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sleepy-writes-stuff · 1 year

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DP X DC WRITING PROMPT #2

(Well this is surprising. Not really sure if this idea will make any sense, but here we go.)

(#) = Notes at the end of post

(*) = Just me building off of other ideas

✦

Danny, as Ghost King, gets summoned by the Legion of Doom(?) to help end the Justice League. Except for this summoning fic, they literally summon him off of a GIW lab table where he was being experimented on. Danny is bleeding, barely conscious, and having a really horrible time. This garners a split reaction. Some villains, while surprised, are indifferent. Others are horrified. Not really sure which villains would be which except maybe Lex Luthor(1).

When Danny gets patched up, Lex learns later on that day that he's one of the people responsible for helping pass the Anti-Ecto Acts. However, he only helped passed it to get the people who kept sending it to finally desist, thinking it was all a hoax/big joke and that it wouldn't really matter in the long run. Now he knows it wasn't just a big joke and now that he sees the results of that decision, he regrets it.

While the Legion of Doom isn't short on medical supplies, it's not a great environment for healing, villain or not. Plus, he's kinda useless for the reason he was summoned if he's this seriously wounded. So, he does something he's never done before. He tips off the Justice League about the injured teenage monarch and skedaddles back home and out of the way where he can also start figuring out a way to take down the Anti-Ecto Acts.

Meanwhile, Team Phantom (Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie. Maybe Wes too for extra humor? 👀) finally have a lock on Danny's location now that he's no longer in a GIW facility--they have ecto-signature blocking technology. They all suit up and get there way before the Justice League and have already taken out the villains still in the LoD HQ by the time they show up and are in the process of trying to transport Danny. The League are a combination of surprised, impressed, and concerned. They invite Team Phantom back to the Watchtower so they can help treat Phantom's injuries.

It's here that the League learns about the Anti-Ecto Acts and what had happened to Phantom to put him in such serious condition. Outraged, a team is organized to hit any GIW facilities and free any citizens of the Infinite Realms while Batman and a few others stay behind to help dismantle the Acts. Team Phantom manage to get the League to agree to have at least one of them on each team they send out, since they have more experience dealing with the GIW and ghosts alike.

With the combination of the League and Lex Luther (unknown to them), the Anti-Ecto Acts are dismantled and the captured ghosts are freed and Danny is all healed up, though still traumatized. His friends help him deal with it--Jazz plus Black Canary are especially invaluable in his psychological healing process. Meanwhile, the JL are incredibly impressed with how knowledgeable and well-trained they are for having no mentors to teach them. Even more so once they hear all the battles they've fought along side Phantom.

The JL come to a decision. They invite all of Team Phantom to join Justice League Dark, the JL subdivision for magic/the occult. After talking it over, they all agree to join.

✦

Thats where it ends unless you wanna continue it from there.

Notes:

(1) Which villains do you think would be sympathetic to Danny's condition? I don't know any of them well enough to pick. Do you think Lex Luther would actually feel sympathy for Danny? Small redemption arc? Do him and Danny meet again at some point on somewhat good terms?

(*) Maybe continue it with reactions from the Team from Young Justice? Maybe they're upset that some out of town teenagers got a JL invitation before they even got theirs? In response the JL have Team Phantom meet and train with Team YJ to get them to realize why exactly they were invited to join.

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #danny gets summoned by the legion of doom #danny is ghost king and gets kidnapped twice #the giw are big fat jerks #only some villains in the legion of doom are jerks #badass team phantom #team phantom join justice league dark #writing prompt #prompt #dp x dc prompt #sleepy-writes-stuff

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ohlookitsthearkhamknight · 11 months

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Legion of doom meeting but its just Lex Luther stopping every 5 minutes to stare pointedly in Deathstroke’s direction because he decided now was a great time to eat dinner as loud as possible (lex likes to hear himself talk and slade loves pissing him off)

#it came to me in a vision #but srsly we know slade would eat a s loud as possible while lex talked #he has better things to do instead of listening to man baby go on about how a certain group of mercenaries thought it would be a great idea #to take the legion card and go on a big vacation and it had absolutely nothing to do with him even though half of the purchases included #black and orange themed things. nope. not his fault at all. (he blames it all on floyd)

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modernsuperhero · 5 years

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Happyhoganon: If Luthor and his Legion of Doom (Sinestro, Grodd, Black Manta, Cheetah & Joker) made it so that the universal dynamics of Good and Evil shifted in which Evil mostly triumphs over Good, how would the Justice League feel having to lose over and over again to the likes of the Legion? Let alone other villains? And do you think they could be able to change the universal dynamics back to how they used to be?

first off: holy shit. the potential here. your MIND. second: what KIND of universe are we talking about here? like, are we talking in the context of the live action movies, where everything is dark and gritty and adult-y, or the kid’s shows like the kid’s shows that make sure Good Always Wins, like Justice League: Action? OR are we talking about the kind of in-between area of stuff like the Young Justice: Outsiders cartoon?

in the first context: there’s a good chance this will turn out to be a doomed universe. the justice league HAS been defeated before. the bat who laughs and shit, you know? it’s unlikely this would happen in main continuity, but possibly in a canon alternate universe, sure. it’s likely the more rogue-ish members of the justice league would start to break off first and try their own methods as failure after failure builds tension within the league. this of course would only further deteriorate the justice league’s ability to stand their ground. there would be a tipping point, likely some core member of the justice league dying/going crazy/joining the other side etc etc, that would cause the remnants of resistance against the legion to crumble completely.

in the second context: they would go into the fight with low prospects, for the most part, have one massive defeat that would probably lead to the COMPLETE dissolution of the justice league, one member after another leaving, in dramatic fashion, only for one member (almost definitely one of the big three, i.e. batman/superman/wonder woman) rallying everyone together again after each individual is defeated yet again, and with the power of FRIENDSHIP they FINALLY defeat the legion, likely by intentionally staging it so they by all rights should LOSE, only for that to, by the switched laws of the universe, mean they actually WIN and thus defeat the legion, and are somehow able to revert everything to its former state.

in the third context: it would either be a pyrrhic victory, or just a continuous series of not-quite-defeats (the latter of which is... kind of canon. no major villain ever STAYS locked away, so the forces of good and evil are always at a stalemate. otherwise, DC wouldn’t sell any comics!)

in a META context: it would be a series of tragedies. just a bunch of Big Sad. the earth is certainly destroyed, somehow, by one of the many threats the justice league normally would protect it from. RIP earth-happyhoganon

i’d also like to note that the only DC comics I have actually read was the first seven pages of the first issue of Super Sons, and the entire crossover miniseries with Gotham Academy and The Lumberjanes! I have, however, watched the lego movie’s lego batman, lego batman family matters, the wonder woman movie with gal gadot, the suicide squad movie, the young justice cartoon up to the middle of outsiders, the live action Gotham show up to right around the time Riddler meets Penguin, the first season of Justice League: Action!, the classic animated teen titans up to the middle of season three, and the first season of Titans. i’ve played Batman: Arkham Asylum up to the point where you meet the riddler. all of my knowledge regarding batman comes from either these, pinterest, tumblr, or my friend jason, who named himself after jason todd (and thus led to me googling who the heck jason todd is, leading pinterest to recommend me some fanart, pulling me further down the rabbit hole...)

i’ve also seen extensive, but out-of-order episodes of various shows in Arrowverse. (alas, i have yet to see batwoman. i’m looking forward to it, though)

so... i’m not actually the most educated on the universe? most of my knowledge is from shows and such that take place in canon alternate universe or deviate from regular canon significantly. and, said knowledge almost explicitly pertains to gothamites. so, you know. apparently people ship hal and barry? i know literally jack shit about green lantern (there are multiple???????) but anything that isn’t barry and his own sister is good in my book

#justice league #lex luther and the legion of doom #anon #thanks for the ask happyhoganon!#jla #young justice #supersons #gotham academy #lego batman #suicide squad #titans #teen titans #batman arkham asylum #jason todd #arrowverse #green lantern????#these are enough tags i think #happyhoganon

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rhavendell · 2 years

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Deathstroke Inc

#deathstroke inc #deathstroke #slade #black canary #dr destiny #lex luther #legion of doom #dc comics

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princehec-tor-kur · 5 years

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Legion of Doom

Headcanon memebers-

♤Lex Lurther - Superman

♡Joker -Batman

♢Circe - Wonder woman

♧Sinestro - Green Lantern

♤Reverse Flash - Flash

♡Black Manta - Aquaman

♢Ma'alefa'ak J'onzz - Martian Manhunter

♧Shadow Thief - Hawkwoman

♤Deathstroke - Cyborg

♡Malcom Merlin - Green Arrow

#dc #dc comics #superheores #legion of doom #justice league #lex luther #joker #circe #reverse flash #sinestro #black manta #shadow thief #deathstroke #malcom merlin #Ma'alefa'ak

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docgold13 · 4 years

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365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out Villains - One Villain, Every Day, All Year…

September 23rd - Lex Luthor

 Arguably the greatest super villain of all time and Superman’s primary arch nemesis. Lex Luthor’s origin and backstory have undergone countless retcons and updates. Originally Luthor was a diabolical scientist bent on world domination, facing off against The Man of Steel on many occasions. Later it is revealed that Alexander ‘Lex’ Luthor grew up in Smallville and was the son of an abusive and alcoholic father. Young Luthor ended up saving Superboy from a fragment of Kryptonite. To show his appreciation, Superboy built Luthor his own laboratory where he could pursue his scientific interests unbothered by his father. A fire broke out in this lab and Superboy arrived to put it out with his super-breath. Unfortunately, the accident left Luthor bald and also destroyed a project he had been working on. It is intimated that the strange vapors generated in this fire may have turned young Luthor’s mind evil, ultimately leading to he and Superboy becoming adversaries. This backstory was later altered so that Luthor grew up in a poor neighborhood of Metropolis. Again the child of an abusive home, Luthor went on to become an extraordinarily successful businessman, founding the mega-conglomerate called LexCorp. This version of Luthor took umbrage over the arrival of Superman, feeling it his responsibility to prove that the ingenuity of the human mind was mightier than the super powers of an alien. This would lead to constant schemes where Luthor plotted to do away with The Man of Steel. Yet another retcon combined these versions, portraying Luthor as a former resident of Smallvile who traveled to Metropolis to make his fortune. Throughout his endeavors, Luthor has founded or been a member of a number of different villainous groups, including The Injustice League, The Injustice Gang, The Legion of Doom, The Secret Six, Intergang and The Secret Society of Super Villains. Luther’s primary asset is his genius (it is possible that he is the smartest human of the DC Universe) although he has often employed other weapons, including battle armor, potions that grant him super powers and devices that have enabled him to duplicate the abilities of Superman. In a more recent series of events, Luthor obtained the powers possessed by White Martians. His insistence on wearing a ring containing a shard of Kryptonite resulted in his contracting an incurable type of cancer; an adversity he circumvented by transferring his consciousness into a younger, healthier clone of himself. Although a villain through and through, there have been times where Luthor has acted in a heroic fashion, seeing himself as the custodian of earth; there was even a brief period of time where Luthor acted as a member of The Justice League. Versions of Lex Luthor have appeared in numerous movies, television shows and cinematic serials. The character was portrayed by Lyle Talbot in the serial Atom Man Versus Superman; Gene Hackman portrayed Luthor in the movies Superman, Superman II and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace; Scott James Wells and Sherman Howard both portrayed the villain in different seasons of the television series Superboy; while John Shea played Luthor in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; Michael Rosenbaum portrayed a younger Lex Luthor in the show Smallville; Kevin Spacer took on the role in the movie Superman Returns; Jesse Eisenberg portrayed Luthor in the movies Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League; and Jon Cryer has portrayed the villain in the television show Supergirl. Lex Luthor first appeared in the pages of Action Comics #23 (1940).

#365 DC Comics Villains #DC Comics #Lex Luthor #Superman #cut-out #paper art #DC Villains

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agent-42 · 7 years

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I feel like Scarecrow or riddler will help Lex luther jr escape Arkham, to help form the Legion doom

#legion of doom #dceu #the riddler #the Scarecrow #lex luther

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beggerprince72 · 7 years

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What are we going to do today? Same thing we do every day, try and take over the world.

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dalekofchaos · 6 years

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DCEU Recast

For fun I’ve decided to do a recast of the DCEU and ps in my version everyone gets their movie before Justice League and it’s Martian Manhunter who brings everyone together

My other DC Fancasts

Batman

Batman Beyond

Superman

Wonder Woman

The Flash

Aquaman

Green Lantern

Green Arrow

Justice League

Teen Titans

Justice League Dark

The Dark Knight Returns

Telltale’s Batman

Injustice

Legion Of Doom

Birds Of Prey

Phase 1

Man Of Steel

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Emily Blunt as Lois Lane

Harrison Ford as Jonathan Kent

Meryl Streep as Martha Kent

Kate Mara as Lana Lang

Tobey Maguire as Pete Ross

Sean Bean as Jor-El

Kate Winslett as Lara Lor-Van

Rupert Grint as Jimmy Olsen

William Shatner as Perry White

Rachel McAdams as Cat Grant

Patrick Warburton as Steve Lombard

Sterling K Brown as Ron Troupe

Billie Piper as Maggie Sawyer

Christopher Meloni as Dan Turpin

Danny Glover as William Henderson

Richard Schiff as Dr Emil Hamilton

Clancy Brown as General Sam Lane

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luthor

Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves

Viggo Mortensen as General Zod

Lena Headley as Faora

Robert Maillet as Non

The Batman(in my version, The Batman comes after Man Of Steel, this will be about how The Joker and Harley Quinn kills Jason Todd, yes both Joker and Harley kill Jason. It’s important that everyone realizes Harley is a villain and not a anti-hero)

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Peter Capaldi as Alfred Pennyworth

Michael Keaton as Thomas Wayne

Kim Basinger as Martha Wayne

Courtney B Vance as Lucius Fox

Kate Mulgrew as Dr Leslie Thompkins

Diane Kruger as Vicki Vale

Mark Pellegrino as Jack Ryder/The Creeper

Jesús Castro as Nightwing/Dick Grayson

Jane Levy as Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Matthew Daddario as Jason Todd/Robin

Morena Baccarin as Catwoman/Selina Kyle

or Odette Annable as Catwoman/Selina Kyle

or Eiza González as Catwoman/Selina Kyle

Bryan Cranston as James Gordon

Michael Madsen as Harvey Bullock

Stephanie Beatriz as Renee Montoya

Jodie Foster as Sarah Essen

Ben Mendelsohn as Dr Jeremiah Arkham

Rockmond Dunbar as Aaron Cash

Joe Giligun as The Joker

Amanda Seyfried as Harley Quinn

And on the Batcomputer we’d see cameos from the other Batman villains

Alfred Molina as The Penguin/Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot

Liev Schreiber as Two-Face/Harvey Dent

David Tennant as The Riddler

Tobin Bell as Mr Freeze/Victor Fries

Jessica Chastain as Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley

Michael Wincott as Black Mask/Roman Sionis

Adam Driver as Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane

Ben Kingsley as Hugo Strange

Toby Jones as Mad Hatter/Jervis Tetch

Majid Al Masri as Ra’s Al Ghul

Shanina Shaik as Talia Al Ghul

Yasmine Al Massri as Nyssa Raatko

Zhang Ziyi as Lady Shiva

John Lithgow as Arnold Wesker/The Ventriloquist

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc/Waylon Jones

Pedro Pascal as Deadshot/Floyd Lawton

Kevin Durand as Solomon Grundy

Jackie Earle Haley as Victor Zsasz

Leonardo DiCaprio as Clayface/Basil Karlo

Woody Harrelson as Firefly/Garfield Lynns

Doug Jones as Man-Bat /Dr. Kirk Langstrom

Daniel Radcliffe as Anarky

Conleth Hill as Calandar Man/Julian Day

Tom Berenger as Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb

Michael Weatherly as Detective Arnold Flass

Will Arnett as Lt. Howard Branden

Robert DeNiro as Carmine Falcone

Al Pacino as Salvatore Maroni

Charlie Heaton as Alberto Falcone

Gwendoline Christie as Sofia Falcone

Vincent Karthieser as Mario Falcone

Nick Nolte as Rupert Thorne

Brad Dourif as Joe Chill

World’s Finest(This is not BVS this is World’s Finest. This is not a dumbed down fight scene just to kiss Frank Miller’s ass to adapt the most overrated comic. I care more about Batman and Superman having strong differences and overcoming them and working together in the end to stop a common threat. They are called the World’s Finest for a reason.)

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Emily Blunt as Lois Lane

Peter Capaldi as Alfred Pennyworth

Bryan Cranston as James Gordon

Michael Madsen as Harvey Bullock

Stephanie Beatriz as Renee Montoya

Rupert Grint as Jimmy Olsen

William Shatner as Perry White

Billie Piper as Maggie Sawyer

Christopher Meloni as Dan Turpin

Joe Gilgun as The Joker

Amanda Seyfried as Harley Quinn

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luther

Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves

Wonder Woman

Gemma Arterton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Ryan Gosling as Steve Trevor

Lucy Davis as Etta Candy

Lynda Carter as Hippolyta

Alexandra Daddario as Artemis

Lisa Berry as General Philippus

Robin Wright as General Antiope

Gerard Butler as Ares

Anne Hathaway as Athena

Lucy Lawless as Hera

Liam Neeson as Zeus

Peter Stormare as Hades

Green Lantern(Basically what the animated movie First Flight was. But Buddy Cop adventures of Hal and Sinestro. Hal Jordan mentoring under Sinestro (who does NOT turn evil at the end of the first, but instead the end of the second movie and in the third movie is when we get Sinestro Corps, however my big change to Sinestro’s character is Sinestro isn't a tyrant of his own people. Have it be that Sinestro used the ring to better his own world and his people love him, but the Guardians saw that as interference and marked Sinestro as a threat)

Chris Pine as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan

Lauren Cohan as Carol Ferris

Luke Evans as Sinestro

Zachary Quinto as Tomar-Re

Ken Watanabe as Abin Sur

Scott Bakula as Alan Scott

Ron Pearlman as Kilowog

Michael Sheen as Hector Hammond

With cameos from future Green Lanterns

Trevante Rhodes as John Stewart/Green Lantern

Diego Luna as Kyle Rayner

Aaron Paul as Guy Gardner

Saad Siddiqui as Simon Baz

Dianne Guerrero as Jessica Cruz

The Flash

Garrett Hedlund as The Flash/Barry Allen

Anna Kendrick as Iris West

David Duchovny as Henry Allen

Gillian Anderson as Nora Allen

Sendhil Ramamurthy as David Singh

Lennie James as James Forrest

Peter Weller as Darryl Frye

Juno Temple as Patty Spivot

Tiffany Espensen as Linda Park

Bruce Greenwood as Jay Garrick

Peyton Meyer as Wally West/Kid Flash

Michael C Hall as Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash

Aquaman

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman/Arthur Curry

Christina Hendricks as Mera

Stellan Skarsgård as Tom Curry

Kelsey Grammer as Nuidis Vulko

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Dr. Stephen Shin

Nicole Kidman as Atlanna

Michael K Williams as Black Manta

Gustaf Skarsgard as Ocean Master

Teen Titans(I think it’s better to have Teen Titans instead of Suicide Squad in phase 1)

Jesús Castro as Nightwing/Dick Grayson

Ray Fisher as Cyborg/Victor Stone

Sharon Belle as Starfire/ Koriand'r

Natasha Negovanlis as Raven/Rachel Roth

Dylan O'Brien as Beast Boy/Garfield Logan

Peyton List as Terra

Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke/Slade Wilson

Justice League(White Martians will be the villains and J’onn is the one who unites the Justice League)

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Gemma Areton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Garrett Hedlund as The Flash/Barry Allen

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman/Arthur Curry

Chris Pine as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan

Giancarlo Esposito as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter

Phase 2

Man Of Steel 2

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Emily Blunt as Lois Lane

Elle Fanning as Supergirl/Kara Zor-El

Meryl Streep as Martha Kent

Rupert Grint as Jimmy Olsen

William Shatner as Perry White

Rachel McAdams as Cat Grant

Patrick Warburton as Steve Lombard

Warner Miller as Ron Troupe

Billie Piper as Maggie Sawyer

Robert De Niro as Dan Turpin

Mark Harmon as William Henderson

Richard Schiff as Dr Emil Hamilton

Clancy Brown as General Sam Lane

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luthor

Ralph Fiennes as Brainiac

Shazam(In title name and Billy shouting only, the choice to call Billy’s hero persona Shazam is a confusing mess)

Channing Tatum as Captain Marvel

Noah Schnapp as Billy Batson

Finn Wolfhard as Freddy Freeman

Rowan Blanchard as Mary Batson

Jim Beaver as Uncle Dudley

Ernie Hudson as Jebidiah of Canaan/The Wizard of Shazam

Jeffrey Wright as Tawky Tawny

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam

Suicide Squad

Mo´Nique as Amanda Waller

Daniel Craig as Colonel Rick Flag

Pedro Pascal as Deadshot/Floyd Lawton

Jonny Lee Miller as Captain Boomerang

Kristen Bell as Killer Frost

Derek Mears as King Shark

Michael Jai White as Bronze Tiger

Karen Fukuhara as Katana

Holland Roden as Plastique

Wonder Woman 2

Gemma Areton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Ryan Gosling as Steve Trevor

Lynda Carter as Hippolyta

Alexandra Daddario as Artemis

Lisa Berry as General Philippus

Angelina Jolie as Circe

Charlize Theron as Cheetah

Green Arrow

Charlie Hunam as Green Arrow/Oliver Queen

Katheryn Winnick as Black Canary/Dinah Lance

Taron Egerton as Arsenal/Roy Harper

Alona Tal as Speedy/Mia Dearden

Common as John Diggle

Josh Gad as Henry Fyff

Donnie Yen as Yao Fei

Devon Aoki as Shado

Keanu Reeves as Merlyn

Bird Of Prey

Jane Levy as Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Teresa Ting as Batgirl/Cassandra Cain

Katheryn Winnick as Black Canary/Dinah Lance

Eliza Dushku as Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress

Tatiana Maslany as Lady Blackhawk/Zinda Blake

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Vixen/Mari Jiwe McCabe

Lily Collins as Starling/Evelyn Crawford

Zhang Ziyi as Lady Shiva

Batman Under The Red Hood

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Peter Capaldi as Alfred Pennyworth

Matthew Daddario as Red Hood/Jason Todd

Bryan Cranston as James Gordon

Michael Madsen as Harvey Bullock

Stephanie Beatriz as Renee Montoya

Michael Wincott as Black Mask/Roman Sionis

Joe Giligun as The Joker

Amanda Seyfried as Harley Quinn

Shanina Shaik as Talia Al Ghul

Justice League:Legion Of Doom

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Gemma Areton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Garrett Hedlund as The Flash/Barry Allen

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman/Arthur Curry

Chris Pine as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan

Giancarlo Esposito as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luthor

Joe Gilgun as The Joker

Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke

Michael K Williams as Black Manta

Charlize Theron as Cheetah

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam

Luke Evans as Sinestro

Michael C Hall as Reverse Flash/ Eobard Thawne

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true-halloween-tales · 6 years

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2018: #12-SUPERVILLAINS

The origin of the word “villain” reveals a secret about the significance of villains and supervillains. The origin of “villain” is the Latin word villanus; it curiously means farmhand. It refers to workers on villas or plantations. Over the years it transformed into the word “villein,” which meant serf or peasant. A villein came to mean that a person was lacking the politeness or chivalry of a knight – that the person was of a lower social status. Over some more years and human negativity further tainted the term. “Villein” in French is now “vilain” meaning bad or ugly, and the Italian “villano” means rude. What has happened is that one type of people has vilified another type of people as seen in the etymological corruption of the meaning. The significance of this is the difference between a criminal and a villain. A criminal is symbolically branded as a wrong-doer for breaking the law. A villain could be a mislabeled, misunderstood, oppressed person, a farmhand, and not necessarily a wrong-doer. Therefore some supervillains could be more like social rebels and less like evil criminals…

Early villains in fiction wore all black with a tall black hat and a twirly mustache. This was the archetypical image of villains such as Snidely Whiplash from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Early villains included the Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood, Professor Moriarty with Sherlock Holmes, and Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon (see 2012: #8-MING THE MERCILESS IN THE FOGGY RING OF HELL). In the 1960’s some villains started to emerge who had huge agendas, including: Blofeld from the James Bond series and the Master from Doctor Who (see 2017: #4-SPIES and 2018: #2-GUIDE TO DOCTOR WHO). Perhaps the furthest a villain can go is to have a successful take over of the entire universe. To be able to threaten the universe’s existence nearly as a god, and to make announcements to the occupants of the universe as your subjects is when you have won the supervillain game. This has been done by the tv villains of the Master and Mantrid from the Lexx series, and each ended up destroying at least a section of the entire universe. Now that’s very, very bad and leads us to supervillains…

Supervillains are primarily comic book villains. The term originates from the 1960’s. The most simple definition of “supervillain” is a villain who has a superhero as an opponent. Supervillains often have specific costumes or outfits, catchy names, special talents or gimmicks, henchmen, secret hideouts, secret identities, and master plans. Supervillains appear in comic books to be challenging opponents of superheroes. If the supervillain does not have special powers, then they may have special skills that distinguish them like being a genius. A predominant supervillain personality trait is that of having megalomaniacal delusions. Many supervillains have similarities to dictators, terrorists, and gangsters, with aspirations of world domination.

Supervillains are not always criminals. Sometimes they behave as social rebels. They may not be farmhands or serfs, but they sure are rebelling. Heath Legder’s Joker standing there laughing with millions of dollars burning behind him is the quintessential film scene depicting this. Jack Nicholson’s Joker art gallery scene brings the rebellion to art. Burgess Meredith’s the Penguin only ever had one goal: to have Batman arrested, sued, entrapped, and disgraced. Sometimes supervillains are even depicted as being sympathetic. Magneto from the X-Men comics and films is a supervillain basically because he was a Nazi victim in WW2. Sometimes the line between the hero and villain becomes blurred. Sometimes supervillains become the good guys temporarily at least. The Legends of Tomorrow tv series has included such supervillains as Captain Cold working on a team for a common aim with other supervillains. Since there are so many supervillains, to understand them we must classify them…

The first classification of supervillain is for highly talented people without any special powers. This includes Lex Luther, the Penguin, the Riddler, Harley Quinn, and Cat Woman. A sub-classification are highly talented people with special training: Deathstroke, Kingpin, and even the Joker supposed to have studied chemistry. Another sub-classification of supervillains are highly talented people with scientific gizmos: Dr. Octopus, Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, and the Scarecrow who often uses hallucinatory drugs on his victims as seen in the excellent Batman Arkham video game series. Many gizmo users are also mad scientists (see #2018: #5-MAD SCIENTISTS).

The second category of supervillains include normal people who gained special powers. This often means that the person came into contact with a rare manufactured substance that transformed them. This classification includes the Reverse Flash, Sandman, Bane, Poison Ivy, and the alien-looking Black Manta appearing in December 2018’s Aquaman film. There are a rare few supervillains in this classification that had their transformation sparked by a natural phenomenon. One such supervillain was Vandal Savage who was seen on season two of Legends of Tomorrow. Vandal Savage was a caveman who touched an alien meteor and developed super powers including eternal life. Another supervillain in this classification, Juggernaut from the Deadpool 2 film, received his size, strength, and power from touching the magical Crimson Gem of Cyttora.

A third classification of supervillain are those with natural, special powers that they were born with. This often signifies that the person is a mutant, usually placing them in the realm of the X-Men. This classification includes: Magneto, the blue Mystique, and the also blue Apocalypse, the first mutant from 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse film. A sub-classification of supervillains with powers are aliens, with many from the Superman comics. Superman’s foe, General Zod is an alien, originating from Superman’s home planet of Krypton. General Zod also created an evil Superman clone with grey skin named Bizarro. The strange Mister Mxyzptlk is another Superman supervillain, the “imp from the Fifth Dimension.” Another sub-classification of supervillains with powers are demigods and actual gods, such as Loki or Hela, the goddess of death from 2017’s excellent Thor: Ragnarok. Thanos falls into this sub-classification, from 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War film. Thanos is basically a Grecian Titan even though he is an alien, an Eternal. The top villain in the D.C. universe is Darkseid, whose father was Zonuz, the first god of evil and also the last Old God. Darkseid had the ultimate goal of controlling everyone in the universe. The one superhero who fights the most amount of deities, demigods, and cosmic entities is Doctor Strange. His first foe was Nightmare, evil ruler of the Dream Dimension. He fought the godlike Eternity and had a regular fantastic foe with the cool-looking Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension who briefly appeared in 2016’s Doctor Strange film.

A fourth classification of supervillains exists, those with dark powers. These are supervillains who border on being monsters or really are monsters. One such supervillain is Flash’s foe, Gorilla Grodd. Gorilla Grodd was a gorilla in Africa that came into contact with either a meteor or a spacecraft. In either case, he became ultra-powerful, brilliant, telepathic, and he could control minds. Venom is a particularly cool villain because he is a monster, created by an alien symbiont lifeform. What is surprising about Venom in the comics is that he sort of becomes a hero for homeless people. Eventually a harness is put on him and he works for the military on missions as Agent Venom. Hopefully a sequel to the 2018 Venom film will be made that is a proper cult film. In 1944 D.C. Comics had a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold get killed in Slaughter Swamp near Gotham City in All American Comics. He then rose as a zombie fifty years later, as supervillain Solomon Grundy, and went on a killing spree and became a Green Lantern villain. Morbius the Living Vampire is about a man who transforms himself into a vampire via a chemistry experiment, and he dons a cool outfit and transforms from being a Spider-Man supervillain to becoming an antihero superhero with his own comic and a film on the way in the future.

A fifth classification of supervillain are atypical supervillains who may fit in no other categories. These usually are supervillains that did not originate from comic books. M. Night Shyamalan’s film from 2000, Unbreakable, features Samuel Jackson as Elijah Price, a supervillain who is returning in January 2019’s Glass along with James McAvoy’s character from 2016’s Split. A sixth classification of supervillains are those appearing in comedy. The Terror appeared in both series of The Tick, and the new Amazon The Tick live action series is pretty good. The animated Adult Swim tv series from 2006-2008, Frisky Dingo, created by Archer’s Adam Reed, featured the supervillain main character of Killface who appeared as a ridiculous but powerful lich obsessed with destroying the Earth with his mad scientist weapon, the Annihilatrix. There are not many supervillains appearing in comedy.

But there are quite a few teams of supervillains. The Suicide Squad is a team of supervillains forced to work for the good guys. The 2016 film was awful, and a sequel is in the way. The Suicide Squad team members change a lot throughout the comics but usually include Deadshot and Captain Boomerang. The Sinister Six are a group of Spider-Man supervillains who are rumored to appear in a future film. The team includes Dr. Octopus, the Vulture, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Sandman. 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home will nearly include the Sinister Six with: Michael Keating reprising his Vulture, Michael Mando as the Scorpion, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio. Yet another supervillain team is the Legion of Doom which appeared in 1978’s Challenge of the Superfriends cartoon tv series. The Legion of Doom consisted of: Bizarro, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, and more!

If we toss all of the supervillains into the Cauldron of Creepiness, which three bubble up to the top and rise above the rest? The Joker is pretty much the number one villain. And Venom is pretty much the most monstrous villain. So those two are easy. I would have to say that Superman’s strange supervillain, Mister Mxyzptlk, would be the third to rise to the top. Since he is from the Fifth Dimension he can virtually do magic and twist reality. The Joker, Venom, and Mister Mxyzptlk are probably the top three coolest supervilllains. But if the top three strongest supervillains were selected, it would be a completely different group. Thanos with his Infinity Gauntlet is certainly in the top three; he sure had plans on making major alterations to the universe! Dormammu is definitely one of the top three most powerful supervillains with godlike powers. His head is made out of evil fire. Dormammu would not be affected by the Infinity Gauntlet, and he could take Thanos down with ease. But Dormammu could be taken down by Galactus, an alien from the planet Taa from before the Big Bang. Galactus survived the destruction of his universe by bonding with the Sentience of the Universe. He gestated for billions of years in our universe until he woke up, and he woke up hungry so he started devouring whole planets. An alien eventually made a deal for Galactus not to gobble up his planet, and the alien was transformed into the herald of Galactus, the Silver Surfer. So Galactus is pretty much the most powerful supervillain.

Superhero films pretty much started with 1966’s Batman: the Movie with Adam West. The quality of the film is usually directly related to the quality of the depiction of the supervillain. 1989’s Batman with Tim Burton’s vision and Jack Nicholson as the Joker is a classic. The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger as the Joker is also an incredible film. The Dark Knight Rises with Bane is also a decent film with an amazing scope. As for tv, Adam West’s Batman series is one of the best for outrageous supervillains. Cesar Romero’s Joker is excellent, Burgess Meredith served up the best Penguin to date, Frank Gorshwin provided an effervescent and the best Riddler, and Vincent Price laid a wonderful Egghead. All three seasons of the series are finally available on disc. Ralph Bakshi’s Spider-Man cartoon series from 1967-1969 was a great series also for its supervillains. It delivered the best Green Goblin even from any film, included traditional supervillains from Electro to the Rhino, had neat-looking monsters, and it featured great incidental music. The Legends of Tomorrow tv series features interesting supervillains, including some who are members of the team of the superheroes. Captain Cold and Heatwave are Flash supervillains who made the transition into being acting superheroes. An entertaining recent depiction of a supervillain was by Tom Cavanaugh as the Reverse Flash on the first season of The Flash tv series. These days Netflix is starting to cancel the Marvel superhero series – the ones with the least interesting supervillains.

Back to the derivation of the word, villain. Could supervillains be related in any way to farmhands, serfs, the poor, or social rebels? Are the superheroes now the super-rich land owners, the knights? Are superheroes ever depicted as being millionaires? Like Bruce Wayne…Tony Stark…Oliver Queen… Hmmm, maybe sometimes the supervillains may not be as bad as they seem, and the superheroes may sometimes be really more villain and less hero…

#true halloween tales #halloween #superhero #the joker #batman #superman #doctor strange #dormammu #avengers #thanos #infinity war #sinister 6 #venom #the dark knight #spiderman #spiderman cartoon

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