5 DC Villains Who Could Replace Darkseid As The DCU’s Justice-League Level Villain

In DC Comics, Darkseid remains the ultimate adversary for the Justice League, a cosmic tyrant whose singular goal is the elimination of all free will. His reputation as the quintessential final boss has only grown with recent storylines such as the Absolute Universe and DC K.O., which cement his status as a threat of unparalleled scale. With the DC Universe establishing a lived-in world where heroes and villains have operated for years, the Lord of Apokolips seemed like the perfect catalyst to unite Earth’s protectors against a common enemy. The finale of Peacemaker Season 2 even hinted at this, introducing a prison planet named Salvation with direct ties to Darkseid’s domain in the comics.

However, DC Studios co-head James Gunn has since clarified that Darkseid will not be the primary antagonist for the DCU’s first major saga. This surprising revelation opens the door for another of the Justice League’s most formidable foes to take center stage, offering a different flavor of cataclysmic danger to challenge the world’s greatest heroes. The question now is which top-tier villain will rise to become the force that pushes the Justice League to its absolute limit.

5) Mongul

The ruthless ruler of the mobile battle planet Warworld, Mongul, is a galactic tyrant strong enough to challenge Superman in single combat. Unlike villains driven by complex ideologies, Mongul’s motivations are brutally simple: conquest and power. He entertains his citizens with gladiatorial games, forcing the universe’s greatest champions to fight for his amusement. This thirst for combat and domination makes him a physical threat on par with some of DC’s heaviest hitters. His command of Warworld gives him access to advanced alien weaponry capable of threatening entire civilizations, making his arrival in any solar system a major event. An invasion led by Mongul would be a major threat, forcing the Justice League to contend with an overwhelming invading force and a commander who can fight their strongest members to a standstill.

4) Amazo

Created by the obsessive scientist Professor Ivo, Amazo is an advanced android with the ability to replicate the powers and abilities of any metahuman it encounters. This power mimicry makes it one of the most dangerous and unpredictable foes the Justice League has ever faced, as it can absorb the powers of the entire founding roster, from Superman’s strength to the Flash’s speed, becoming a one-android army. What makes Amazo a truly terrifying threat is its capacity for evolution. Some versions of the character have shown the ability to not only copy powers but to perfect them, eliminate weaknesses, and even duplicate technology like a Green Lantern Power Ring. Because of that, the introduction of Amazo into the DCU would present a unique challenge, as the League’s greatest strengths would become their greatest liability.

3) Felix Faust

Not all universe-ending threats come from the stars. Felix Faust is a master sorcerer who has sought ultimate magical power for millennia, often by making pacts with demonic entities. His insatiable hunger for mystical knowledge has made him a recurring enemy of the Justice League, using his powerful spells to manipulate reality, resurrect the dead, and corrupt souls. Faust rarely relies on brute force, instead using deception and forbidden rituals to achieve his goals. He once took control of the Justice League to retrieve magical artifacts for himself and has sold the souls of others, including his own son, to gain more power. A villain like Felix Faust could introduce the darker side of the DCU, unleashing demonic forces on a global scale and creating a crisis that requires not just strength but mystical expertise to overcome.

2) Vandal Savage

Vandal Savage is a brilliant and sadistic tactician who has plagued humanity for over 50,000 years. Once a Cro-Magnon warrior named Vandar Adg, he was granted immortality and enhanced physical abilities by a mysterious meteorite. Throughout history, he has been a conqueror, a king, and a monster, secretly manipulating civilizations and instigating conflicts to further his own ambitions. Savage’s threat comes from his vast intellect and the immense resources he has accumulated over centuries. In a DCU where powerful corporations are already established as significant players, Savage is perfectly positioned to be the ultimate mastermind. He could be revealed as the secret power behind numerous global companies, using his unimaginable wealth and influence to orchestrate a plan for world domination that is far more insidious and deeply rooted than any alien invasion.

1) Black Hand

William Hand, known as Black Hand, is one of the best options for a Darkseid replacement in the DCU. Initially a minor foe of Green Lantern, his obsession with death eventually transformed him into the avatar for Nekron, the embodiment of death itself. Armed with the first Black Lantern Power Ring, Black Hand can reanimate the dead, creating an ever-growing army of undead Black Lanterns. The catastrophic Blackest Night storyline saw him unleash this undead corps on the universe, targeting heroes and villains alike by exploiting their deepest emotional connections to the deceased. The story remains one of DC’s most popular and impactful crossover events. With the Lanterns series confirmed to be a cornerstone of the new DCU, introducing Black Hand would be a natural way to establish a universe-level threat. A live-action adaptation of Blackest Night would be a genuinely terrifying spectacle, forcing the heroes to fight resurrected friends, family, and fallen comrades in a war against the very concept of death.

Which DC villain do you think should be the first major threat for the DCU’s Justice League? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

All 13 DCU Actors Who Have Played Multiple Characters