Summary

  • DCU Chapter 1 Gods & Monsters could feature underused villains from the DCEU.
  • Bringing back characters like Deathstroke, Cheetah, and Ares could add value to the new DCU.
  • Along with this, there is the potential to further develop villains like Black Mask, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, and Victor Zsasz.

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.

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10 Deathstroke

Deathstroke Should Face Off Against The Teen Titans

Justice League
Where to Watch

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Director
Zack Snyder
Release Date
November 17, 2017

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

Wonder Woman 1984 Poster-1
Wonder Woman 1984
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Director
Patty Jenkins
Release Date
December 25, 2020
Writers
Geoff Johns , Patty Jenkins
Cast
Gal Gadot , Chris Pine , Pedro Pascal , Kristoffer Polaha , Connie Nielsen , Gabriella Wilde , Kristen Wiig , Robin Wright , Manoj Anand

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