5 Comic Book Characters That Deserve Their Own Movie – Zatanna and Others

Marvel and DC need a jolt. I’m not alone in that line of thinking, I guess, seeing as the DC brass set fire to everything Zack Snyder and their predecessors built.

With the firing of Henry Cavill and a full reset on it’s way, it’s fair to say what we knew about comic book movies will be changing. In the DCU, anyways.

But it probably should change across the board, too. If you ask me, that could start with picking more interesting comic book characters to bring to life. There’s endless options, to be fair, but I’ve got five that I feel truly deserve their own feature film.

Let’s go over my five favorite options and why they should see the big screen sooner rather than later.

Deathstroke

To be fair, we’ve seen a live action Deathstroke. He’s appeared in two TV series, and he’s seen the big screen once. It was short-lived, but Joe Manganiello offered a cameo, which suggested a pretty massive role down the road.

There were talks for him to be featured more in future DC films. Of course, with the DCU as we know it being blasted to the moon, it’s quite likely those plans have changed.

Still, it’s arguable Manganiello was never the right fit to begin with, and altered plans don’t have to mean a full-blown ditching of a Deathstroke-led vehicle.

As one of the more underrated villains in the DCU – and one that could be done in a more grounded fashion rather easily – Deathstroke deserves his own movie. Whether he’s just the antagonist on the other side of a hero or not, I don’t really care.

Brainiac

I don’t necessarily mean these comic book characters deserve their own movie in the sense that they’re the titular character. That’d be amazing, ala Joker, but they just need to be truly featured in some capacity.

But like I said with Deathstroke, the manner of propping up these brilliant characters isn’t what is important. Getting the most underrated comic book characters some legit face time with audiences is what matters the most.

There’s an opportunity to do that right away with the news that there will be a major changing of the guard as to who will play Superman going forward.

A new ‘SUPERMAN’ film is in the works.

Henry Cavill will not return. James Gunn is writing the script. pic.twitter.com/KMQXp799Mo

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 15, 2022

We don’t know yet who will play Clark Kent next. All we know is it won’t be Henry Cavill, and the DCU’s new shift probably starts with generating buzz from their most powerful hero.

As part of that plan, they should kick things off with one of Superman’s greatest threats – Brainiac.

This is one of the oldest supervillains in history, and IGN ranked Brainiac as a top-20 villain in comics history. He also has direct (arguable) ties to Kal-El’s origin story, and is well known for giving Superman fits in the comics.

So, why, then, has he not held a prominent role on the big screen?

We’ve seen samplings of what he could be on Smallville and Krypton, but in the name of Kylo Ren, I lust for more.

Bane

It doesn’t have to be Tom Hardy’s take on Bane, but I’d allow it. After all, do you really think Bane’s arrival in Gotham City was his first foray into brutality and dominance?

Yeah, me neither.

Hardy can crush any role – and he did just that in this very role before – and there’s some something about the emotion packed into this thug that is extremely troubling.

He’s an enigma that we want to solve (albeit one we’re deathly afraid of).

The point isn’t just to have a Hardy party, of course (not necessarily, at least). It’s to bring back a monstrous brute who knows nothing but destruction.

It’s hard to have a Bane feature without thinking of Batman, but The Joker just did it. Bane is more devastating than thought-provoking, but the nuance Hardy brought to the role (he was clever and picked his moments to unleash his rage) could make this a special feature.

My preference is to have a Bane movie with Hardy as the lead (a prequel of sorts, clearly), but I’d be open to a recast if done properly.

Zatanna

Here’s another terrific comic character that deserves their own movie. Zatanna has been sprinkled onto the small screen already, and there have been whispers about her own feature film for a while.

There has even been public demand for her to appear in Constantine 2.

Zatanna has direct connections with both Constantine and Batman in the comics, but her best route to the movies may be as an add-on for Constantine 2, or being introduced in her own vehicle.

The superhero world is saturated with familiar heroes – notably dudes – so showing the world a confident, magical female hero would be a nice change of pace.

Darkseid

Not every comic book character that needs their own movie has to be a good guy. Thanos basically got his own vehicle for two movies with The Avengers, and we were teased of something similar in Justice League.

We need to dream bigger than that, however, as Darkseid is a basically unbeatable villain that only Superman and the Justice League can take down.

I’d assume there need to be revived plans of a new Superman film (and perhaps also the Justice League), but maybe a Darkseid origin story can fit somewhere in the midst of the DCU’s jumpstarting.

There are many ways to mess this up or make it less appealing than it should be, of course. Marvel botched what should have been an awesome villain in Apocalypse, so we know not every Thanos-ish venture will be done without it’s risks.

That, and the list of actors who could play Darkseid reasonably well may not be a very long one.

Still, Darkseid is as formidable of a foe as it gets. I personally wouldn’t mind pulling back the veil to learn more about this baddie on the big screen, or at least have him featured as the main villain in a Superman-led flick.

The five I broke down above absolutely should be featured more heavily in some manner, and I am quite aware there are countless others that could have their name tossed into the hat.

What are your thoughts on my five picks? What other comic book characters need their own movie? Let me know in the comments below!

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