The DCEU has introduced a whole host of Justice League heroes since June 2013, but Warner Bros.’ ongoing cinematic universe has also introduced various members of the Legion of Doom. So if the franchise wished to continue the thread established in the Justice League‘s post-credits scene, Lex Luthor could bring together several established faces. And if he did, it would feature some great villains already.
Throughout the multiple sub-franchises that have come to life, a number of iconic super-villains have made it from panel to screen in the last 7 years. While the Justice League hasn’t faced a fully-formed Legion of Doom quite yet, the DCEU has already done the leg work of introducing several members one after another in the individual DCEU movies. And with Zack Snyder’s Justice League hitting HBO Max, there could well be more fan clamor to see future Justice League properties, which could make the Legion of Doom a viable cinematic option once more.
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Unlike the 2017 version of Justice League that was shown in theaters, the 4-hour mini-series cut will be the DCEU’s true vision of DC’s iconic team coming together on the big screen and it could return to the cancelled Legion of Doom DCEU arc plans. The only time that the Legion has been seen together in live-action in recent years was on Legends of Tomorrow during the second season as various Arrowverse villains came together but that could change. As the DCEU continues to introduce members, perhaps one day the iconic group of super-villains will get together to take on the Justice League. This is every member from the Legion of Doom that currently exists in the DCEU.
Lex Luthor
The latest actor to portray Superman’s greatest archenemy Lex Luthor is Jesse Eisenberg as The Social Network star joined the DCEU back in 2016. Eisenberg debuted as Lex in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice where he served as the greater mastermind. From getting Superman and Batman to fight each other to create Doomsday, Lex caused a lot of trouble in his first DCEU appearance. Even before going fully bald, Lex was pretty much unleashed from the get-go as he was determined to take on the Man of Steel. Lex was one of the characters to get affected by the 2017 cut of Justice League as he was originally in it a lot more which will now be rectified in 2021. In the theatrical version, Lex is only seen in a post-credit scene with another major DC villain as he proposes the idea of getting a league of their own against the newly formed Justice League.
The Joker
The same year as the DCEU got its Batman in Ben Affleck, Bruce Wayne’s greatest enemy also joined the cinematic universe: The Joker. Debuting in Suicide Squad, Jared Leto landed the gig of the iconic super-villain who was a relatively big part of the film. While the focus was more on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in comparison to him, Joker’s relationship with her was explored. Similarly to Eisenberg’s Luthor in the Snyder Cut, Leto’s Joker was originally a bigger player in Suicide Squad before David Ayer’s cut was altered for the theaters. With additional photography taking place currently, Leto was recently announced to be joining Snyder’s Justice League which will be his second appearance in the DCEU. Depending on what happens with Joker in the 4-hour cut, perhaps it will lead to Warner Bros. reviving the spinoff projects that he was originally meant to be featured in.
Deathstroke
When Lex Luthor made his brief appearance in the 2017 version of Justice League, he was shown meeting up with yet another DC villain also making his DCEU debut: Deathstroke. For his cinematic debut, Joe Manganiello was cast as Slade Wilson who would be the first person Lex seemingly recruits to form their own little league, which is where the Legion of Doom concept for the DCEU first began to emerge. The original plan for Slade in the DCEU was that he would actually next appear in Affleck’s The Batman (prior to it becoming Robert Pattinson’s new franchise) as one of the villains. A solo film centered on Deathstroke was also in the works during that time from director Gareth Evans. But after 2017, everything pretty much changed with most of the previously announced plans. Similarly to Leto, Manganiello was recently also announced to be joining the ongoing shooting for the Snyder Cut.
Black Manta
When it comes to Aquaman mythology, there are a number of iconic foes that Arthur Curry goes up against. For his theatrical film, Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman featured Ocean Master as the primary antagonist, but a member of the Legion of Doom also made it alongside him as Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was cast as David Hyde a.k.a. the villainous Black Manta. After losing his father thanks to Arthur stopping their hijacking of a submarine, David’s hatred for the future King of Atlantis was born and his evolution into the famous foe kicked off. Aquaman saw him eventually become Black Manta as he took on Aquaman and Mera in the latter half of the film. The last time he’s seen is in the post-credit scene where David is recovering from their battle after being rescued by Dr. Stephen Shin who he plans to help while also aiming to kill Arthur in the future. Black Manta will next be seen in Aquaman 2 where he is reportedly going to be the main villain.
Cheetah
While she won’t be seen until her DCEU debut at the end of 2020, Barbara Minerva a.k.a. Cheetah technically already exists in the DCEU given that Wonder Woman 1984 is set in the early 1980s. Played by Kirsten Wiig and depicted as an archaeologist that becomes a friend of Diana’s, Barbara eventually transforms into her comic book counterpart Cheetah and becomes the Amazon heroine’s next antagonist alongside Maxwell Lord. Whether or not she will ever be seen in the present remains to be seen. If she does appear in the current timeline, it’d certainly be an aged-up Cheetah, unless Barbara’s transformation comes with slowed aging.
The next ideal Legion of Doom member that will likely appear in the DCEU is Eobard Thawne a.k.a. Reverse-Flash who may or may not be in The Flash. The villainous team has always been one of the best aspects of the Justice League mythology and it’s always great whenever those heroes have to go up against their respective villains, but all at once. It would be a shame if the DCEU never took advantage of eventually bringing those villains together to take on the Justice League. Depending on what happens after Snyder’s Justice League cut arrives on HBO Max, perhaps the formation of the Legion of Doom will become more of a possibility down the line as the respective DCEU franchises keep going.
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)Release date: Dec 25, 2020
- Aquaman 2 (2022)Release date: Dec 16, 2022
- The Suicide Squad (2021)Release date: Aug 06, 2021
- The Batman (2022)Release date: Mar 04, 2022
- The Flash (2022)Release date: Nov 04, 2022
- Shazam 2 (2023)Release date: Jun 02, 2023
- DC Super Pets (2022)Release date: May 20, 2022
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