4 Superman Villains That the DCU Can Finally Bring Into Live-Action for the First Time

With nearly 90 years of history in the comics, Superman has faced many threats and has many villains that are part of his stories. Some appear more frequently than others, some have become more associated with the Man of Steel than any other facet of the comics, and there are even some that fans long to see brought into live action. With Man of Tomorrow, the follow up to James Gunn’s Superman, set to bring one such villain to the big screen with Brainiac reportedly the film’s primary villain, fans are more excited than ever, especially since it’s a threat that will bring Lex Luthor and Superman together to fight him.

However, Brainiac is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Superman villains that fans would love to see in live action on the big screen. There are several other, notable Superman bad guys that would be great additions to the DCU, villains who (for the most part) have never been in live action before. Here are 4 we think the DCU needs to bring to life next.

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4) Manchester Black

Okay, we admit it: this one is a little bit of a cheat since the character has actually appeared in live action previously, thanks to The CW’s Supergirl where he was played by David Ajala. However, his appearance was so brief and, frankly, not used to the fullest potential so we think he should get a do-over and the DCU is just the place.

Manchester Black is one of Superman’s most complicated villains and may in fact be one of DC’s most complicated villains in general. On the surface, Manchester Black and Superman have very similar goals in terms of wanting a peaceful, crime-free world. However, it’s how he pursues that and his idea of justice that makes him vastly different. As the leader of the Elite, Black and his team kill threats (particularly superpowered ones) so that they can’t escape or do more damage. There’s no room for rehabilitation with this guy’s worldview. Black also has superpowers of his own, which makes things a little more intense, especially when he thinks that Superman doesn’t use his abilities to the fullest and thus isn’t living up to his real potential as a hero. With Black being, in a sense, the opposite of Lex Luthor but hating on Superman just as much, Black could make for an intriguing threat for the hero (or even the Justice Gang more broadly) if brought into the DCU.

3) H’el

With James Gunn’s Superman establishing that Jor-El didn’t exactly send his son to Earth to do good things, there’s actually comics villain the DCU could bring to live-action that would revisit this plot in an exciting way: H’el.  In the comics, H’el is actually an illegal clone created by Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, created to preserve the legacy of Krypton and raised to hate clones, despite being a clone hybrid himself (he wasn’t aware of).

The thing with H’el is that he’s a complex character and not just a straight-up villain. He comes into conflict with Superman on earth when Superman doesn’t believe his origin story and also chooses earth rather than a Kryptonian legacy (oh, and H’el tries to kill Kon-El/Superboy. That’s not good.) While the character is more nuanced and sympathetic than a straightforward villain, H’el would be an interesting choice to see come into conflict with Superman in the DCU simply because it’s an expansion of the story that Gunn has already begun as well as gives a chance for a Kryptonian bad guy that isn’t the go-to General Zod. Bonus: H’el is also connected to Supergirl in comics so, there’s a lot of potential here.

2) Imperiex

With the DCU bringing Brainiac to life, it feels like another world-altering Superman Big Bad that should get a chance to enter live-action is Imperiex. You can think of Imperiex, generally, as DC’s Galactus: as the embodiment of entropy taking the form of pure energy in humanoid armor, Imperiex is all about destroying the universe and creating new ones from its ashes, seeking to perfect it in the process. He’s made his way through the universe destroying countless worlds — most notably Daxam, Almerac, Kalanor, and Karna. When he shows up for Earth, that’s a big problem.

The interesting thing about Imperiex is that he’s such a problem that the bad guys (think a form of Brainiac) even team up with Darkseid of all beings to try to stop him. Even Lex Luthor and Superman work together against this guy. He’s a major threat, and it would be really cool to see that armor on screen.

1) Mongul

If there is one Superman villain, we really want to see the DCU bring into live action more than Brainiac, it’s Mongul. The brutal ruler of Warworld, Mongul is a twisted villain who subjugates an entire planet of people to fight and even die in gladiatorial battle entirely for his amusement and, adding a psychological element to things, because for many in his control this life is all they know, those on Warworld really don’t fight back.

One of the most critically acclaimed and successful Superman runs in recent history saw Superman lead a successful rebellion against Mongul on Warworld, something that makes the villain a fascinating cosmic threat as well one much more personal for the hero. Additionally, Mongul is extremely powerful and can go toe-to-toe with Superman in terms of strength and intelligence. It would be impressive to see a battle between the two play out on screen.

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