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Like the dominating MCU, DC Comics has also tried to get its own cinematic universe going, albeit with several stops and starts thanks to inconsistent movie adaptations.With some movie adaptations outshining their comic book source material while others have fallen short of the comics books, the DC movie adaptations have their fans and their detractors.
Usually, movie adaptations that are successful and beloved by audiences tend to make it so that their adaptation is faithful to the source material, being well-thought-out projects born out of passion for the source material. From live-action to the animation that DC is known for, DC Comics has some hits and misses among its comic-book-to-screen adaptations, but they’re all beloved all the same.
10
Fell Short: Steel
Released in 1997
Steel is a 1997 film directed by Kenneth Johnson, featuring Shaquille O’Neal as John Henry Irons, a weapons designer who becomes a vigilante after his research is exploited by a ruthless arms dealer. With the help of his expertise in metallurgy and technology, Irons constructs a powerful suit of armor to fight for justice and protect his community from the dangerous weapons he helped create.
Based on the DC character of the same name, Steel was about John Henry Irons, who creates a suit of armor that makes him the superhero Steel. His goal is to stop a weapons manufacturer and seller that caters to criminals. The movie starred Shaquille O’Neal in the lead role, which, for anyone who is the least bit familiar with Shaquille O’Neal’s film history (especially Kazaam), is not the best sign of a movie’s success.
Steel was a box office bomb and widely panned by critics and audiences who thought that the movie was incredibly cheesy with less-than-stellar acting. Despite this movie being a crummy adaptation of the DC hero, Steel in the comics is actually a genius engineer whose suit gave him powers on par with Superman, an effect that the movie fails to achieve.
9
Outshined: Batman: Assault on Arkham
Released in 2014
Batman: Assault on Arkham
Release Date
August 12, 2014
Runtime
75 minutes
Director
Jay Oliva, Ethan Spaulding
Based on DC Comics’ universe, Batman: Assault on Arkham is an animated film directed by Jay Oliva and Ethan Spaulding. Set between the events of Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Asylum, the story follows the Suicide Squad, a team of criminals assembled by Amanda Waller, as they infiltrate Arkham Asylum to retrieve vital information. Batman becomes involved, posing a significant challenge to both the criminals and their government handlers.
Following Batman working against the clock to stop a bomb set by the Joker, Batman: Assault on Arkham also looks at Amanda Waller commissioning the Suicide Squad to break into Arkham Asylum to get some intel from the imprisoned Riddler. While many loved the comics version of Assault on Arkham, which was part of the Suicide Squad series, there is a slew of dedicated fans of the film version.
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Viewers loved the action sequences of the movie version of Batman: Assault on Arkham, which were much more vivid thanks to the presentation that comes with animation compared to the static representation that occurs in comics. In addition to there being a lot of fight scenes in general, the performances of the cast boost the impact of the story, creating an exceptional DC movie adaptation.
8
Fell Short: Suicide Squad
Released in 2016
The Suicide Squad team is made up of villains, captured and kept in a secret prison, and offered reduced sentences if they participate in dangerous missions. In the tradition of continuity within DCEU films, the event comes in the wake of Superman’s death and the seclusion of Batman after the events that occurred in Batman V Superman. Agency head Amanda Waller, played by award-winning actress Viola Davis, is the one striking deals with the inmates of Belle Reve Prison. Heading “Task Force X” is Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag, alongside Will Smith’s Deadshot, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, Jay Hernandez’s El Diablo, Adewale Akinnuoye’s Killer Croc, and Adam Beach’s Slipknot. Karen Fukuhara’s Katana also joins the mission to keep Rick safe from the villains. Jared Leto (Joker) and Ben Affleck (Batman) have smaller roles in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, as does Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress.
While Batman: Assault On Arkham is a good example of what a good adaptation of the Suicide Squad looks like, 2016’s live-action Suicide Squadmovie lies completely on the other side. Panned both critically and by viewers, 2016’s Suicide Squad massively failed the comics source material.
The only upside of this otherwise terrible adaptation was that a lot of the casting for the movie was very well done, like casting Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Joel Kinnamen as Rick Flag.Suffice it to say, the movie adaptation fell very short of the comics version, and many die-hard comics fans took issue with this lackluster adaptation. Funnily enough, as much as this DC adaptation falls short, it is the only DCEU movie to have won an Oscar, winning in the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category.
7
Outshined: Superman: Red Son
Released in 2020
Superman: Red Son explores an alternate reality where Superman lands in the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. As a champion of Stalinist communism, he becomes a symbol of Soviet ideology, confronting global tensions and ideological conflicts in a reimagined 1950s landscape.
Originally a comic book miniseries by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson, Superman: Red Son looks at alternative versions of the characters, with a focus on wondering what Superman would be like if he was raised in the Soviet Union. The comic was highly acclaimed, and it seemed like it would be impossibly hard to create a good movie adaptation of the series. However, 2020’s Superman: Red Son managed to do so.
A perk of the movie compared to the comic is that the movie adaptation has a conclusion that is more concise and, consequently, more well done than the comics version. Likewise, for those that had an issue with the twist in the comic version of Red Son, finding it superfluous, they were pleased with the exclusion of the twist in the movie version.
6
Fell Short: Green Lantern
Released in 2011
Green Lantern
Release Date
June 16, 2011
Director
Martin Campbell
Writers
Michael Green, Greg Berlanti, Michael Goldenberg, Marc Guggenheim
To say that audiences were disappointed when they left the theater of this abysmal DC comic adaptation would be a massive understatement. The main issues with the movie were its tone and visual effects as well as the movie’s script and overall unfaithfulness to the comics. No biggie, just four major things that a movie needs to be good, and Green Lantern does not satisfy in any of these elements in any way whatsoever.
Looking for an intriguing and unexpected new take on Green Lantern lore? Look no further than Absolute Green Lantern #1 by Al Ewing, Jahnoy Lindsay, and Lucas Gattoni, available now from DC Comics.
A Green Lantern movie adaptation had so much potential, being both a superhero and space story hybrid. However, themes like imagination, fearlessness, and the electromagnetic spectrum of emotional willpower, which is where the Green Lanterns get their powers from, are hard to translate to live action, which is just one of the many reasons why this movie could not appease the fans of the comics.
5
Outshined: Superman vs. the Elite
Released in 2012
Superman vs. The Elite is an animated superhero film based on the “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?” storyline. The movie follows Superman, who is challenged by a group of powerful heroes known as The Elite, who believe that their brutal methods are more effective in dealing with villains than Superman’s traditional approach.
Based on the story “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?” by Joe Kelly, Lee Bermejo, and Doug Mahnke from Action Comics #775, Superman vs. the Elite is an animated movie that sees Superman struggling with Metropolis’s need for retribution rather than justice when a new band of superheroes come to town. Fans of the DC movie adaptation point out that the writer of the original comic, Kelly, wrote the movie script as well.
As a result, the screenplay and resulting movie are like a second draft that fixed all the issues that were present in the comic book version. Likewise, others who have found Superman vs. the Elite to be superior to its comics source material have voiced that the movie adaptation fleshed out story components even more, which then strengthened the main focus of the entire story.
4
Fell Short: Jonah Hex
Released in 2010
The live-action adaptation of the DC hero of the same name, Jonah Hex stars Josh Brolin as the eponymous anti-hero. A superhero Western, Jonah Hex follows the titular bounty hunter as he pursues his family’s killer (John Malkovich). Hex is joined by Lilah Black (Megan Fox), his gun-toting sidekick, as he fights across the Old West on the hunt for revenge.
An anithero bounty hunter in the 1800s, Jonah Hex may be bad-tempered, but that does not mean that he does not live by a strict personal code, as he aims to protect as well as avenge the innocent. A movie adaptation of this DC character seems like a no-brainer and simple enough to pull off. Numerous classic Western movies can attest to the possible success that Jonah Hex could have had as a movie franchise.
Unfortunately, this was not the case, and the movie badly dropped the ball with this DC character. Starring Josh Brolin as the titular character and Megan Fox as Lilah Black, Jonah Hex was criticized for being too unfocused as well as being disrespectful to the source material, because it gives Jonah Hex supernatural powers, which the comics version does not have or even need.
3
Outshined: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Released in 2012
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
Release Date
September 25, 2012
Runtime
76 Minutes
Director
Jay Oliva
Based on the dark and gritty graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns Part One is an animated action film set in the same world as Batman: Year One. The film follows a retired Batman following the death of the last Robin ever taken under his wing, Jason Todd. Two-Face, having been released and supposedly reformed, and a sudden wave of major crimes forces Bruce Wayne to don the cowl once more as an aged and far more brutal Batman, but even takes on a new Robin protege named Carrie Kelley.
An adaptation of the 1986 comic book Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, 2012’s two-part animated movie involved several Batman team members as storyboard artists. As a result, the quality of the source material extends to this well-done movie adaptation. Fans of the movie adaptation particularly favored getting rid of the narration component of the comic that many felt was not needed or even enjoyable.
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In addition, critics felt that the movie adaptation got Miller’s vision across better in the film medium versus its comic counterpart. Likewise, the 2012 movie improved upon some aspects of the comic for different scenes of the movie, providing a better experience of the material overall. One might go so far as to argue that The Dark Knight Returns is one of the best Batman films ever made.
2
Fell Short: Wonder Woman 1984
Released in 2020
In 1984, Wonder Woman’s second big-screen solo adventure finds her working in the Smithsonian while secretly living a double life as the iconic superhero. When she comes across a mysterious artifact at the museum, Wonder Woman soon finds herself facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and Cheetah. Wonder Woman 1984 was one of the first theatrical films to be simultaneously released on HBO Max in 2020.
Much hype surrounded Wonder Woman 1984 after the success of the first film. The hype would die down after the movie came out, disappointing audiences, which is just one of many reasons why it fell short of its source material. Partly inspired by Justice League of America comics in the ’60s, Wonder Woman 1984 assembled characters like Barbara Minerva’s Cheetah and Maxwell Lord for the plot of the film.
None of these elements, when combined, were true to the comics, instead becoming an amalgamation of disparate Wonder Woman comics that did not really make much sense together. Had many of the components of the movie been faithful to the comics, the film could have been much better than what the audience got.
1
Outshined: Batman: Under the Red Hood
Released in 2010
A mysterious vigilante called the Red Hood shows up in Gotham City, implementing one method that Batman does not: the Red Hood kills his targets. Batman and Nightwing are hot on the Red Hood’s trail, but Batman makes a surprising revelation about the vigilante’s identity.
Batman: Under the Red Hood is about Batman facing off against an elusive vigilante known as the Red Hood in this direct-to-DVD movie that garnered much acclaim for its exceptional execution as well as its mature and faithful approach to the storyline. Those who have found Batman: Under the Red Hood equal to – or even better than – its comic-book counterpart have noted that the movie takes out a lot of the unnecessary story information from the comics that made it a longer read than it perhaps needed to be.
As a result, since the movie version reduced the content of the comics to only what was necessary for the film, there was better focus on the main plot points of the story. One specific aspect that fans liked that was cut out of the movie adaptation was the role of Superboy Prime, the villain who originally caused Jason Todd’s resurrection in DC Comics lore.
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