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From failed adaptations to canceled projects, Warner Bros has left a trail of disappointment for DC fans. Join us as we count down our picks for the DC characters who suffered the most under Warner Bros' handling! These beloved heroes and villains deserved better than what they got in their big screen adaptations.
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00:00Kal-El, no!
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the iconic DC characters who were ruined,
00:08mishandled, or just done dirty during the DC Extended Universe era.
00:13It's my face. You stole my face.
00:16I think I'm having a mushroom flashback. Is that a thing?
00:20Number 10, Green Lantern.
00:22Your name. Your name.
00:25It's Hal. Hal Jordan.
00:27The only pre-DCEU mistake on our list, Green Lantern's failure cast a long, painful shadow over the next decade of filmmaking from Warner Brothers.
00:36Its negative influence is so strong that we're including it, since if this Ryan Reynolds vehicle had been successful,
00:42it would have been the foundation of a new, interconnected DC film franchise.
00:46What's without green? Green is the color of will. The Guardians harrassed will because it's the strongest source of energy in the universe.
00:54It was so bad, even, that the Green Lanterns didn't appear in the DCEU at all,
00:59with various potential films based on them cancelled before going into production.
01:02Oh my god! Oh my god, Hal!
01:06How did you know it was me?
01:07What do you mean? I've known you my whole life! I've seen you naked!
01:10You don't think I would recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones?
01:12Thankfully, in the new DCU, the Lanterns are back, with Guy Gardner appearing in 2025 Superman and a TV series based on the Lantern Corps in the works.
01:22So you know he's Clark Kent?
01:24Why does he trust everyone?
01:25He doesn't! Just us, because we are also of the claw!
01:29Number 9. Black Manta
01:30This was your grandfather's. He was one of the Navy's first frogmen during World War II. He was so stealthy in the water. His unit nicknamed him Manta.
01:41He stole the show as the secondary villain in the first Aquaman movie, so much so that he had his own movie greenlit.
01:48We didn't know that this was going to be a Black Manta movie at the time, however.
01:52Originally announced as The Trench, it was set to be a scarier look at the dark, deep ocean trenches briefly visited by Aquaman in the first movie.
02:00Who the hell are you?
02:01Maybe this will jog your memory.
02:06Only after cancellation was it revealed to have actually been a secret Black Manta movie.
02:11Kill the man who murdered your father.
02:14You can't leave him like this!
02:16You're asked to see for mercy.
02:17James Wan did go on to make Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom for DC as well, and Black Manta did return.
02:23But this potential anti-hero never got a movie all to himself like Black Adam did.
02:28Number 8. The Joker
02:29Not once, but twice in recent memory has Warner Bros. ruthlessly mishandled the Joker.
02:34What are you gonna do? You gonna kill me, Mr. J?
02:37What?
02:40No, I'm not gonna kill you.
02:43I'm just gonna hurt you.
02:45From the moment the first pictures of Jared Leto's Joker in Suicide Squad were revealed,
02:50people were making fun of him.
02:51And that continued when bizarre stories about his on-set behavior and method acting circulated.
02:56Listen, you are my guests to this handsome hunker-hunker.
03:02You belong to him now.
03:05The silver grills he wears in all of his DCEU appearances also made it impossible to take him seriously,
03:11since Leto can barely talk.
03:12Years on, and it looked like Todd Phillips had made a more successful version of the character in 2019's Joker,
03:18only to ruin all the goodwill he had built up with one of the worst movie sequels of all time,
03:24a musical with a main character who cannot sing.
03:27Number 7. Shazam
03:37The superhero formerly known as Captain Marvel surprised audiences in 2019
03:52when his debut movie turned out to be a solid superhero flick.
03:56It was an origin story we'd never seen on the big screen,
04:11unless a 1941 serial counts.
04:14And as such, DC brought fresh concepts to theater goers.
04:17Yeah, you electrocuted a bus and almost killed these people.
04:20And then I caught it!
04:22Freddie, I caught a bus with my bare hands, man!
04:26Unfortunately, that same momentum couldn't carry Shazam through to a successful sequel.
04:31Both the direct sequel and the Black Adam spinoff were practically dead on arrival,
04:35with minimal interest from the public in seeing more movies about relatively obscure characters.
04:40Though Black Adam was actually solid.
04:42Add to that Zachary Levi's personal controversies, and you've got a recipe for failure.
04:46Number 6. The Justice League
04:48We're specifically here talking about the versions of the Justice League scene
05:01in the infamous Joss Whedon cut of the Justice League in 2017.
05:05Only when the Snyder Cut really did appear four years later did we see just how bad Whedon's additions to the movie were.
05:11The characters all seemed to hate each other while making non-stop lewd jokes and quips,
05:16and even in one scene bickering so much that innocent bystanders were killed.
05:20Well, I knew you didn't bring me back because you liked me.
05:23I don't... not...
05:25Even Henry Cavill's stoic Superman became a quip machine during the final battle,
05:30while Aquaman accuses Cyborg of not actually wanting to help them stop Darkseid.
05:35So you can't find them, or maybe you don't want to.
05:41He then puts the moves on Wonder Woman while sitting on the lasso of truth.
05:46Even the cast spoke out against Wheaton.
05:49Oof. You're gorgeous. And fierce. And strong. And...
05:53Just how bad was the cancelled Batgirl movie?
06:05We don't know, because nobody's ever seen it.
06:08Initially also helmed by Joss Whedon,
06:10though he thankfully left and the final script was written by Christina Hodgson,
06:13the movie was set to star Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon.
06:16J.K. Simmons was also going to return as Jim Gordon,
06:20after first appearing in the role for Justice League.
06:22The movie was finished, and went into post-production
06:25before executives decided to cancel it and take the tax write-off.
06:29Don't let that donut dunker get to you.
06:32We're gonna have this whole thing sewn up before Batman and Superman get back.
06:35It was even going to have Michael Keaton in it
06:38as another grand return for his version of Batman to the DCEU.
06:42Will we ever get the Batgirl movie of our dreams?
06:45Who knows now?
06:46Like it or not, we're all you've got.
06:48You either play with us, or give up the game.
06:50Number 4, Batman.
06:52Sorry guys.
06:54I didn't break a sword.
06:58This one may be a controversial pick,
07:00but fans remain divided about Ben Affleck's caped crusader.
07:03He's just as violent as Christian Bale's previous iteration,
07:06but might be the most ruthless version of Batman to date.
07:09Jesus Christ.
07:11He branded him.
07:12And who can forget the infamous plot point in Batman vs. Superman
07:20where he brands criminals so that they can be murdered in prison
07:23and blows up cars with the guns mounted on his Batmobile?
07:26Just because the guns are on a car
07:28doesn't mean he gets a free pass for using them.
07:30Thankfully, we now have an outstanding version of the Dark Knight
07:42in Matt Reeves' new Elseworlds trilogy.
07:44Battinson doesn't even kill one person in all of the Batman.
07:48Number 3, Superman.
07:50Let's put our cards in the table here, General.
07:53You're scared of me because you can't control me.
07:56You don't.
07:57And you never will.
07:59But that doesn't mean I'm your enemy.
08:02Most of the missteps with Henry Cavill's Superman
08:04come not in the Snyder Cut, which was an improvement,
08:07but in Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman.
08:09It makes sense that Warner Brothers wanted a more serious,
08:12mature version of DC's heroes after the failure of Green Lantern.
08:15And Man of Steel does fulfill that wish.
08:17I'm lost, and I'm lost.
08:25But Clark Kent just doesn't behave in the way comic fans expect.
08:29He steals clothes, he destroys someone's truck out of revenge,
08:32and he hardly even saves anybody.
08:35In Batman vs. Superman, he seems to feel no remorse
08:38for the destruction of Metropolis at his own hands,
08:41and also flies away from the courthouse after Lex detonates his bomb
08:44rather than staying to help.
08:46What was I supposed to do?
08:49Just let him die?
08:55Maybe.
08:56Number 2. The Flash
08:58How do you solve a problem like The Flash?
09:07By throwing more money than makes sense at it,
09:10hiring dozens of screenwriters and nearly as many directors,
09:13and eventually pushing it through the door after its star has been well and truly cancelled
09:17for far more criminal offences than we can list here.
09:20Mom!
09:20The final movie was actually less muddled than its fraught production would have you believe,
09:31despite its disturbingly uncanny CGI,
09:33with Michael Keaton getting his triumphant return as Batman,
09:36and Sasha Kajay debuting a dark, frightening version of Kara Zor-El,
09:40who stole all the scenes she appeared in.
09:42But it's never a good sign when Batman and Supergirl are the best characters in your movie all about The Flash.
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10:20Number 1. Wonder Woman
10:24She stole the show in Batman vs. Superman,
10:37and then her standalone movie turned out to be the first huge success for the DCEU.
10:42Who can forget that iconic No Man's Land scene?
10:50But alas, the future was not bright for Diana Prince.
10:56Gal Gadot's subsequent movies have shown that Wonder Woman was clearly a fluke being largely carried by Chris Pine's charisma.
11:03And then we got Wonder Woman 1984, which had some great trailers and nothing else.
11:08Despite Patty Jenkins returning to write and direct, 1984 was a huge failure.
11:14Max Lord, you're putting yourself and everyone else in grave danger.
11:19I need you to give me the stone!
11:21And it wasn't even bad in a fun way, like the original Suicide Squad.
11:25It was just boring.
11:26We can't wait for the new DCU's inevitable Wonder Woman redo.
11:30Let us know in the comments what your favorite DCEU movie was,
11:33and whether you're going to miss any of those characters.
11:35Find him! Save Martha!
11:49After that.
11:54Keep that open.
11:56Keep that open.
12:05See you next time.
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