9 DC Heroes That Deserve A VR Game Like Batman: Arkham Shadow

Games in virtual reality continue to advance, with Batman: Arkham Shadow on the Meta Quest 3 giving gamers an impressive superhero experience with combat, exploration, and multiple hours of story. It shows that traditional video games are not the only way to experience characters in the vast DC universe.

Batman: Arkham Shadow could potentially be the start of a new wave of DC superhero content for virtual reality. There are so many DC characters that could provide similar experiences to Batman while adding their unique flair, whether it’s their collections of villains or featuring bombastic superpowers.

9 Red Hood

A VR Game Would Mix Melee And Gun Action Together

Real Name: Jason Todd First Appearance: Batman #357

After the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, multiple Bat-Family members deserve their own spin-off title. One of the darker yet beloved characters is Jason Todd, AKA Red Hood, who is confirmed to be operating in Gotham City thanks to a DLC chapter for Arkham Knight.

While Jason was fairly playable before, his chapter can be beaten in a few minutes. A VR experience in the same vein as Batman: Arkham Shadow could help improve the character’s development and gameplay, showing Jason struggling with being an anti-hero without falling back to villainy. At the same time, the VR would allow more focus on his gun-wielding given the first-person perspective.

8 Black Lightning

The Street-Level Superhero That People Deserve

Real Name: Jefferson Pierce First Appearance: Black Lightning #1

Being able to shoot lightning from one’s hands would be quite the power fantasy to implement in VR form. Iron Man VR showed that it could be done via Iron Man’s repulsors and that playing as a flying superhero is also feasible. Black Lightning can allow these fantastical abilities while still telling a more grounded story about the first black superhero in comics.

At the end of the day, Black Lightning is simply a father named Jefferson Pierce trying to make his city a safer place as both a superhero and a school teacher in Metropolis. Black Lightning is a hero known for tackling subjects such as community, education, family, prejudice, bigotry, violence, and more, which would fit the mix of action and storytelling template of Arkham Shadow.

7 Green Arrow

Oliver Queen Is Essentially An Archer Version Of Batman

Real Name: Oliver Queen First Appearance More Fun Comics #73

Considering the many similarities that Batman and Green Arrow have, both being men of wealth who dress up at night to fight crime using a variety of gadgets, it is strange that Green Arrow has never gotten his own game. It could take place within the Arkhamverse timeline or be separate, but the Emerald Archer deserves more after eight seasons of his own show on the CW.

Oliver Queen fights crime in his home turf of Star City, with villains such as Count Vertigo, Merlyn, Onomatopoeia, Cupid, and so much more. He’s always been a more grounded superhero, but with more of a sense of humor to help him stand out from Batman alongside his bow and arrows, with the latter being the perfect weapon for a VR game.

6 John Constantine

DC Could Tap Into The Supernatural Horror Side Of VR

Real Name: John Constantine First Appearance: Swamp Thing #37

From certain Resident Evil games to Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul, horror found a nice home in the realm of VR. This potentially has paved the way for more horror-centric DC characters such as John Constantine to join the ranks, seeing him bounce from fighting supernatural entities from other dimensions to performing exorcisms of various demons.

Matt Ryan, who has played Constantine in both live-action and animation, could return to the character since he has expressed his love for the character and has played other video game characters such as Edward Kenway in Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. In terms of combat, the VR controls could implement magic spells, talismans, and weapons alongside investigative gameplay.

5 Green Lantern

A Superhero With Many Cosmic Opportunities

Real Name: John Stewart, Hal Jordan, Jessica Cruz, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Simon Baz First Appearance: All-American Comics #16

With the Arkham Shadow template, VR technology would be perfect for allowing gamers to wield the Green Lantern power rings in the most immersive way. The motion controls would allow players to throw, fire, or slam willpower constructs at enemies while traversing the galaxy to subdue and arrest different extraterrestrial criminals and villains.

Green Lantern could be linear, with each case they investigate being a simple level-by-level structure, or with their ability to fly to any planet in the universe, it could be a chance to make an open-world game on VR. Arkham Shadow featured an exploration of maps, which could be a stepping block for more expansive VR games.

4 Zatanna

VR’s Motion Controls Are Ideal For The Mistress Of Magic

Real Name: Zatanna Zatara First Appearance: Hawkman #4

The mistress of magic and one of DC’s greatest female heroes rarely gets to appear in DC video games, with Justice League: Heroes and Injustice being rare examples. With VR, Zatanna has a chance to shine due to her focus on magic that could utilize both motion controls and voice recognition to enhance the experience, since her spellcasting is based on speaking words backwards.

On top of the gimmick, Zatanna tends to deal with the wilder side of DC’s supernatural realm, from Morgan Le Fay to Klarion to Darkseid. Her adventures are bizarre and that’s what would be so fun, like a DC version of Hogwarts Legacy with a VR twist to it, while keeping it grounded with Zatanna’s ingenuity and her time as a performing illusionist.

3 Nightwing

Batman Gameplay Paved The Way For His Apprentice

Real Name: Dick Grayson First Appearance: Detective Comics #38

To keep things simple, a game starring Nightwing could be a modified version of Batman: Arkham Shadow. Batman and Nightwing are both vigilantes who use gadgets, martial arts, and detective work while living double lives. Nightwing also has his fair share of villains, including Deathstroke, Saiko, Tarantula, and Blockbuster just to name a few.

A Nightwing spin-off in the expansive Arkhamverse timeline would allow fans to finally get a stronger look at the city of Blüdhaven, which they had only gotten a glimpse of in Arkham Knight. On top of that, depending on the route developers want to take Dick Grayson, the investigative elements could take place at the Blüdhaven Police Department to highlight Dick as a cop.

2 Superman

Fans Deserve A Modern Game About The Man Of Steel

Real Name: Clark Kent First Appearance: Action Comics #1

For several decades now, Batman has had a plethora of video games, while Superman has hardly had the chance to shine in that realm. Similar to Green Lantern and Black Lightning, Superman would allow gamers to live out the fantasy of being able to fly through the clouds and fight everything from robots to aliens to other metahuman threats using ice breath, heat vision, and more.

In between Superman’s adventures, players could also advance the story as Clark Kent at either the Daily Planet, Smallville, or other locations across Metropolis, showcasing that Superman is a hero of brains and brawn. As a bonus, both Clark and Superman segments could utilize puzzle-solving by being able to see through walls and make the right choices to save lives.

1 The Flash

Virtual Reality Might Be The Best Way To Portay Super Speed

Real Name: Barry Allen, Wally West, Jay Garrick, Jess Chambers First Appearance: Flash Comics #1

Whether it is Barry Allen, Wally West, or even Jay Garrick, The Flash presents the problem of accurately portraying super speed without downgrading what a DC speedster is capable of. However, with VR, there is a chance thanks to SuperHot VR, which uses the mechanic of time freezing until the player moves, simulating someone moving at incredible speed.

The Flash could also have combat similar to Batman: Arkham Shadow, mixing melee combos and takedowns. As Barry Allen is a forensic scientist, a game could borrow detective crime-solving elements to have the hero go after powerful metahumans like the Reverse Flash or street-level villains such as Captain Cold.