10 Characters The DCEU Needs

animal man, cheetah, dceu, flamebird, hawkgirl, hawkman, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, nightwing, poison ivy, raven, starfire, the question, the riddler

Hi! Before I start, the reason why I’ve done this post is mostly because Squirrel Girl officially became a non-mutant thus potentially setting her up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which led me to think of a few Marvel characters I’d like to see in the MCU, see here for a better explanation. I then went on to think about which DC characters would rock the DCEU. Guaranteed, it’s barely started, which leaves a whole lot of space for a whole lot of cool characters. For reference, Man of Steel kicked off the DCEU (although unintentionally), with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (featuring, of course Batman and Superman, as well as Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Aquaman, Flash, and Lois Lane), followed by (my most anticipated movie of 2016) Suicide Squad (with Harley Quinn, The Joker, Deadshot, Katana, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, Katana, El Diablo, Killer Croc, Amanda Waller and Slipknot, just to name a few). That’s a huge roster, considering we’d only be three movies into the DCEU by the time SS comes out. That perhaps poses the question of… is there room for other characters? Well, of course there is. It’s a shared universe, not every character in the first three films have to be around forever (hint hint Marvel Iron Man). I do indeed think that, of course the Justice League (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern and more) will be the mainstays, as well as Harley Quinn, Joker, Enchantress and Deadshot being just a few of the central villains. However, I’m totally fine with these listed below even being cameos or one-movie characters. 

Raven

Unlike Marvel, DC has decided to go into the cosmic/magic realm instantly, with Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress being the prime example in the upcoming Squad movie. Personally, I’d absolutely love it if DC decided to expand on the magical realm and introduced Raven, the daughter of the powerful demon Trigon. While unsure how Raven would fit into the DCEU at the moment, with there being practically no DCEU movies (does Man of Steel even count?), I could perhaps see her as a supporting character in the Justice League movies, alongside the teen titans. Which leads me to…

Nightwing

aka Robin’s (a founding member of the Teen Titans) future self. If we can get our heads past that awful (sorry) theory of Jason Todd being the Joker (although it might happen), I could totally see Nightwing accompany Batman in the solo Bat movies throughout the DCEU timeline, and if rumours of Jena Malone playing Carrie Kelley (Robin) or Batgirl/Oracle in BVS:DOJ are to be believed, then heck, Nightwing would be the perfect addition. With Jason Todd’s suit burnt to a crisp (as seen in the BVS trailer), could he have survived to become Nightwing? I don’t know, but seeing Nightwing in live-action would be awesome. Perhaps we could even see Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie) fight Nightwing, similar to Harley Quinn’s side story in Arkham Knight? 

Starfire

First Raven, then Nightwing (Robin), now Starfire. Cyborg is getting his own damn movie. All the love for Teen Titans (sorry Beast Boy). Starfire is an alien super-hero that can fly and has the powers of energy projection. Additionally, she’s a princess from Tamaran, escaping execution at the hands of her sister. Starfire’s presence in the DCEU would be noticeable, perhaps even more than some characters already set to appear in the DCEU (Slipknot and El Diablo anyone?). What I’m mostly hinting at here is that I’d love for there to be an appearance by the Teen Titans somewhere along the line, perhaps as backup support for the Justice League in JL: Part 2. 

Animal Man

He’s cooler than he sounds I swear. If Marvel can successfully pull of a giant green thing and Ant-Man, a man who shrinks and talks to ants, then surely DC can manage a man who can use the abilities of any animal. That’s actually quite a useful power. While Animal Man truly has no place in the current DCEU lineup, perhaps later on after JL:P2 we’ll get to a place where we need some fresh characters, why not take a risk like Marvel did and introduce Animal Man. They’ve managed to make Aquaman look badass as hell, they could surely make Animal Man look badass, especially with the lack of saturation (seriously, they have hardly ANY colour in the movies). I’d be game for Animal Man further down the line, probably not headlining his own movie, but as a supporting character circa Falcon w/ Captain America for Marvel. 

The Question

If the DCEU is really going to be as dark as one expects (both colour-wise and story-wise), then why not introduce The Question into the Batman story. With the direction it seems they might be going, with Jason Todd in a post-Robin ‘limbo’, potential Carrie Kelley OR Batgirl, as well as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and The Joker being around, who better than The Question to come and sort stuff out. 

Flamebird

If I’m going to suggest Nightwing, then I’m going to have to suggest Flamebird, right? Flamebird is Nightwing’s sidekick, Batwoman’s niece, she even took on the mantle of Bat-Girl for a period of time. She’s an occasional member of Teen Titans (seriously, I have a problem, they’re just so cool). Flamebird, otherwise known as Bette Kane, is also a really good tennis player. While I’m not entirely show how this fits in with the DCEU I’m not entirely sure, I just feel that if Nightwing were to pop up in the Batman movies, Flamebird should very well accompany him. Besides, we kind of need a fresh take on Batman with some different characters. 

Hawkgirl and Hawkman

Please, please, please, can these be the Black Widow and Hawkeye’s of the DC Extended Universe. Essentially, not getting their own movies but still being the best characters (although that’ll be difficult with Harley Quinn, The Flash and Batman around). I’m actually desperate to see these two in the Justice League movies, I mean, seriously, who says that the team-up movies have to consist of the core 7. At least bring in Hawkgirl and Hawkman for Justice League Part Two. Please? They’re so cool. I loved Hawkgirl’s story in Injustice: Gods Among Us (slight leeway to talk about how good Harley Quinn’s ending is in the game, woah), Hawkman’s pretty damn cool too. 

Poison Ivy

Now that Harley’s a definite in the DCEU (Margot Robbie is my hero, just throwing it out there), who better to bring into the mix than Pamela Isley herself (or Ivy Pepper for all you Gotham fans). If done right, Poison Ivy could be immensely threatening and outright terrifying in the DCEU, the CGI would be immense. Ivy doesn’t necessarily have to appear in a Batfleck movie, if Suicide Squad is a huge hit then she’ll more than likely appear in the sequel. I truly stand by Poison Ivy appearing in the DCEU, but only if they do it right, which means no Uma Thurman (sorry 😦 ) I recently saw a tweet saying how, if they grew Ivy’s powers and made her insanely powerful, she’d be a worthy antagonist for the Justice League, however that may indeed be unlikely in the DCEU. Fingers crossed she finally gets the cinematic portrayal she deserves in the DCEU. 

Cheetah

So, when Lego Batman 3 came out, I didn’t know that Cheetah would be on the main characters. After playing as her, albeit in Lego form, I realised that, actually, she’s a solid character, and a fantastic Wonder Woman nemesis. Now, while I couldn’t imagine Cheetah being the primary antagonist of the Wonder Woman movie (although she is rumoured to be one of the five antagonists to star in the movie), I could, however diminishing it is to her character, see her as a secondary antagonist, below none other than Circe and Ares (which I believe would be much more fitting for the DCEU). Nevertheless, if these rumours are true it would be fantastic to finally see Cheetah brought to life in a Wonder Woman movie. 

The Riddler

Other than being my Halloween costume for this year, the Riddler is a truly iconic Batman villain, although perhaps slightly put to the side when Joker, Harley, Penguin and Bane are around. However, I feel that we haven’t had a solid (live-action) film representation of the character for a while (does Jim Carrey really count?). Now, take into consideration a Batman movie, along with Nightwing, Bat-Girl, Batwoman and co, with The Riddler. That could really work well, especially with the dark theme the DCEU has got going on (yes, colour as well). On second thought, a Batman movie with a well-done Riddler AND Poison Ivy together would be ridiculously amazing; a dark, mysterious thriller with amazing CGI and some brain-hurting riddles. This could work just as well as Poison Ivy or Nightwing in the DCEU, and admittedly I do think that all three will for definite appear in one of the DCEU movies, perhaps not even a Batman movie (as similar to Poison Ivy). 
That’s all for now. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a Loot Crate giveaway, as well as my monthly soundtrack on December 1st, with a few posts in between. I’ll also be posting ‘Farewell, Clara Oswald’ so be sure to come back for that!
Bye for now!
Curtis