a family.  He’s already shown his plans for that style of storytelling in DC with the Suicide Squad and the Creature Commandos, but another fantastic option for that role is the Rogues. They’re a bunch of villains with a loose code who are in way over their heads fighting the Flash, but have firmly established that they’re as much a family as they are a team. An action comedy following some of the Flash’s best villains can easily expand to include other big names and be wildly entertaining as Captain Cold loses his mind.

1) Barbatos

This might seem like an insane pick at first, but Barbatos offers something that no other villain does: infinite possibilities. It’s been made clear that the DCU will involve horror works, and Barbatos can introduce horror like nobody else. He was a dragon created to destroy unstable worlds made at the Forge of the Worlds, from which every world in the multiverse is made. However, he took over the forge and corrupted it, creating the Dark Multiverse, a reality where everything that can go wrong does, made from everyone’s deepest fears.

Imagine DC’s own version of Marvel’s What If series, only instead of exploring any potential world, it focused on dark retellings of some of DC’s most classic stories, or entirely original horror tales in the setting. Barbatos could take the place of the Watcher and subject the audience to a cavalcade of terrifying tales and murderous adventures with DC’s greatest heroes. It’d be a fresh take on some of the multiversal concepts that have become so dry, and open the door to let literally anything go down, which is always a plus for these kinds of stories.

So there we have seven DC villains who I believe would be perfect leads in a DCU TV show. Which villain do you think should head their own series? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!