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Summary
TheDCEUis fraught with villain with less - than - compelling backstories , with much of the serial ' rogues gallery failing to garner depth or sympathy . As more and more hero were introduced into the DC cinematic macrocosm , many of the dealership ’s films were expected to pull double - duty , provide origins for not only its heroes , but their adversary as well . In world , most of theDCEU moviesdidn’t shake out this mode , introduce multiple of import players at once in squad - up moving picture rather than building them up with individual solo films .
When villain did get clip in the spotlight in the DCEU , several recurring problems reared their heads in many of their source stories throughout the films . The aforementioned squad - up moving-picture show often force filmmakers to be thin with screen time , squeezing out much of the way for the ontogenesis of a villain out of the icon . Not every DCEU villain is developed badly , with the downcast Cheetah being the best part ofWonder Woman 1984and the outlandish exotic Starro getting a surprising amount of depth inThe Suicide Squad . However , there ’s no denying that Warner Brothers has miss the mark when it came to initiate many classic scoundrel into the fold of the DCEU .
10Black Mask
Birds of Prey
The feature antagonist of 2020 ’s under - the - radarsuperheroine adventure rompBirds of Prey , Black Mask certainly commanded an intimidating screen presence thanks to Ewan McGregor . Underneath his sparkly , charismatic demeanor lies a dusty , ruthless crime boss that comes out to the forefront after Roman Sionis loses everything . However , the floor behind the man does n’t shine through as clearly in the film , roil Black Mask down to a bad testis that was invoke with every reward , turn into a malicious nightclub owner - turned - gangster for no proficient reason than the sheer sake of being vicious .
9Maxwell Lord
Wonder Woman 1984
A famous boob tube personality , Maxwell Lord served as a sort of Lex Luthor to Wonder Woman ’s Superman , an powered but still serious terror moving through the social rank of corporate America . Unlike Black Mask , Maxwell Lord is depicted as a true self - appetizer , develop up necessitous and bullied before slowly climb the impossible ladder of capitalist success . His backstory almost makes him too sympathetic , making it improbable that the character would be open of engross the lifespan force out of millions of people as he does towards the film ’s climax . Not only that , his jumps from media production to the oil colour industriousness to hearing of and seek out the Dreamstone present a strangely varied career that set aside disbelief .
8Dark Flash
The Flash
It ’s hard to even call Dark Flash the primary antagonist of his own motion picture , as most ofThe Flash ’s runtime centre on stand off an alternate Earth General Zod and the Sword of Rao . After a few brief appearances , Dark Flash reveals himself as none other than the substitute Barry Allen Earth-1 ’s Flash had been fighting alongside the whole metre , having gone crazy from repeat attempts to save everyone before reaching the ending that killing his counterpart was the only way to do so . Alternate Barry is just not established to have the same obsessive coercion with save absolutely everyone that the primary timeline ’s Barry does , and Dark Flash himself scarce contract enough screen sentence to be present , permit alone the right way developed .
7Steppenwolf
Justice League
A New God and one of Darkseid ’s right - deal humanity , Steppenwolf is undeniably one of the mostpowerful baddie the DCEU has visualise . regrettably , Steppenwolf was a letdown as a villain , bothhis cheesesyPower Rangerscostume excogitation and his undercooked motivation doing a disservice toJustice League . as luck would have it , Zack Snyder ’s cut of the film managed to improve upon his utterly missing backstory , painting Steppenwolf as an almost sensible soul desperate to please Darkseid to almost the breaker point of pity . Still , there ’s no refuse that Steppenwolf as he was originally gift needed far more time in the oven to be a right opponent .
6Lex Luthor
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
When it came to accommodate one of Superman ’s most iconic villains , Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justicedisappointed many , with Jesse Eisenberg ’s neurotic , quirky operation being one of theweakest Lex Luthor portrayals . Being so young equate to most versions of the megalomaniac billionaire , the DCEU ’s Lex Luthor was basically still mid - origin , having not even lost his tomentum yet . Precious little meter was devoted to Luthor ’s backstory , with only a single broadsheet line about ill-treatment from his forefather hinting at the bigger picture . Since this version of Lex Luthor differed so substantially from previous versions , the lack of backstory made his foible and speaking patterns all the more inexplicable for such a purportedly successful entrepreneur .
5Enchantress
Suicide Squad
A loose amalgamation of multiple supervillian stories shakily draw together with an overarching magical menace , Suicide Squadis one of the most critically - pan entries in the DCEU . It ’s no wonder , then , that some of the weak villain backstories can call the moving-picture show habitation , with the main antagonist Enchantress being a particularly rank offender . femme fatale ' own origins as an extradimensional deity and her motives for wanting to wipe out humanity are completely unclear , and host June Moone ’s love story with Rick Flagg is tight - tracked over the course of study of a single less - than - a - moment - farseeing flashback . For being such a hefty terror , Enchantress remains a glaring inquiry mark in the greater cosmology of the DCEU .
4Doomsday
Rather than his normal comic origin of being an ancient Kryptonian bio - artillery , Doomsday was retconned inBatman v Superman : Dawn of Justiceto be a introduction of Lex Luthor . bear from the DNA of General Zod ’s clay and Luthor himself , Doomsday ’s birth in the film is riddled with glaring plot - hole . Why did Luthor need to use his own deoxyribonucleic acid to create an all - powerful Kryptonian monster ? Was human blood part of the formula for the original Doomsday ? Why was a simple Kryptonian pathfinder ship even capable of spawn such a beast ? These questions stay sadly unanswered as Doomsday ’s short tenure in the DCEU let for footling clarification .
3Dr. Thaddeus Sivana
Shazam!
An intimidating , if not totally memorable villain , Dr. Sivana was a genius artificer and obsessional searcher of thaumaturgy with a stupefy backstory . Much like Billy Batson , Thaddeus was pulled into the kingdom of the whiz Shazam as a child , tested to receive the same powers , but see lacking in his answer to the corruption of the Seven Sins . Dr. Sivana ’s ensue descent into rage seems strong not to blame on Shazam , painting the ancient wizard as more of a villain than Sivana himself . Still , Dr. Sivana had small personality beyond his compulsion , reducing him to a forgettable baddie - of - the - week who was more of a victim than an antagonist .
2Harley Quinn
Though she ’s since evolved to become more of an antihero , Harley Quinn ’s introduction into the DCEU put her square on the side of villainy . Unfortunately , this introduction was still withinSuicide Squad , intend that all the nuance and calamity of Harley Quinn ’s original backstory was largely lost as her psychological contumely at the hands of the Joker was condensed into a glum , blink - and - you’ll - miss - it montage . While Harley Quinn pass away on to become a great increase to the DCEU since , there ’s no denying that her origins as presented bySuicide Squadpainted Dr. Harleen Quinzel as a gullible chump , somehow fall for Jared Leto ’s tacky Joker in a affair of minutes .
1Black Manta
Aquaman
Black Manta is one of the DCEU ’s most in force baddie , an daunting , ruthless criminal with a believable grudge against Aquaman . However , his anguish over his sire ’s ultimate death at the helping hand of Aquaman seemed to take for too much sympathy from the interview , considering both work force were already crimson pirates when the Atlantean hero intervene . The ham - fisted inclusion body of Black Manta ’s father christen him with his prized knife minutes before their encounter with Aquaman was a niggling too obvious as well , Manta ’s father seeming to choose this here and now simply so thing could move faster . Even though Black Manta is one of theDCEU ’s best adapted villain , his origin story still leave something to be desired .
