The DC Extended Universe was launched with new takes on popular heroes like Superman and Batman that collectively built towards the formation of the Justice League, though the villains of the DC Universe were equally explored by these films and other releases like Suicide Squad that brought the best of DC’s worst to the big screen.
The DCEU’s focus on the villains has excelled both due to faithful adaptations from the comics as well as exciting new takes on the characters. In some cases, these are villains that go back over 80 years in the comics, while others were still a relatively new presence in the comics when they made the jump to the big screen.
24 General Zod — Adventure Comics #283 (1961)
Michael Shannon portrayed the Kryptonian General Zod in 2013’s Man of Steel as one of the last survivors of Krypton who followed Kal-El to his new adopted planet so he could terraform it into a new world for his people.
The original version of General Zod first appeared in Robert Bernstein and George Papp’s Adventure Comics #283 when a young Superboy first discovered the Phantom Zone and the Kryptonian criminals imprisoned within, which included General Zod.
23 Lex Luthor — Action Comics #23 (1940)
2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice introduced Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor as he attempted to manipulate the Last Son of Krypton and the Dark Knight of Gotham to fight and kill each other.
As one of Superman‘s oldest enemies, Luthor first appeared in Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Action Comics #23 as a mad scientist attempting to start a war in Europe, though the character would change quite a bit over the years.
22 Doomsday — The Man Of Steel #18 (1992)
Batman v Superman united DC’s trinity of heroes against a powerful new Kryptonian threat that was created by Lex Luthor known as Doomsday, which caused the climactic death of Superman in a devastating battle.
Doomsday first appeared in Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove’s The Man of Steel #18 after a cameo in the previous issue as the monster began his long trek towards Metropolis and his fateful encounter with Superman.
21 Steppenwolf — New Gods #7 (1972)
2017’s Justice League and 2020’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League both featured adaptations of Steppenwolf as he attempted to form the Unity and transform Earth into a new Apokolips, though they were visually very different.
Jack Kirby’s New Gods #7 first introduced Steppenwolf as Darkseid‘s uncle and the general of his forces who attempted to instigate a war between the planets of Apokolips and New Genesis, though the ensuing battle ultimately led to his death.
20 Deathstroke — The New Teen Titans #2 (1980)
Justice League featured a post-credit scene that brought Lex Luthor back and introduced another fan-favorite villain to the DCEU as Joe Manganiello’s Slade Wilson/Deathstroke arrived to tease the beginning of a supervillain group like the Injustice League.
Deathstroke first appeared as the main villain in Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s The New Teen Titans #2 as the highly trained metahuman assassin set his sights on DC’s young team of sidekick heroes.
19 Captain Boomerang — The Flash #117 (1960)
David Ayers’ directed 2016’s Suicide Squad which introduced Amanda Waller’s Task Force X, a team comprised of villains like Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) who worked dangerous missions for the government to reduce their sentence.
John Broome and Carmine Infantino’s The Flash #117 featured the debut of Digger Harkness as Captain Boomerang as he launched his new villainous career by attacking a toy company using specialized boomerangs.
18 Deadshot — Batman #59 (1950)
Will Smith starred as the legendary hitman Floyd Lawton/Deadshot in Suicide Squad, which saw the character take on a leadership role with Task Force X during the Midway City attack so he could earn visitation time with his daughter.
David Vern Reed, Lew Sayre Schwartz and Bob Kane’s Batman #59 first introduced Deadshot as he attempted to impress Gotham City with his marksmen skills to replace Batman before his criminal intentions were revealed.
17 Harley Quinn — Batman: Harley Quinn (1999)
Suicide Squad also featured the big-screen debut of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) as she became a recurring member of Task Force X that will see the character return in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, though she had a brief heroic turn in Birds of Prey.
Harley Quinn was actually created for Batman: The Animated Series by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini before the character made her comic debut in Batman Adventures #12, and later, her in-continuity debut in Batman: Harley Quinn.
16 The Joker — Batman #1 (1940)
Jared Leto appeared as The Joker in Suicide Squad as part of Harley Quinn’s origin story, though the Clown Prince of Crime would continue to play a large role in the movie that led to his brief return in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
The Joker made his comic debut in Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson’s Batman #1, which saw the new criminal carry out a series of murders that launched the long-standing rivalry between the two bitter enemies.
15 Killer Croc — Detective Comics #523 (1983)
The villainous roster of Task Force X was almost completed with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Killer Croc, a powerful reptilian gangster that had never worked with the team before his appearance in Suicide Squad.
Gerry Conway and Gene Colan first introduced Killer Croc to readers in Detective Comics #523 as he arrived in Gotham City and attempted to find a new gang that he could take over, eventually leading to his murder of the Squid.
14 El Diablo — El Diablo #1 (2008)
Jay Hernandez joined the cast of Suicide Squad as the fiery El Diablo, a powerful member of Task Force X with a dark past who played a large role in the final battle between Enchantress and Incubus that revealed a fiery alternate form.
There were a couple of versions of El Diablo in the comics that existed in DC’s Old West era as well as the modern-day, but it was Jai Nitz and Phil Hester who first introduced Chato Santana in El Diablo #1 before the character was reworked for the Squad.
13 Enchantress — Strange Adventures #187 (1966)
Cara Develigne portrayed June Moon/Enchantress in Suicide Squad as a member of Task Force X before she betrayed the team and launched an attack on Midway City so she could build a magical doomsday device to take over the world.
Strange Adventures #187 by Bob Haney and Howard Purcell introduced June Moon as she first found herself possessed by the ancient entity known as Enchantress that granted her powerful magical abilities.
12 Incubus — Suicide Squad #14 (1988)
Enchantress turned on Task Force X in Suicide Squad after she was able to discover and free her trapped brother Incubus, who served as her protector and source of power as she attempted to create their doomsday device.
The original version of the character that appeared in John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell’s Suicide Squad #14 was revealed to be possessing the brother of Nightshade named Larry Eden, who then revealed his connection to Enchantress.
11 Ares — Wonder Woman #1 (1941)
Patty Jenkins’s 2017 film Wonder Woman introduced Diana Prince as she left Themyscira to help humanity fight World War II, which eventually brought her up against the manipulations and power of Ares, God of War (David Thewlis).
Ares first appeared under the name of Mars in William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter’s Wonder Woman #1 which explored Ares’ role in the creation of the Amazons as told through a found scroll from Themyscira.
10 Doctor Poison — Sensation Comics #2 (1942)
Elena Anaya appeared as the evil Nazi Doctor Poison in Wonder Woman as a brilliant but sadistic chemist with a specialty in poisons and toxins that she used to create deadly bioweapons for use in the war.
William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter’s Sensation Comics#2 featured the debut of the first Doctor Poison as she kidnapped Steve Trevor for war secrets and tested an experimental controlling drug.
9 Ocean Master — Aquaman #29 (1966)
James Wan’s Aquaman explored the underwater kingdom of Atlantis as Orm (Patrick Wilson) attempted to take complete control of the Seven Seas and lead his armies against the air-breathing world as Ocean Master.
Orm first appeared as the Ocean Master in Bob Haney and Nick Cardy’s Aquaman #29 as the villain attempted to disrupt ocean shipping routes while his identity as Aquaman’s half-brother was revealed.
8 Black Manta — Aquaman #35 (1967)
Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry also made enemies above the sea in Aquaman when he became the target of Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his desire for revenge that saw him partner with Ocean Master.
The mysterious villain known as Black Manta made his debut in Bob Haney and Nick Cardy’s Aquaman #35 which revealed an established rivalry between Aquaman as Black Manta kidnapped his young infant, Aquababy.
7 Doctor Sivana — Whiz Comics #2 (1940)
The “World’s Mightiest Mortal” hit the big screen in 2019’s Shazam! which co-starred Mark Strong as Doctor Thaddeus Sivana, a rejected potential champion of the Wizard who later freed the Seven Sins to gain their power.
The mad scientist Doctor Sivana debuted in Bill Parker and C.C. Beck’s Whiz Comics #2 alongside Shazam (then known as Captain Marvel) as he attempted to extort the US under the threat of silencing all radio broadcasts.
6 Mr. Mind — Captain Marvel Adventures #26 (1943)
While he wasn’t exactly the main villain in Shazam!, the small appearance of the telepathic space-worm known as Mr. Mind in the final moments of the movie teased the character’s potential role in the franchise’s future.
Otto Binder and C. C. Beck introduced the character in full in Captain Marvel Adventures #26 as the evil space-worm began to gather his Monster Society of Evil to take down Captain Marvel/Shazam.
5 Black Mask — Batman #386 (1985)
2020’s Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) introduced a new team of DC heroes as they rallied together with Harley Quinn against Ewan McGregor’s delightfully evil Roman Sionis/Black Mask.
Sionis first appeared in Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake’s Batman #386 which first introduced the character as Black Mask and revealed his origins as well as his masked gang, the False Face Society.
4 Victor Zsasz — Shadow of the Bat #1 (1992)
Chris Messina portrayed the sadistic Victor Zsasz in Birds of Prey who worked alongside Black Mask as the right-hand man of his criminal empire who took pleasure in killing others so he could add to the tally scars marked on his skin.
Shadow of the Bat #1 by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle featured the debut of Zsasz as a dangerous serial killer locked up in Arkham Asylum when Batman was institutionalized as a new patient to investigate a series of murders.
3 Maxwell Lord — Justice League #1 (1987)
The character of Maxwell Lord was portrayed by Pedro Pascal in 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984 as a failed businessman who used the wishing powers of the Dreamstone in an effort to increase his influence and power.
The comic version of the character first appeared in Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire’s Justice League #1 as an entrepreneur who financed a new team of heroes to further his own goals.
2 Cheetah — Wonder Woman #6 (1943)
Kristen Wiig starred as Barbara Minerva in Wonder Woman 1984 as a co-worker of Diana Prince who uses the wishes of the Dreamstone to transform herself into a powerful apex predator known as Cheetah.
The first version of Cheetah was Priscilla Rich who debuted in Wonder Woman #6, though Minerva didn’t appear until Len Wein and George Pérez’s Wonder Woman #7 which first introduced the Post-Crisis Cheetah.
1 Darkseid — Forever People #1 (1971)
While the New God known as Darkseid was largely removed from the theatrical release of Justice League, he returned for HBO Max’s release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League as a looming threat against Earth.
While Darkseid made a brief cameo in the pages of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #134, it wasn’t until Jack Kirby and Al Plastino’s Forever People #1 that the ruler of Apokolips made his first full comic appearance.
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