Many DC Comics characters have discovered their technique to the large display screen. After years of it being solely Superman and Batman, the 2010s noticed lots of DC’s greatest names lastly land function movies. Some for the higher (Marvel Girl, Aquaman) and others for the more serious (Inexperienced Lantern, The Flash). Exterior of the large Justice League names, many different DC titles just like the Birds of Prey, Constantine, Supergirl, Swamp Factor, Jonah Hex, Shazam, Blue Beetle, the Suicide Squad, and even the League of Tremendous-Pets have all discovered themselves the celebs of function movies.
But for years, DC and Warner Bros. struggled to convey lots of their heroes to life, and regardless of having almost 20 years of a head begin on Marvel, the increase within the 2000s of Marvel diversifications after which the MCU have seen these characters explode in reputation. There are many DC heroes that would have been the leads of function movies years in the past, and now, with the DCU in full swing, hopefully, they may get function movie diversifications.
These are 10 DC characters who ought to have gotten movies years in the past, however now have an opportunity to shine within the DCU.
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld
Created by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Ernie Colón
First Look: Legion of Tremendous-Heroes #298 (April 1983)
Created one 12 months after the Masters of the Universe toyline, Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld was DC Comics’ try and get in on the epic fantasy and sword and sorcery style that will outline the last decade with titles like Labrynith, The Darkish Crystal, and Legend. 13-year-old Amy Winston discovers that she is definitely the inheritor to a royal bloodline in a magical land known as Gemworld and was despatched to Earth when her dad and mom had been killed by a darkish pressure. She returns to her house to regain her throne and convey peace to the magical land.
It’s arduous to consider that regardless of the recognition of manufacturers like She-Ra or the increase of YA-adaptations of younger kids discovering magical hidden destinies within the wake of Harry Potter’s success that no person has thought to adapt Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld right into a function movie. With a brand new DCU rising, Amethyst appears like the best undertaking to differentiate the franchise from the MCU, as it might be a completely blown fantasy story set in one other world that faucets extra into the sword and sorcery style than different comedian e-book diversifications. A movie adaptation of Amethyst might additionally convey within the character’s unique pre-Rebirth connections to the Lords of Order, like Physician Destiny or the just lately confirmed DCU character Sister Symetry from the Corridor of Justice Mural in Superman.
Adam Unusual
Created by Julius Schwartz and Murphy Anderson
First Look: Showcase #17 (November 1958)
Adam Unusual is a basic pulp sci-fi hero, one closely impressed by John Carter. Adam Unusual is an archeologist on Earth who finds himself transported to planet Rann by means of a portal known as a Zeta-Beam. Stranded on this unusual planet, Adam Unusual makes use of their expertise to combat and defend the planet and finally falls in love with the alien Alanna. Adam Unusual is DC’s reply to characters like Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, making the truth that he hasn’t had a function movie all of the extra fascinating.
With a basic retro-futuristic sci-fi aesthetic, Adam Unusual looks like he would have been primed for a film at a number of intervals, significantly the late Seventies and early Eighties when each studio was making an attempt to chase the success of Star Wars. Whereas lots of Adam Unusual’s basic storylines now would really feel by-product of labor like Avatar or the 2012 John Carter film, the current Unusual Adventures comedian put a brand new, darker spin on the character that we have pitched would make for an incredible Mister Terrific-centric movie or tv sequence whereas additionally placing Adam Unusual entrance and middle as probably the DC’s greatest deconstruction of a hero since Watchmen.
Vixen
Created by Gerry Conway and Bob Oksner
First Look: Motion Comics #521 (July 1981)
Vixen is without doubt one of the strongest and underutilized characters in DC Comics, so it is not surprising that she hasn’t gotten a function movie, however it’s nonetheless disappointing. Mari Jiwe McCabe is a supermodel who hails from the fictional African nation of Zambesi. She possesses a magical totem, handed down by means of generations of ladies in her household, to achieve the flexibility of any animal, be they dwelling or extinct. Vixen makes use of her magical totem and the wealth from her supermodel profession to journey the world and act as a superhero.
Vixen has all the time been a type of film characters that has been screaming for a live-action movie, each in the truth that her capacity to faucet into any animal on the planet could make for numerous inventive motion scenes, but in addition in the truth that she is a outstanding black feminine superhero that would have had main crossover attraction for DC. Vixen felt like a personality who would have match into the lacking seventh member slot of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and now, within the DCU, may very well be a marquee hero. Her capacity to entry The Pink, much like Swamp Factor’s The Inexperienced, and her relationship with John Stewart/Inexperienced Lantern, give her two potential tie-ins to DCU initiatives.
Hawkman & Hawkgirl
Created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville
First Look: Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)
Each Hawkman and Hawkgirl have been supporting gamers in different characters’ films, with Aldis Hodge taking part in Hawkman in Black Adam whereas Isabela Merced performed Hawkgirl in Superman. But the 2 characters, intertwined by a cycle of demise and reincarnation to all the time discover each other, have all the time had the makings of an epic superhero romance all their very own. Hawkman and Hawkgirl have held many identities all through their lives, from archaeologists to alien house cops, and in a single lifetime, they had been even revealed to be the Outdated West heroes Nightawk and Cinammon. But the 2 are all the time drawn to at least one one other and marked by tragedy.
Discuss of a Hawkman film surfaced in 201,0, however nothing ever got here of it. Nevertheless, it’s simple to see how the premise might basically be pitched as Titanic meets Cloud Atlas and The Mummy with a sprinkle of Avatar. An epic romance that spans a number of factors in historical past throughout numerous lives (and genres). With Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl now established within the DCU, it looks like the proper time for Hawkman to affix the cinematic universe and to delve into this doomed romance, and probably look at what occurs when the 2 soul mates certain by reincarnation fall in love with another person.
The Sandman
Created by Gardner Fox and Bert Christman
First Look: New York World’s Honest Comics #1 (April 1939)
Usually overshadowed by the Nineteen Nineties Vertigo reimagining that simply concluded its adaptation on Netflix, the unique DC Sandman was a basic thriller man hero born of the pulp icons of the time interval. Wesley Dodd wears a World Battle 1 gasoline masks, a fedora, and a trench coat, and makes use of a gasoline gun that knocks out his enemies. He additionally has desires that give him visions of the long run, ones which can be linked to the Vertigo character Morpheus.
It’s surprising that Warner Bros. by no means tried to capitalize on The Sandman, significantly within the Nineteen Nineties when pulp heroes from the Thirties who wore fedoras and trench coats had been all the craze in movies like Dick Tracy, Darkman, and The Shadow. Sandman’s relationship to his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, is akin to the basic romance between Nick and Nora in The Skinny Man (simply with out all of the day ingesting). The Nineteen Nineties run, Sandman Thriller Theater, gave the character’s tales a basic film-noir fashion, one that will now work extremely effectively within the DCU, significantly following the reveal that Sandman was one of many heroes within the Corridor of Justice Memorial.
Inexperienced Arrow
Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp
First Look: Extra Enjoyable Comics #73 (November 1941)
One in all DC’s most iconic characters, and one of many few who did not get a drastic reimaging within the Silver Age, Inexperienced Arrow has been a personality destined for the large display screen however solely ever given the possibility to shine on tv. Billionaire Oliver Queen may look like a Batman knock-off with an arrow gimmick, however his Inexperienced Arrow persona is a lot extra, because the Robin Hood motif speaks to the hero’s extra liberal-minded views. He’s a protector of the working class, the everyman, and sometimes finds himself preventing the varied rich elites his alter ego crosses paths with.
A Inexperienced Arrow film was within the works at Warner Bros. for years. Titled Tremendous Max, the movie would have revolved round Inexperienced Arrow being arrested, unmasked, and despatched to a jail the place he must staff up with lots of the villains he put behind bars to flee. The premise was later retooled into an arc on Arrow, however with the DCU that includes a world stuffed with established villains, and now Lex Luthor being in Belle Reeve Penitentiary, Warner Bros. ought to take into account reviving the Tremendous Max idea. James Gunn has already mentioned the canon standing of Inexperienced Arrow within the DCU is unknown, so it provides the franchise a clear slate.
Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru
First Look: Showcase #37 (March–April 1962)
What rule says all superhero films need to be motion movies? Why cannot considered one of them be a foolish household comedy? Steel Males feels completely fitted to that function, and it virtually appeared just like the studio was getting in that course as Males in Black and Addams Household director Barry Sonnenfeld was hooked up to direct a live-action Steel Males film even earlier than the DCEU started with Man of Metal. It was final reported that Moana administrators John Musker and Rob Clements had been set to direct an animated model of The Steel Males, but no progress has been made on that movie since.
The Steel Males are the creation of Physician William Magnus, and are six robots: Gold, Platinum, Tin, Mercury, Iron, and Lead. William Magnus just lately appeared in Creature Commandos, and his episode look teased that learning G.I. Robotic finally results in the creation of the Steel Males. The heroic group may very well be a pleasant change of tempo for the DCU, giving it a extra comedic staff of heroes that will make for enjoyable crossover attraction with extra critical characters like Superman, Batman, and Marvel Girl.
Static
Created by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle, and Christopher Priest
First Look: Preview – Icon #1 (Could 1993). Full Look – Static #1 (June 1993)
Because of the recognition of the animated sequence Static Shock, Static is probably going one of the well-known DC Heroes, regardless of being a Milestone Comics creation. Virgil Hawkins is a teenage superhero who obtained his powers to regulate and manipulate electrical energy after being uncovered to an explosion of chemical compounds throughout a gang combat within the fictional metropolis of Dakota. Static has been DC’s reply to Spider-Man, a teenage superhero who must stability the struggles of highschool and coming of age whereas additionally battling supervillains. That is a robust pitch, so the truth that he hasn’t had a film but looks like a giant oversight.
Nicely, it is not for lack of making an attempt. Michael B. Jordan was producing a Static Shock film at one level, however no progress has been made on the movie. Reportedly, as a consequence of rights points between DC Comics and Milestone, Static’s capacity to affix the DCU stays up within the air. If and when Warner Bros. does get a Static film off the bottom, and if they’ll name it Static Shock, they probably might have a blockbuster must-see movie on their fingers, as a whole era who grew up with the Children WB cartoon sequence will wish to rush out to see the film and in addition share the movie with a youthful era, introducing Static to a brand new fanbase.
The Spectre
Created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily
First Look: Extra Enjoyable Comics #52 (February 1940)
The Spectre set-up is screaming for a horror film. The essential premise of the Spectre is that he’s a former demon given a divine objective by The Presence (thought of to be the DC’s model of God from Abrahamic religions). The Spectre is certain to a human host who offers out punishments to depraved people in ironic, harsh, and typically inventive methods. He has had a number of identities within the comics, together with former detective Jim Corrigan, who was murdered by a criminal offense boss and later returned to solid judgment on criminals. One other identification included Gotham Metropolis detective Crispus Allen, an atheist who had his beliefs examined by being become God’s wraith. Even Hal Jordan, the Inexperienced Lantern, turned the Spectre throughout his interval of retaliation following his villainous flip.
Regardless that the Spectre is without doubt one of the strongest beings within the DC Universe, the enjoyable of the character basically is watching a horror film villain being the great man of a narrative and punishing criminals. A Spectre film within the DCU might embrace the horror style, one the place the story is informed from criminals’ factors of view and the Spectre is a haunting presence, killing them off one after the other, much like Loss of life within the Last Vacation spot movies.
Zatanna
Created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson.
First Look: Hawkman #4 (November 1964)
With a few of DC’s greatest names having gotten their very own function movie, the one which followers have been asking for many years has been Zatanna. Zatanna just isn’t solely probably the most well-known magic consumer in DC Comics, however one of the highly effective, and is commonly a key member of the Justice League in addition to a founding member of the Justice League Darkish. Her signature stage magician look, mixed together with her intelligent idea of spells being phrases backwards, has all the time given Zatanna cinematic potential. Warner Bros. and DC Comics, nonetheless, have missed out on a key demographic that Marvel has efficiently tapped into with characters like The Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness.
There have been a number of makes an attempt to get Zatanna on the large display screen. From Ice Princess author Hadley Davis writing a solo movie within the 2000s to Guillermo del Toro wanting to make use of the character in Justice League Darkish and Promising Younger Girl author Emerald Fennell being employed to pen a Zatanna film in 2021, the entire initiatives did not get off the bottom. But because of Zatanna’s father, Giovanni Zatara, being a part of the DCU historical past as proven in Superman, and in addition the character getting a resurgence within the comics with Mariko Tamaki’s Zatanna: Convey Down the Home DC Black Label miniseries and Jamal Campbell’s DC All In Zatanna miniseries, it feels just like the character is being primed for a giant display screen debut. Whereas a Zatanna film ought to have been made yesterday, it’s higher late than by no means.
Superman
- Launch Date
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July 11, 2025
- Runtime
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130 minutes
- Director
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James Gunn
- Producers
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Peter Safran