Six Characters Who Could Appear in Geoff Johns’ DC Cinematic Universe

Entertainment sites recently reported on a major shake up at Warner Bros regarding the DC Cinematic Universe.Due to the lackluster performance of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the studio handed the keys of their planned movie universe to DC Chief Creative Office Geoff Johns.Johns made a massive mark on the DC comics universe in the later 2000s, untangling and simplifying the complicated comics history of characters like Hawkman and the Justice Society and bringing back the Silver Age version of characters like Green Lantern, the Flash and the Legion of Superheroes.

Johns certainly has an idea of what the DC Universe should look like, and it’s so much more than a brooding Superman or a manslaughtering Batman. If Warner Bros really has put Johns in charge of the DC Cinematic Universe, here’s a few characters we expect to see:

Booster Gold

The DC Universe has a rich history that extends well before and after the modern era of superheroes. While the upcoming Wonder Woman movie will be at least partially set during World War I, there are countless other eras for the DC Cinematic Universe to explore ranging from the dawn of man to millions of years in the future.  Luckily, DC has the perfect superhero to explore its rich history in Booster Gold.  A disgraced ex-athlete from the future who traveled to the modern day to become a superhero, Booster Gold has been portrayed both as a bumbling joke and a somewhat serious hero over the years. 

In 2007, Johns put his own spin on Booster Gold, turning him into the “Greatest Hero That You’ve Never Heard Of”.  Johns gave the character a new purpose by turning him into a secret protector of the timestream while publicly maintaining a bumbling facade.  Booster, with the help of Time Master Rip Hunter, protected the likes of Batman and Superman from time traveling villains looking to erase DC’s superheroes from history and alter time.

There have been rumors of a Booster Gold movie for years, but with Geoff Johns at the helm of DC’s movie universe, the future has never looked brighter for Booster fans. 

Stargirl

Stargirl holds a special place in Geoff Johns’ heart.  Not only was the teenaged hero the first character Johns created for DC, he named and based the character off his deceased sister, Courtney.  Originally, Courtney became a superhero to annoy her stepfather, the retired Golden Age sidekick Stripesy, but discovered she enjoyed fighting crime and being part of a superhero legacy.  As the character grew up, Stargirl became a model for other young legacy heroes and a cornerstone of the Justice Society of America.  

When the New 52 erased much of DC’s past history and superhero legacy, Johns re-introduced Stargirl as a pop culture icon and media golden girl. The Justice League of America recruited Stargirl as the team’s public face, and she later joined the Justice League United in assorted cosmic adventures. 

While Stargirl works best as the leader of a new generation of heroes, she’s got plenty of potential as a way to view the DC Cinematic Universe from younger eyes.  Stargirl would be a great way to quickly inject some much needed enthusiasm into the DC Cinematic Universe. 

Hawkman

For years, Hawkman was seen as an almost toxic property due to his confusing and impenetrable backhistory.  Originally, Hawkman was the modern day reincarnation of an Egyptian prince who used an alien metal to fly and fight crime. However, when DC rebooted the character during the Silver Age, Hawkman became an alien space cop with no ties to Ancient Egypt at all.  DC vacillated between Hawkman’s two origins for years, until it eventually simply stopped publishing Hawkman comics, thinking that the character’s origin was too complicated. 

A few years later, Geoff Johns smoothly rehabilitated Hawkman by merging the character’s ancient Egyptian origin with his more modern alien history. With Hawkman’s continuity unraveled, Johns then re-framed Hawkman as a badass archaeologist exploring his own past lives while savagely dispatching supervillains who got in his way.

With a multitude of past lives to explore, Hawkman would be another great excuse to explore the past of the DC Cinematic Universe.  Plus, who wouldn’t want to watch a movie about a character that’s half Indiana Jones and half Conan the Barbarian?

Black Adam

Although Warner Bros hasn’t officially announced a Shazam! movie, they already have a Black Adam lined up.  Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has confirmed he has signed up to play Shazam’s best known supervillain when the character eventually appears in the DC Cinematic Universe.  Luckily for Johnson (and for fans), Geoff Johns has plenty of history with Black Adam, having successfully transformed the character from a generic evil version of Shazam into a nuanced and tragic character.  

Like Hawkman, Black Adam’s origins dates back to ancient Egypt.  Chosen as the wizard Shazam’s first champion, Black Adam served as a force of justice…until his family was murdered by Ahk-Ton, a supervillain with powers similar to Metamorpho.  Adam murdered Ahk-Ton in retribution for his family’s death and was stripped of his powers by Shazam as a result.  

Johns used Black Adam to explore the concepts of justice and retribution in the DC Universe.  Adam was a character driven by righteous fury, pushed into conflict with DC’s heroes because his version of justice was more absolute and final.  Frankly, Black Adam is a character that fits perfectly into the current version of the DC Cinematic Universe even if Johns chooses to keep its darker tones. 

The Anti-Monitor

Geoff Johns didn’t create the Anti-Monitor, but he certainly has used the cosmic level threat more than any other writer in DC history.  The Anti-Monitor first appeared as a one-off cosmic level supervillain used to merge DC’s multiverse in the mega-event Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Although he nearly destroyed the entire multiverse and killed billions (including the Flash and Supergirl), the Anti-Monitor didn’t return to threaten the DC Universe until Johns resurrected him in the Sinestro Corps War event as a recurring cosmic threat. Since then, the Anti-Monitor has appeared in several of Johns’ biggest storylines, almost always as an antagonist too powerful for Earth’s heroes to defeat on their own.  While most fans expect Darkseid will appear as the DC Cinematic Universe’s first “big” villain, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Johns use the Anti-Monitor as an even bigger threat lurking in the background.

The Legion of Super-Heroes

The Legion of Super-Heroes were once one of DC’s most popular franchises, a group of teen heroes from dozens of different worlds fighting supervillains 1000 years in the future. When the Legion faded in popularity, DC tried rebooting the Legion twice to make the team more relevant for modern day fans.  Johns seems to really like the original Legion of Super-Heroes, especially when they team up with Superman (who was once a key member of that team).  Johns brought back the “classic” Legion during his run on Action Comics and confirmed that the team were some of Superman’s earliest friends and allies.  When Johns wrote an episode of Smallville in 2008 that brought the Legion into that universe as recurring allies of Clark and his friends.  

The Legion of Super-Heroes are a “high concept” DC property, but if anyone can figure out a way to incorporate the futuristic superteam into the DC Cinematic Universe, it’s Geoff Johns.