No matter how much the heroes of the DC Universe fight against the forces of evil, there is always going to be more monsters around the corner. While we generally read superhero comics for the courageous actions and achievements of the heroes, let’s be real, the villains are what really give these stories the spice they need. And the DCU has some of the best villains around. Yeah, there are the classics like Joker, Reverse-Flash, or Lex Luthor. But over the last decade or so, the powers that be have introduced some truly interesting new foes.
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As hard as it is to make a new hero that captures readers’ hearts, it’s even harder to make a villain that has that special something. But ever since the days of the DC Rebirth initiative, we’ve gotten a handful of foes that proved they weren’t just more flash-in-the-pan bad guys. There’s Godspeed, an antagonistic speedster who truly challenged Barry Allen, as well as Olgrun, the sinister Old God waiting just beyond the veil of reality to destroy everything. Read on to discover 10 of the best villains DC Comics has made in the last decade.
10. The Sinister Sons
Technically, only one half of this duo is from the last decade (Sinson, the half-pint doing Sinestro cosplay). But the Sinister Sons debuted a few years ago, spinning out of Green Lantern and Kneel Before Zod. The two are a more villainous spin on the Super Sons and are both the legacies of two iconic DC foes, Sinestro and General Zod. While their accomplishments are few, I loved Sinister Sons and still think having two young villains head out into the universe to make a name for themselves was a hell of an idea for a comic.
9. Crytoon
Unlike most of the other villains on this list, Crytoon doesn’t exist in the Prime DCU, but that doesn’t make him any less interesting. In Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham, Crytoon was once a child patient at Arkham Asylum and was manipulated by a cabal known as the Stadtgeist to be their agent. Crytoon is essentially an anti-Joker, only instead of a clown who’s constantly laughing, he’s a cartoon-obsessed killer that constantly weeps. He also re-creates cartoon violence in real life, such as dropping anvils on people’s heads (with incredibly gruesome results).
8. Punchline
When it became clear that Harley Quinn was never going back to the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime moved on and partnered up with a new moll, Alexis Kaye, aka Punchline. Like Harley, Alexis was similarly obsessed with Joker, but where Harley’s expertise was in psychology, Punchline’s was in poisons, and she was even able to create her own unique Joker Venom. And also like Harley, Kaye eventually moved on from being the Joker’s sidekick, and after leaving the Harlequin of Hate, Punchline started running the criminal team, the Royal Flush Gang.
7. Godspeed
I’m normally a Reverse-Flash stan, but I have to admit, Godspeed was a pretty good opposite to the Flash as well. August Heart was a detective and a close friend of Barry Allen’s. However, after being imbued with powers during a Speed Force storm, Heart became a speedster like Barry. But whereas the Flash had a proper sense of justice, Godspeed was more concerned with killing criminals extrajudicially instead of making them face the law. He was an incredible foil to the Scarlet Speedster, and it’s honestly a shame he isn’t used more.
6. Zanni
Zanni is the newest villain on his list, but damn it if he wasn’t one of the most interesting foes throughout the DC All In era. Zanni is a Fifth-Dimensional entity who gains strength from imagination and performance. His powers peaked in the age of the circus, but waned at the dawn of the superhero. However, Dick Grayson, a superhero who was born in the circus, served as the perfect means to help Zanni regain his powers. Zanni has observed Nightwing his entire life and is willing to do whatever Zanni must to have the hero serve as his agent.
5. The Devil Nezha
The Devil Nezha had the honor of being the first foe featured in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, and what a way to start it off. Nezha is a powerful demon, and after emerging, he took control of all magic in the DC Universe. Literally every hero and villain associated with magic was his to control (including, strangely enough, Green Lantern). Though Nezha was locked away, the demon returned in the modern-day, becoming the central antagonist of Batman vs. Robin and Lazarus Planet. He was a true force to be reckoned with and, hopefully, he’s gone for good.
4. Olgrun
Olgrun is a villain who has largely stayed in the shadows, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. Olgrun was the most powerful of the Old Gods, and he was driven to madness after being tricked into killing his daughter. His destructive rampage was stopped by other Old Gods who separated Olgrun into seven God-Aspects. However, Olgrun’s poisoned spirit lingers on just outside the DCU, and he was still strong enough to create the terrifying Radiant Dead, a legion that could assimilate anything it came into contact with. Olgrun may be weakened, but he still presents a major threat.
3. Upside-Down Man
Some villains are just so unsettling they stick with you, and that is certainly the case for the Upside-Down Man. The Upside-Down Man is one of the Otherkind, a race of monsters born of the dark side of magic, and he serves as their leader. This being is one of the strongest magical monsters to come out of the Dark Multiverse. Aside from being insanely strong and agile, there’s virtually nothing he can’t do with his magic, from changing various states of matter to completely rearranging reality itself. He’s the last thing you want to bump into in the dark.
2. Failsafe
Normally, Batman’s contingencies are a good thing. But he allowed his backup self, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, to go way too far in creating Failsafe. Failsafe is an android designed to eliminate Batman if he ever went too far and took a life. So after the Joker had Penguin fake his death, Failsafe was activated, and it hunted Batman down to the ends of the Earth (and all the way to the moon). Failsafe was loaded with gadgets and was almost always ten steps ahead of Batman, making for one of the most difficult obstacles he ever had to overcome.
1. Absolute Joker
I’ll admit it might be cheating to have Joker on here. But his counterpart in the Absolute Universe is so different, he may as well be an entirely new character. The Absolute Joker is supposedly a man named Jack Grimm, who has been alive since the late 1800s. Grimm has been posing as his own descendants and building up an empire with JK Holdings. But the truth is that beneath the man is a monster, a devilish, clown-like ghoul that stalks, kills, and consumes people on the many private islands he’s bought with his resources.
Who’s your favorite DC Comics villain from the past ten years? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
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