7 Best DC Movie Plot Twists, Ranked 

The characters featured in the pages of DC Comics have often been adapted onto the big-screen, with some of the most iconic heroes being given many live-action iterations over the years. Although in most cases the source material is already well-known, that doesn’t mean that the movie adaptations are predictable. In fact, many great DC movies keep their audience guessing as to exactly what might happen next, with narratives that take unexpected turns on multiple occasions. While the standard format of superhero movies typically ends with the hero triumphing over the villain, there are often nuances to the genre that allow for some truly outstanding plot twists.

All of the best movie plot twists are mind-blowing, offering an unexpected yet organic development that takes a different narrative direction than the one the audience expected. In a genre so packed with common tropes, superhero movies don’t often deliver exceptional twists, but when they do, they often hit hard. DC movies in particular have produced some truly memorable plot twists, shocking the audience enough to leave a lasting impact.

7) Alpha Squad Were Sent to Their Death – The Suicide Squad (2021)

2021’s The Suicide Squad is sometimes considered one of the best superhero movie sequels, thanks largely to the notable improvement upon its predecessor. The movie opens with a scene introducing several new characters, with prominent actors returning and being established as the new version of the eponymous team. However, their initial mission immediately results in the violent and abrupt slaughter of the majority of the characters. Considering the stature of some of the actors involved, it was an unexpected twist, and one that set up The Suicide Squad as brilliantly subversive and daring even from its very beginning.

6) The Joker Switched Rachel & Harvey’s Locations – The Dark Knight (2008)

Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight often sees him cited as the best live-action version of the Joker, owing largely to the level of nuance he was able to put into the character. After revealing to Batman that he is holding both Rachel, the hero’s love interest, and Harvey Dent, Gotham’s beloved DA, and that the hero can only save one from certain death, the vigilante rushes off to save Rachel, leaving the GCPD to rescue Dent. The twist that the Joker switched the locations, causing Batman to save Dent while the GCPD are too late to rescue Rachel, is a simple one, but it’s devastatingly effective, and makes the audience wonder why anyone would ever have taken the Joker’s word in the first place.

5) Ares’ True Identity – Wonder Woman (2019)

Although Ares is a DC character way weaker in the movies, he is still the God of War and a major antagonist in the DCEU movie Wonder Woman. Much of the movie’s plot revolves around Diana leaving Themyscira in search of Ares, who she believes to have disguised himself as the German General Ludendorff. The movie’s big twist, however, is that Ares is actually the seemingly friendly Patrick Morgan, a British politician played by David Thewlis. The reveal challenges Wonder Woman’s own conception of what a villain typically is, and also pulls the rug out from under the audience at the same time.

4) Atlanna Survived – Aquaman (2018)

2018’s Aquaman was one of the DCEU’s more successful movies, bringing the titular hero to life in his first live-action solo movie. The DCEU changed many things about the character and his story, and it was established early that his mother had been sentenced to death for giving birth to a half-human son. The movie’s third-act reveal that Atlanna had secretly survived her death penalty and had been living in an inhospitable area of uncharted sea is a great one, as it not only affords Aquaman an opportunity to claim the throne of Atlantis, but it also facilitates the unexpected arrival of another great DC character.

3) Billy Batson’s Mother Abandoned Him – Shazam! (2019)

Shazam! brought a more light-hearted DC story to life in the DCEU, adapting the titular character and his magical abilities in live-action. Billy Batson is introduced as a child in foster care who has spent his whole life searching for the mother he barely remembers after being separated from her in a public place. The movie eventually sees Billy find his mother, but instead of the emotional reunion he had been hoping for, she discloses that she abandoned him, and didn’t want him in her life. It’s a heartbreaking twist, but it’s also one that adds another layer of depth to the movie’s hero, and it’s brilliantly executed.

2) The Joker Killed Batman’s Parents – Batman (1989)

Tim Burton’s Batman is among the most influential DC movies ever made, with Michael Keaton’s Batman bringing the Caped Crusader to life in an appropriately dark and eye-catching fashion. The movie’s plot revolves around the origins of the Joker, who is revealed later in the movie to actually be the same criminal who once murdered Batman’s parents. Rewriting the villain’s origins to entwine his story with Batman’s own was a brilliant twist, as it added a level of dark poetic irony to the movie’s narrative that help cement Batman as a classic of the superhero genre.

1) Ducard is Ra’s al Ghul – Batman Begins (2005)

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy is known for featuring some of the best Batman movie villains, and the first movie in the three-film arc certainly set a high bar. Bruce Wayne’s training begins in earnest when he meets Ducard, played by Liam Neeson, who inducts him into the mysterious League of Shadows, led by Ra’s al Ghul. It’s not until later in the movie that it’s revealed Ducard is just an alias, and that he had been Ra’s al Ghul all along. It’s a simple twist, but it’s written so perfectly as to feel completely organic to the characters, honoring the comics while also putting a unique and interesting spin on the villain.

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