DC Comics made the superhero into the icon it is today, and they’ve done the same with the supervillain. Since the beginning, the publisher has been giving readers the best antagonists money can buy, enemies that have defined what evil can be in a comic book over the decades. The best villains have stood the test of time, growing and changing, and inspiring numerous versions of themselves. DC’s continuity can be pretty wonky once you get into the multiverse and Elseworlds of it all, and that’s before we even get to stuff like weird alternate futures and the like that. The greatest villains have followed their foes through the multiverse, giving readers some amazing clashes.
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One way to keep a villain fresh is to upgrade them in various ways, making them greater threats than they were before. Sometimes, these upgrades come in what is basically the main universe (if you’re a longtime DC fan, you know that every story you read can be relegated to a past version of the universe after the next big reboot), and other times they come from the various multiversal stories the publisher puts out. These are the seven best upgraded versions of DC villains, their threats increasing and making them forces of multiversal mayhem.
7) “Stealing Thunder” Ultra-Humanite
The Justice Society has some fantastic adventures, with “Stealing Thunder” giving readers the scariest version of the Ultra-Humanite ever. Yes, scarier than the albino ape. The brain-swapping villain took over the body of Johnny Thunder, was able to get the Thunderbolt back, and used its power to make himself young and take over the world. he defeated and locked up the heroes and removing his brain to a secure location while he remotely controls Johnny’s body. The villain had become a god, and he only lost because of the Thunderbolt, Johnny, and Jakeem Thunder’s relationship.
6) The Batman Who Laughs
So, the Batman Who Laughs might seem like a weird one, because Batman is a hero, but he’s also a version of Joker as well, so I’m counting him. A lot of people hate the character because he was overexposed for about two years (which was honestly the fault of everyone who thought he was cool when he first appeared; you guys built this monster yourselves), but if you read some of those books again, he’s honestly pretty cool (both Dark Knights events, his one-shot {you can skip the series; it’s fine} Batman/Superman #1-6, Snyder’s Justice League, the important ones). He’s one of DC’s most irredeemable villains, a monster who wants to create a multiverse just like him.
5) Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night Sinestro
Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1 introduced readers to one of the most unique versions of Sinestro ever. In the main universe version of the story, the leader of the Sinestro Corps gained the power of the White Lantern and battled Nekron, losing control over its power as the battle went on. In the Dark Multiverse, he was killed in the battle, with a Black Lantern ring hitting while he still had the power of the White Lantern. This formed a unique fusion of the two powers. He was half dead and half alive, with the Black Lantern side sometimes taking over, and decided that the only way to be free was to destroy the Black Lanterns. Sinestro is an amazing ringslinger and his control over the White and Black parts of the spectrums was as fantastic as you could imagine. He was able to eradicate the Black Lanterns from the universe, but created a universe full of Lobo-influenced bastiches.
4) Omega Psycho-Pirate
Crisis on Infinite Earths changed DC forever, but one person in-universe remembered everything – the Psycho-Pirate. This emotion-controlling villain from Earth-Two was recruited and amped by the Anti-Monitor during Crisis and the Medusa Mask was connected to the multiverse, allowing him to use his powers against entire universes. He would later gain the ability to manifest beings from the old multiverse and became a key part of every multiversal crisis, the only one who remembered every version of it. He was recruited by Darkseid in Infinite Frontier #0-6, helping him in his latest scheme to snare the Great Darkness. Psycho-Pirate got amped again, gaining power over Darkseid’s Omega energy. One of the interesting things about Psycho-Pirate is that since he’s always outside the multiverse and every version of him changes with the changes to the infinite Earths, this version is technically also from another universe. DC is awesome.
3) Emperor Joker
Emperor Joker is the most powerful version of the Clown Prince of Crime. The post-Crisis Joker was able to get his hands on the power of Mr. Mxyzptlk. This gave him the ability to do whatever he wanted and the only thing he wanted to do was horrible things. He captured Batman and started killing and resurrecting him over and over, coming up with increasingly brutal ways to kill the Dark Knight. He got hungry and decided to eat everyone in China, joking that he got hungry again soon after finishing. He was a monster and eventually threatened to the end the universe itself. However, Superman had figured out Joker’s weakness – Batman. Superman told Joker that the only way to destroy the universe was to kill Batman, since if he existed, a part of the universe would always exist. This paradox robbed him of his powers, with Mxy getting them back and restoring everything to normal.
2) Apex Lex
Scott Snyder’s Justice League (Vol. 4) brought us the most dangerous version of Lex Luthor ever. He devoted himself to getting his hands on the Totality and finding out its secrets, eventually freeing Perpetua. It was revealed that he and J’onn J’onnz had met as children (Lex’s father had been able to pull him to Earth and Lex would end up helping him escape), and the two began a rivalry that would end with Lex defeating Martian Manhunter and absorbing his protoplasmic matter to become Apex Lex. This version of Lex couldn’t shapeshift, but he had high level superhuman strength and durability, flight, and various other powers. He became even more dangerous than ever, able to wade into battle with Superman and the Justice League like never before. Of course, he eventually lost the power thanks to a rivalry with the Batman Who Laughs, who was able to defeat him and take his place at Perpetua’s side.
1) Absolute Universe Darkseid
Darkseid is an interesting character in that most versions of him we’ve seen aren’t the full him, but emanations. However, we’ve recently gotten to see Darkseid in his ultimate form as the Absolute Universe’s Final God. Darkseid is the reason that DC’s Absolute Universe exists; he is suffused through every particle of it. He is the one who has made it the place it is, taking the building blocks of creations and putting them the way that he wants. It is an expression of Darkseid, except the heroes, the only bright spots in an infinity of darkness. In DC K.O., he was able to take over the prime universe at some point, suffusing it with his power, and was able to attack everywhere at once, no matter where, because he was everywhere. That’s the power of this version of Darkseid, and it is the greatest version of the villain ever (he’s cooking with the Absolute Universe).
What’s your favorite upgraded version of DC villains? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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Image Courtesy of Sony
